Prince Wilhelm of Sweden (1884-1965) and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia (1890–1958)

[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]

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.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

After the Russian revolution Maria settled in the ´new world´ and started a carrer as a designer of clothes, later she moved from the US to Argentina. Here a cople of pictures from viewimages:

Maria 1

Maria 2

Maria 3

The Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia had written that Maria Pavlovna was "inclined to be self-willed".
Seeing these photographs of Maria Pavlovna's new business as a clothing designer draws the conclusion that Maria had stamina to adapt to a new lifestyle. It did indeed take self-will.

 

[LadyFinn]

Prince Wilhelm's grave in Flen
http://scontent-a.cdninstagram.com/...-15/10890504_747804811972796_1220690742_n.jpg

 

[LadyFinn]

Maria in swedish court dress. Photos taken when she was pregnant.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh7ebjdwx...A5E/9S3a3DW9XF0/s1600/marie+court+smaller.png
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNjUO6Jl-...A3A/QA68WTGlxuI/s640/mariapavlovnayounger.jpg

The photos are from this blog
Gods and Foolish Grandeur_ September 2013

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Prince Wilhelm in Paris, France in the late 1940s
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-wi...eden-duke-of-soedermanland-half-48728592.html

 

[LadyFinn]

Gods & Gårdar Magazine made five questions about Maria to Magnus Engberg, who has written the book "Maria: Sveriges ryska prinsessa" (Maria: The Russian Princess of Sweden).
5 frågor om Maria Pavlovna, Sveriges ryska prinsessa
Translation

 

[Tatiana Maria]

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.

Maria married again only after Russia had been declared a republic. She would not have been able to live openly with her second husband in imperial Russia, as her second marriage would have been invalid in view of the Russian imperial house rules proscribing unequal marriages for children and grandchildren of emperors.

 

[LadyFinn]

About the life and grave of prince Wilhelm

 

[Furienna]

About the life and grave of prince Wilhelm

Hm... I find it interesting that his son's ex-wife shares Prince Wilhelm's grave.

 

[LadyFinn]

Prince Wilhelm and princess Margaretha in 1957 at a dinner at queen Juliana's visit to Sweden.
Image Upper.com - Free Image Hosting - View Image

 

[Blog Real]

Biographies:

Prince Wilhelm
https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcour.../princewilhelm.4.164e81b015607465dc12f14.html

Maria Pavlovna of Russia
https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcour...ovnaavryssland.4.164e81b015607465dc12f1e.html

 

[LadyFinn]

Photos of prince Wilhelm in 1948 by Edvard Welinder.
https://sis.modernamuseet.se/internal/media/dispatcher/83975/thumbnail
https://sis.modernamuseet.se/internal/media/dispatcher/84057/thumbnail
https://sis.modernamuseet.se/internal/media/dispatcher/84058/thumbnail

 

[maria-olivia]

I read the whole thread , what a life and what an arranged Wedding ,.
He never married his french mistress who passed away in a car crash , he was the driver.
His whole life he was Prince of Sweden .His son lennart and 2 of his nephews lost their tittle for morganatic weddings.
Not handsome but Royal

 

[JR76]

Hm... I find it interesting that his son's ex-wife shares Prince Wilhelm's grave.

Prince Wilhelm was very close to Karin who he called his "Bernadotter" (Bernadaughter). After Karin and Lennart divorced she settled in her house close to the Stenhammar estate where Wilhelm had lived for many years. AFAIK it therefore seemed natural for the family that they'd share a plot since they would be buried in the same cemetery anyway. A very modern family.

 

[maria-olivia]

Did Lennart marry his secretary ??

 

[Furienna]

Prince Wilhelm was very close to Karin who he called his "Bernadotter" (Bernadaughter). After Karin and Lennart divorced she settled in her house close to the Stenhammar estate where Wilhelm had lived for many years. AFAIK it therefore seemed natural for the family that they'd share a plot since they would be buried in the same cemetery anyway. A very modern family.

Ah, then it makes more sense.

Thank you.

 

[LadyFinn]

Did Lennart marry his secretary ??

Sonja Haunz was born as the daughter of Wolfgang and Anita Haunz. Since both parents worked in Mainau, she grew up more or less on the Flower Island with her brothers Manfred and Wolfgang.
After Sonja had completed her education, her parents suggested that she would work in Mainau. In April 1961 she worked as a temporary help in the Mainau telephone exchange and in the summer of 1961 worked in various assistant positions, including for her father Wolfgang Haunz, who was the Mainau administrative director at the time. During this time she had met Count Lennart Bernadotte for the first time. In 1966 Sonja worked for a year and a half at the Federal Institute for Vegetation Science, Nature Conservation and Landscape Management in Bad Godesberg and spent some time as a hotel employee in the English coastal town of Margate. In 1969 she returned to Mainau Island and started her work as the personal assistant of count Lennart Bernadotte. In 1971, Lennart Bernadotte divorced his first wife, Karin Nissvandt. On April 29, 1972, Sonja Haunz and count Lennart Bernadotte got married. Sonja Bernadotte was the managing director of Mainau GmbH from 1981 to 2006.
We have an own thread of count Lennart.
https://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f191/count-lennart-bernadotte-1909-2004-and-wives-14719.html

 

[LadyFinn]

Prince Wilhelm in Stenhammar in 1953, photo by Lennart Nilsson.
https://www.lennartnilsson.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/fineartprint-kungligheter-43.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Photographs of Grand Duchess Maria of Russia a Grand Duchess and Princess of Sweden