Prince Vilhelm of Sweden (1884-1965) and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia

[Furienna]

She was eighteen years old, not sixteen.

[Odette]

After reading her autobiography "Education of a Princess" one has to believe that due to her childhood and lack of motherly affection, Marie could not really love anyone.
Throughout the entire book she gave more details about the court life and afterwards her service during the war than she ever spoke about either one of her sons.
Her divorce from P Wilhelm remained a mystery throughout her book and the NY Times article seems like a plausible reason but still one wonders why she would become involved in espionage. Unless they suggested that she was romantically involved with the alleged spy.

[Meraude]

After the divorce from Maria Pavlovna in 1914 prince Wilhelm had a longtime relationship with the French-born Jeanne de Tramcour, from 1914 until her death in a car accident in 1952. While their relationship had been recognized privately by the royal family, they were never seen together in public. Here's a painting of Jeanne from 1914, by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson: http://tinyurl.com/c2l3cg5

[Furienna]

Maria also had a second husband, who was Russian just like her.

[Meraude]

Originally Posted by Furienna

Maria also had a second husband, who was Russian just like her.

Yes, Maria was able to marry again and live openly with her husband and still remain a princess, while prince Vilhelm couldn't marry the woman he loved, if he wanted to keep his title. We don't know why he chose to remain a prince, whether it was of duty to the SRF or for some other reason, but by making that choice he had to hide his partner from the public. There had been a lot of negative opinion when prince Vilhelm's uncle prince Oscar Bernadotte married a non-royal lady, and I doubt that neither of Vilhelm's parents would have approved if he had done the same thing as his uncle did.

[Furienna]

They sure wouldn't have. Gustaf V and Victoria were really strict about keeping it within the royal circle. And even Gustaf VI Adolf, Vilhelm's brother, doesn't seem to have been much better. Vilhelm's and Maria's son Lennart married a non-royal woman though, even though it costed him his prince title.

[Meraude]

Originally Posted by Furienna

Vilhelm's and Maria's son Lennart married a non-royal woman though, even though it costed him his prince title.

It would be interesting to know whether the relationship between prince Vilhelm and Jeanne de Tramcour was of any importance when the three princes Lennart, Sigvard and Carl Johan decided to give up their titles and marry a non-royal woman. Whether they thought that the choice Vilhelm had made by keeping his relationship secret was too much to bear, something that caused him and his partner pain and sorrow, as well as their thoughts about arranged marriages, something not uncommon in the Bernadotte family.

[Furienna]

Those three were also one generation younger. Attitudes were changing. So in that generation, only Prince Gustaf Adolf (our king's father) and Princess Ingrid (the future queen of Denmark) married another royal.

[Meraude]

Originally Posted by Furienna

Those three were also one generation younger. Attitudes were changing. So in that generation, only Prince Gustaf Adolf (our king's father) and Princess Ingrid (the future queen of Denmark) married another royal.

Even if prince Carl belonged to the same generation as king Gustav V, his three daughters were just a couple of years older than the children of prince Gustav (VI) Adolf and prince Vilhelm, and all three princesses married royals, while their brother married a non-royal. Perhaps it was easier for males to break the rules and marrying non-royals than it was for princesses.

[Furienna]

Wouldn't it be the other way around? That since the princesses had no place in the succession, they had more freedom to choose than the princes had? But still, maybe not. And since we had very few princesses in the Swedish royal family until our current king's four sisters (out of whom only one married another royal, by the way) came along, it's hard to make a comparison.

[Meraude]

Originally Posted by Furienna

Wouldn't it be the other way around? That since the princesses had no place in the succession, they had more freedom to choose than the princes had?

I think that until the beginning of the 1960ies princesses were expected to make good (= royal) matches and there were probably more strict rules for whom they were allowed to meet than there were on their male relatives. Until princess Christina, no Swedish princess had attended the university, while most princes had some kind of university education, as well as spent time in the military, and thus had had the opportunity to meet more "unsuitable" partners.

[Furienna]

Yeah, you're right.