Counts Sigvard (1907-2002) and Carl Johan (1916-2012) Bernadotte of Wisborg


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Esmerelda

Esmerelda

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As far as I know, there isn't a thread on him.

I believe Sigvard was one of the King's uncles who was a famous designer. I have read that he was rather bitter about losing his Royal title after marrying a commoner.

Does anyone know more about him? What kind of relationship did he have with the current King and his family? I understand that King Gustaf Adolf became quite distant with his sons who married commoners though I get the impression that he was rather kinder to his granddaughters.
 
I don't know much on this topic; btw, I can recall to have read a newspaper article some years ago, when Sigvard went to the European Court of Human Rights seeking for his former princely titles to be restored, because - he claimed - "I was born a Prince and I want to die a Prince"; he also claimed that titles are for a person like his name, and it's a tort to strip someone his name off.
His royal titles were stripped him off in 1934, when he married to a commoner; the article said it happened just one hour after the marriage was celebrated, and an official of the Royal Court impounded his passport and gave him a new one addressed to Mr. Sigvard Bernadotte.
Due to his marriages to commoners and claims for getting his titles back, he remained estranged from his family for decades, and - if I recall correctly - especially after his brother Bertil and his nephew the King married themselves to commoners, but didn't lose titles and throne.
 
Weren't there some issues with the Ruby tiara that Queen Silvia now wears? I believe it was owned by prince Sigvard, but he later sold it to the king. I believe there were some issues about it in the Swedish press but I do not recall what was the issue.
 
Count Carl Johan on his 90th birthday 31st October 2006
With his wife countess Gunnila
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with his children Monica Bonde and Christian Bernadotte.
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with his grandchildren Carl Johan, Ebba and Marianne Bonde and Christina, Richard and Philip Bernadotte
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Count Carl Johan and countess Gunnila with count Bertil and countess Jill Bernadotte
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Christian Bernadotte is the Chairman Of The Board at Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in Ohio
Christian Bernadotte - Chairman Of The Board - Swedish American Chamber of Commerce -- Ohio _ LinkedIn
 
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Marengo said:
Weren't there some issues with the Ruby tiara that Queen Silvia now wears? I believe it was owned by prince Sigvard, but he later sold it to the king. I believe there were some issues about it in the Swedish press but I do not recall what was the issue.
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Well, I seem to remember that Sigvard claimed that the tiara was his inheritence from his mother.
 
Furienna said:
Well, I seem to remember that Sigvard claimed that the tiara was his inheritence from his mother.
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Which nhe wanted to sell and then it was bought back by his father. later the old King left it to his grandson who again sold it to the present King.
 
When you read about Sigvard and Carl Johan and look at their stories from our 21rst century perspective, it is hard to get what the big deal was with them marrying non-royal women for love. But it was news to me that Sigvard was considered as a suitor to Juliana of the Netherlands, so I guess that his family had expected a lovely match there.
 
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Furienna said:
When you read about Sigvard and Carl Johan and look at their stories from our 21rst century perspective, it is hard to get what the big deal was with them marrying non-royal women for love. But it was news to me that Sigvard was considered as a suitor to Juliana of the Netherlands, so I guess that his family had expected a lovely match there.
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I don't think that they expected a love match, but hoped that Prince Sigvard liked Princess Juliana enough to marry her. There are also rumours that they tried to set up Prince Carl with Juliana, but that the two didn't hit it off at all. Matching up young people was still the norm back then in royal circles but no marriage was forced upon any Bernadotte during the twenties and thirties. Out of the five that made equal marriages all are said to have done so out of love.

Regarding the ruby tiara Prince Sigvard had been forced to sell the accompanying necklace after he married and then approached his father, then Crown Prince Gustav Adolf, who took it off his hands for a sum of money. Sigvard says that he thought that his father took it as the security on a loan, but that his father considered it a purchase. He later tried to buy it back, but had his request refused although the tiara was at his wife's disposal when she needed one. Sigvard was later shocked when his father willed it to his son Count Michael and was later even more upset when Michael sold the tiara to his cousin King Carl XVI Gustav.
 
JR76 said:
I don't think that they expected a love match, but hoped that Prince Sigvard liked Princess Juliana enough to marry her. There are also rumours that they tried to set up Prince Carl with Juliana, but that the two didn't hit it off at all. Matching up young people was still the norm back then in royal circles but no marriage was forced upon any Bernadotte during the twenties and thirties. Out of the five that made equal marriages all are said to have done so out of love.
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Well, I didn't say "love match". What I meant was "a lovely match for their families".

And I had no idea that Prince Carl Jr also was intended as a suitor for Juliana, but it makes sense.
 
:previous: As far as I know, he was really rumored to marry Princess Juliana and was even rumored to marry Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy too.
 
I'm sure there were many royal suitors for the then Princess Juliana I'm not sure if a Swedish Prince had ever married into the House of Orange in the past?
 
An Ard Ri said:
I'm sure there were many royal suitors for the then Princess Juliana I'm not sure if a Swedish Prince had ever married into the House of Orange in the past?
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King Karl XV of Sweden and Norway married Princess Louise of The Netherlands in 1850.
 
Another Orange/Bernadotte connection is that Queen Sofia was the maternal aunt of Queen Emma of The Netherlands through her sister Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont.
 
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JR76 said:
King Karl XV of Sweden and Norway married Princess Louise of The Netherlands in 1850.
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I had totally forgotten about Louise of the Netherlands ?
 
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte interviewed by Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper, 29th October 2010.
 
On November 5, P4 Documentary releases the story of when Prince Carl Johan Bernadotte in the late 30s met the six years older, divorced journalist and editor of the then scandal-ridden Weekly Review, Kerstin Wijkmark.
When Prince Carl Johan Bernadotte met Kerstin Wijkmark, there was a shudder through the court and Stockholm's upper class. The prince lives a fairly protected life at the court as the son of Gustaf the VI Adolf. Kerstin Wijkmark is a woman in the middle of the action, friends with Taube and Dardel and other greats of the time. Love arises, despite their different worlds. But the court opposes their love by all means. Kerstin was a far too modern woman for her time. The prince is finally forced to relinquish his princely title in order to marry the woman he loves. They move to the United States.
The documentary interviews the couple's daughter, Monica Bonde. She became a journalist like her mother and had a column in Svensk Damtidning. Monica tells, among other things, that her father became the homemaker who took care of the children, while her mother made a career as an editor in USA.
- I'm very happy that he did not continue to be a prince. Imagine being so guarded. I have had a wonderful life and been completely anonymous, says Monica Bonde, daughter of Carl Johan Bernadotte and Kerstin Wijkmark.
P4 Dokumentär_ Prinsens förbjudna kärlek - Pressinformation _ Sveriges Radio

Prinsens förbjudna kärlek _ P4 Dokumentär _ Podplay
 
Prince Sigvard married Erica Maria Regina Rosalie Patzek (1911–2007) on 8 March 1934. She was the daughter of German businessman Anton Patzek and his wife Maria Anna Lála. The wedding took place in Caxton Hall in London.

Sigvard Bernadotte remarried a Danish woman Sonja Christensen Robbert (1909–2004) on 26 October 1943 and they were divorced on 6 June 1961. They had one son: Michael.

Lastly, Sigvard Bernadotte married Swedish actress Marianne Lindberg Tchang on 30 July 1961.

Carl Johan Bernadotte lost his succession rights to the Swedish throne and renounced his titles in 1946 when he married the journalist Elin Kerstin Margaretha Wijkmark.
They adopted two children.

On 29 September 1988, the widowed Carl Johan Bernadotte married Countess Gunnila Märtha Louise (Wachtmeister af Johannishus) in Copenhagen.

Are there photos of these weddings?
 
Blog Real said:
Prince Sigvard married Erica Maria Regina Rosalie Patzek (1911–2007) on 8 March 1934. She was the daughter of German businessman Anton Patzek and his wife Maria Anna Lála. The wedding took place in Caxton Hall in London.

Sigvard Bernadotte remarried a Danish woman Sonja Christensen Robbert (1909–2004) on 26 October 1943 and they were divorced on 6 June 1961. They had one son: Michael.

Lastly, Sigvard Bernadotte married Swedish actress Marianne Lindberg Tchang on 30 July 1961.

Carl Johan Bernadotte lost his succession rights to the Swedish throne and renounced his titles in 1946 when he married the journalist Elin Kerstin Margaretha Wijkmark.
They adopted two children.

On 29 September 1988, the widowed Carl Johan Bernadotte married Countess Gunnila Märtha Louise (Wachtmeister af Johannishus) in Copenhagen.

Are there photos of these weddings?
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Sigvard Bernadotte and wife Erica on their wedding day.
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Sigvard Bernadotte and wife Sonja on their wedding day.
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Sigvard Bernadotte and wife Marianne on their wedding day.
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Carl Johan Bernadotte and wife Kerstin leave the chapel after their wedding.
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Carl Johan Bernadotte and wife Gunnila on their wedding day, congratulated by prince Bertil and princess Lilian.
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Blog Real said:
On 29 September 1988, the widowed Carl Johan Bernadotte married Countess Gunnila Märtha Louise (Wachtmeister af Johannishus) in Copenhagen.
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Born the daughter of Count Nils Wachtmeister af Johannishus and Baroness Märta De Geer af Leufsta, Gunnila was the widow of Carl Bussler when she married Count Carl Johan in 1988. They and their deceased spouses had all been friends and after his wife Kerstin died Carl Johan made a habit of visiting Gunnila regularly in the jewelry store where she worked. Although she didn't mind the visits she had no idea that he was courting her and was quite surprised when someone pointed it out to her.

As the daughter of a count, Gunnila was a countess, but according to the traditions of the Swedish nobility ladies don't use their titles before marriage. Gunnila did not use her title.
 
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