Princess Birgitta of Sweden

Princess Birgitta

Princess Birgitta at the wedding of her niece Madeleine on 8 June 2013
Born (1937-01-19) 19 January 1937
Haga Palace, Solna, Sweden
Spouse Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern (m. 1961; d. 2016)
Issue Prince Carl Christian
Princess Désirée
Prince Hubertus
Full name
Birgitta Ingeborg Alice
House Bernadotte
Father Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
Mother Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern (Birgitta Ingeborg Alice; born 19 January 1937) is an elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Family

Born at Haga Palace in Stockholm, she is the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and a granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf. Her sisters are Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler, Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson. She is a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Birgitta is the widow of Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.

Among her sisters she alone married a man of princely status, and, in keeping with the tradition that princesses who marry princes retain their royal status, Princess Birgitta retained her Swedish style of Royal Highness,[1] a higher treatment than that of Serene Highness, to which the Princes of Hohenzollern and their wives were historically entitled.

Marriage

Princess Birgitta in 1958

On a visit in 1959 to friends and relatives in Germany, the princess met her future husband at a cocktail party.

On 15 December 1960, her engagement to Prince Johann Georg Carl Leopold Eitel-Friedrich Meinrad Maria Hubertus Michael of Hohenzollern (b. 1932; d. 2016), was announced.

The civil ceremony took place at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 25 May 1961, and the religious in the Sankt Johann Church at the bridegroom's Family Palace of Sigmaringen on 30 May/ 31 July 1961. The bridesmaids were the bride’s sister Princess Christina and cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark; the groomsmen were the bride's brother Crown Prince Carl Gustaf and her cousin Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (son of Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg).[2]

Birgitta applied to convert to Roman Catholicism when she married the Hohenzollern prince, but her application was rejected in wording which questioned her spritual commitment to the change.[3] She and her children were passed over for succession to the Swedish throne when subsequent female primogeniture was established in Sweden in 1979 and 1980, and then only included her brother's descendants.

Prince Johann Georg and Princess Birgitta separated in 1990, although they remained legally married. She lives on the island of Majorca in Spain, while her husband lived in Munich.

Public life

In November 1960 Birgitta visited the United States accompanied by her younger sister Princess Désirée on behalf of their grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf for the 50th anniversary of the The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In their honour a ball was organised for the two princesses at the Renaissance Blackstone Hotel in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley.[4]

Princess Birgitta has had assignments for golf and charities outside of Sweden and is an Honorary Board Member of the (British) Royal Swedish Golfing Society,[5] a position she took over when her uncle Prince Bertil died.

She has her own golf competition in Majorca, the Princess Birgitta Trophy, at her home golf course.

She participates in the celebrations of the Swedish Lucia every year, and in the party held at her golf club on Sweden’s National Day.

She also takes part in Swedish royal family events; with her husband and children, she was a guest at the 2010 Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling,[6] and at Princess Madeleine's wedding in 2013.[7]

Issue

Birgitta's arms since marrying Prince Johann Georg

Princess Birgitta's marriage produced three children and six grandchildren:

Title, styles, honours and arms

Styles of
Princess Birgitta of Sweden
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am

Title

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Ancestry

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Placering - Sveriges Kungahus". Royalcourt.se. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  2. ↑ Archived 27 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Roger Lundgren in Sibylla en biografi Bonniers Stockholm ISBN 9789100111120 p. 223
  4. ↑ "November 3, 1960 - 2 Princesses Will Visit Chicago | Chicago Tribune Archive". Archives.chicagotribune.com. 1960-11-03. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  5. ↑ "Latest competitions - The Royal Swedish Golfing Society". Rsgs.info. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  6. ↑ "Royal wedding guest list published". Stockholm News. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  7. ↑ "Gastlista" (PDF). Official website of the Swedish monarchy. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Photographic image". 2.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  9. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). 40.media.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  10. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). Royalhats.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  11. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). Theroyalforums.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  12. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). Cdn3.cdnme.se. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  13. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). Royalhats.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  14. ↑ "Photographic image" (PNG). Gfx.bloggar.aftonbladet-cdn.se. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  15. ↑ "70th anniversary of king Carl Gustav of Sweden in Stockholm Sweden on... Fotografía de noticias 115116367 | Getty Images". dailymail.co.uk. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  16. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
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