July 8, 1859: Death of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway.

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Carl XIV Johan, Emperor of the French, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Josephine of Leuchtenberg, London Protocol of 1852, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oscar I of Sweden-Norway

Oscar I (Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; July 4, 1799 – July 8, 1859) was King of Sweden and Norway from March 8,1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte.

Oscar was the only child of King Carl XIV Johan, and he inherited the thrones upon the death of his father. Throughout his reign he would pursue a liberal course in politics in contrast to Carl XIV Johan, instituting reforms and improving ties between Sweden and Norway. In an address to him in 1857, the Riksdag declared that he had promoted the material prosperity of the kingdom more than any of his predecessors

Oscar was born at 291 Rue Cisalpine in Paris, France to Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, then-French Minister of War and later Marshal of the Empire and Sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo, and Désirée Clary, Napoleon Bonaparte’s former fiancée. He was named Joseph after his godfather Joseph Bonaparte, who was married to his mother’s elder sister Julie, but was also given the names François Oscar. The latter name was chosen by Napoleon after one of the heroes in the Ossian cycle of poems. Désirée is said to have chosen Napoleon to be Oscar’s godfather.

Prince of Sweden

On August 21, 1810, Oscar’s father was elected heir-presumptive to the Swedish throne by the Riksdag of the Estates, as King Carl XIII was without legitimate heirs. Two months later, on November 5, he was formally adopted by the king under the name of “Carl Johan”; Oscar was then created a Prince of Sweden with the style of Royal Highness, and further accorded the title of Duke of Södermanland. Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm in June 1811; while Oscar soon acclimated to life at the royal court, quickly acquiring the Swedish language, Désirée had difficulty adjusting and despised the cold weather. Consequently, she left Sweden in the summer of 1811, and would not return until 1823.

Marriage

Seeking to legitimise the new Bernadotte dynasty, Carl XIV Johan had selected four princesses as candidates for marriage, in order of his priority:

Wilhelmina of Denmark, daughter of Frederik VI of Denmark and Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel (ultimately she married first Frederik VII of Denmark and second Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg)

Josephine of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Eugene, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and Augusta of Bavaria, and granddaughter of the Empress Josephine.

Marie of Hesse-Cassel, daughter of Wilhelm II, Elector of Hesse and Augusta of Prussia (ultimately she married Bernard II of Saxe-Meiningen)

Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, daughter of Charles Friedrich I of Saxe-Weimar and Maria Pavlovna of Russia (ultimately she married Prince Charles of Prussia)

Oscar would eventually marry Josephine of Leuchtenberg, first by proxy at the Leuchtenberg Palace in Munich May 22, 1823 and in person at a wedding ceremony conducted in Stockholm on June 19, 1823.
The couple had five children:

King Carl XV & IV (1826–1872)

Prince Gustaf, Duke of Uppland (1827–1852)

King Oscar II (1829–1907)

Princess Eugenie (1830–1889)

Prince August, Duke of Dalarna (1831–1873)

In 1838 Carl XIV Johan began to suspect that his son was plotting with the Liberal politicians to bring about a change of ministry, or even his own abdication. If Oscar did not actively assist the Opposition on this occasion, his disapprobation of his father’s despotic behaviour was notorious, though he avoided an actual rupture. Yet his liberalism was of the most cautious and moderate character, as the Opposition—shortly after his accession to the thrones in 1844—discovered to their great chagrin.

The new king would not hear of any radical reform of the cumbersome and obsolete 1809 Instrument of Government, which made the king a near-autocrat. However, one of his earliest measures was to establish freedom of the press. He also passed the first law supporting gender equality in Sweden when he in 1845 declared that in the absence of a will specifying otherwise, brothers and sisters should have equal inheritance. Oscar I also formally established equality between his two kingdoms by introducing new flags with the common Union badge of Norway and Sweden, as well as a new coat of arms for the union.

In foreign affairs, Oscar I was a friend of the principle of nationality; in 1848 he supported Denmark against the Kingdom of Prussia in the First War of Schleswig by placing Swedish and Norwegian troops in cantonments in Funen and North Schleswig (1849–1850), and was the mediator of the Truce of Malmö (August 26, 1848). He was also one of the guarantors of the integrity of Denmark (the London Protocol, 8 May 1852).

As early as 1850, Oscar I had conceived the plan of a dynastic union of the three Scandinavian kingdoms, but such difficulties presented themselves that the scheme had to be abandoned. He succeeded, however, in reversing his father’s obsequious policy towards Imperial Russia. His fear lest Russia should demand a stretch of coast along the Varanger Fjord induced him to remain neutral during the Crimean War, and, subsequently, to conclude an alliance with Great Britain and the Second French Empire ( November 25, 1855) for preserving the territorial integrity of Sweden-Norway.

Death

In the 1850s, Oscar’s health began to rapidly deteriorate, becoming paralyzed in 1857; he died two years later at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on July 8, 1859. His eldest son, who served as Regent during his absence, succeeded him as Carl XV.

Sweden: The 1810 Act of Succession.

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Carl Philip of Sweden, Carl XIII of Sweden, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Equal Rank, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden, The 1810 Act of Succession

The 1810 Act of Succession is one of four Fundamental Laws of the Realm and thus forms part of the Swedish Constitution. The Act regulates the line of succession to the Swedish Throne and the conditions which eligible members of the Swedish Royal Family must abide by in order to remain in it.

It was jointly adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, convened in Örebro on 26 September 1810, and Carl XIII, as a logical consequence following the election on 21 August of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as Crown Prince.

The actual contents of the Act, save the solemn preamble, has been thoroughly rewritten over the years: the most notable change occurred in 1980 when the core principle of agnatic primogeniture (male succession only) was changed in favor of absolute primogeniture (eldest child regardless of sex).

Historical background

The Act of Succession was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates assembled at Örebro in 1810, upon electing Carl XIV Johan (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) as the heir to King Carl XIII. This happened at a tumultuous time for Sweden, as only one year earlier the former king, Gustaf IV Adolf (and his sons) had been deposed and replaced by his childless uncle, Carl XIII.

At the same time the Finnish War was coming to an end and Finland, then a part of Sweden proper, was held by Russia. The authoritarian constitution of 1772 was abolished and power was returned to parliament by the new Instrument of Government adopted on June 6, 1809. From 1814 to 1905 the Act of Succession also regulated succession to the Norwegian throne, due to the union of Sweden-Norway.

Provisions

The Act in the current version specifies that:

• Only children born in wedlock may inherit the Throne.
• Only the descendants of Carl XVI Gustaf may inherit the Throne.
• A prince or princess in the line of succession shall belong to and profess the “pure evangelical faith”, as defined in the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Uppsala Synod of 1593, i.e. by implication the Church of Sweden.
• The offspring of an approved marriage must be brought up within Sweden.
• A prince or princess may not marry and remain in the line of succession without having received consent, upon application of the Monarch, from the Government of Sweden.
• A prince or princess is also prevented from becoming monarch of another country, either by election or marriage, without the consent of the Monarch and the Government.

If any of these provisions are violated: all rights of succession for the person concerned and all descendants are lost.

Changes

In its original version, the Act mandated that a Swedish prince could only marry into families deemed to be of equal rank, or forfeit for himself and his future descendants all dynastic rights.

The key wording was a prohibition of marrying a “private man’s daughter” (Swedish: enskild mans dotter), a term which in Swedish jurisprudence was understood to exclude all non-royal persons, including the aristocracy. In 1937, the statutory provision which in effect had required a spouse of royal birth, was changed and the prohibition only extended to a “private Swedish man’s daughter” (Swedish: enskild svensk mans dotter).

A total of five Swedish princes lost their style of HRH, title as Prince of Sweden, personal Ducal title, and all rights of succession to the throne because they violated the uncompromisable constitutional provision, regardless of whether the King-in-Council did consent or not: Oscar in 1888, Lennart in 1932, Sigvard in 1934, Carl in 1937 and Carl Johan in 1946. There is since 1980 no statutory limitation, based on either nationality or royal rank, on whom a prince or princess can marry, apart from the fact that permission must be granted.

In 1980, the rule of succession was changed from agnatic primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This change in effect created Victoria (born 1977) heir apparent, passing over her younger brother Prince Carl Philip (born 1979).

Happy Birthday to HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland.

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Christopher O’Neill, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland., House of Bernadotte, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Prince Nicolas of Sweden, Princess Adrienne, Princess Leonard of Sweden, Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden

Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland (Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine; born June 10, 1982), is the second daughter and youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Upon her birth, she was third in line of succession to the Swedish throne. She is currently seventh in the line of succession. Princess Madeleine is married to British-American financier Christopher O’Neill. They have three children, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas and Princess Adrienne.

Early life

Madeleine was born on June 10, 1982 at 19:05 CEST at Drottningholm Palace and is a member of the Swedish royal family from the House of Bernadotte. She was christened at The Royal Palace Church on 31 August 1982, her godparents being her father’s maternal cousin the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her maternal uncle Walther L. Sommerlath, her father’s paternal cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark, and her paternal aunt Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson. She was given the honorary title of Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland. It was the first time since the early 17th century (when such titles were still more than honorary) that a Swedish ducal title included more than one province.

On August 11, 2009, Madeleine announced her engagement to lawyer Jonas Bergström (b. 1979). Madeleine said in her engagement interview that they became engaged in Capri in early June 2009.

The wedding was originally due to take place in the second half of 2010 but was postponed due to “many things happening in an intense period of time”, mainly her sister Victoria’s wedding in June. Queen Silvia denied the rumoured relationship issues. However, media reporting of the relationship issues escalated, and on April 24, 2010 it was announced that the wedding would not go ahead, and the engagement was broken off.

After her relationship with Bergström ended, Madeleine moved to New York City, where she worked for the World Childhood Foundation, the organisation that her mother co-founded. On 25 October 2012, the Swedish Royal Court announced her engagement with the British-born American financier Christopher O’Neill. On December 23, 2012, it was announced that the wedding would take place on June 8, 2013, at the Royal Palace chapel in Stockholm. O’Neill chose to remain untitled: a member of the Swedish royal family must hold Swedish citizenship which O’Neill declined.

The couple’s first child Princess Leonore was born in New York City on February 20, 2014. Prior to the birth, Madeleine had announced on her Facebook page that she would be unable to travel to Stockholm for the Nobel Prize ceremony due to her pregnancy and also mentioned that she was expecting a girl.

Their second child, and their son, Prince Nicolas, was born in Stockholm on June 15, 2015. In February 2015, the Swedish Royal Court announced that the family had moved to Stockholm from New York. In May 2015, the Swedish Royal Court announced that O’Neill had moved to London in April. In Autumn 2015, several months after the birth of Prince Nicolas, the entire family moved to London, where O’Neill’s business is located. On March 9, 2018, Princess Madeleine gave birth to their third child, Princess Adrienne, at Danderyd Hospital.

In August 2018, the Swedish Royal Court announced that the princess and her family were to move to Florida.
On October 7, 2019 Madeleine’s father the king issued a statement rescinding the royal status of her three children in an effort to more strictly associate Swedish royalty to the office of the head of state; they are still to be styled as princesses and prince, as well as duchesses and duke of their provinces, and they remain in the line of succession to the throne. Madeleine commented that her children now will have greater possibilities to format their own lives as private persons.

May 21, 1801: Birth of Princess Sophie of Sweden. Conclusion.

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Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Grand Duke Friedrich of Baden, Grand Duke Leopold of Baden, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Baden, House of Bernadotte, House of Holstein-Gottorp, Karlsruhe, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway, King Oscar II of Sweden, Prince Sophie of Sweden, Princess Victoria of Baden, Stéphanie de Beauharnais

Marriage

In 1815, Princess Sophie of Sweden was engaged, and on 25 July 1819 in Karlsruhe, Sophie married her half-grand-uncle Prince Leopold of Baden, the son of a morganatic marriage. The marriage with Leopold had been specifically arranged by her uncle, Grand Duke Charles I of Baden, to improve the chances that Leopold would one day succeed him as grand duke because of Sophie’s royal lineage.

Princess Sophie of Sweden

Since Sophie was a granddaughter of Leopold’s oldest half-brother, Hereditary Prince Charles-Ludwig, this marriage united the descendants of his father’s (Grand Duke Charles-Friedrich) two wives. Sophie’s undoubted royal blood would help to offset the stigma of Leopold’s morganatic birth.

During the reign of Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Baden, they lived a modest life away from court, as Ludwig did not want the heir to the throne at court. In 1830, her husband ascended to the grand ducal throne as Leopold I, and Sophie became Grand Duchess of Baden.

Sophie is described as wise and dutiful but strict. She kept late hours and arose late in the mornings, after which she spent hours writing letters to various relatives around Europe in her négligée. She was interested in science, art and politics, and kept herself well informed on all political events of the day through her correspondence.

Her ties to the Viennese court were particularly tight, and it was to Vienna her sons were sent to complete their education. Sophie retained a certain bitterness over the deposition of her father, and took it very badly when her brother was deprived of his status as a Swedish prince.

Prince Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden

Princess Sophie’s brother, Prince Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden and later called Gustaf Gustafsson von Holstein-Gottorp (1799-1877); was not haughty as his younger sister Princess Sophie, but humble. Rather, he seemed too quiet and too careful for his age. When Princess Sophie asked him why their father was no longer King, he told her that it was best not to talk about it.

He asked no questions and did not appear to miss his father. After he was told that his father had been deposed, he acted embarrassed towards his mother. However, when she told him that he too had lost his position as heir, he cried and embraced her without a word. The announcement that he wouldn’t become King of Sweden gave him much relief and happiness.

In 1816, Prince Gustaf assumed the title of Count of Itterburg. Prince Gustaf served as an officer to the Habsburgs of Austria, and in 1829, Emperor Franz I created him Prince of Vasa. During the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) there was some talk of Prince Gustaf becoming its first king, but this never materialized.

The Case of Kaspar Hauser

Kaspar Hauser (c.1812-1833) was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell.

Kaspar Hauser

According to contemporary rumours, probably current as early as 1829, Kaspar Hauser was the Hereditary Prince of Baden who was born circa September 1812, and who, according to known history, died October 16, 1833. It was alleged that this prince was switched with a dying baby and subsequently surfaced 16 years later as Kaspar Hauser in Nuremberg.

In this case, his parents would have been Grand Duke Charles of Baden and Stéphanie de Beauharnais, cousin by marriage and adopted daughter of Napoleon, Emperor of the French. Because Grand Duke Charles had no surviving male progeny, his successor was his uncle Ludwig, who was later succeeded by his half-brother, Leopold. Leopold’s mother, the Countess of Hochberg, was the alleged culprit of Kaspar Hauser’s captivity. The Countess was supposed to have disguised herself as a ghost, the “White Lady”, when kidnapping the prince. Her motive evidently would have been to secure the succession for her sons.

Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden

After Hauser’s death, it was claimed further that he was murdered, again because of his being the prince.

During the tumult caused by the appearance of Kaspar Hauser, Sophie was rumoured to have ordered Hauser’s assassination in 1833. This damaged her relationship to her husband, and Sophie was said to have had an affair. During the revolutions that swept across Europe the summer of 1848, she was forced to flee from Karlsruhe with her family to Strasbourg. They returned in 1849, after the revolt had been subdued by Prussian forces. She became a widow when her husband, Grand Duke Leopold, April 24, 1852 died in Karlsruhe.

Grand Duke Leopold was succeeded by his eldest son with Princess Sophie, as Grand Duke Ludwig II of Baden. His brother Friedrich acted as regent, because Ludwig suffered from mental illness. However, in 1856, Friedrich became Grand Duke as well after the death of Grand Duke Ludwig II.

Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden

While he served as regent for his brother, his mother, Grand Duchess Sophie convinced her son Friedrich to enter an arranged dynastic marriage rather than a marriage to his love, Baroness Stephanie von Gensau. Grand Duke Friedrich I eventually married Princess Louise of Prussia the second child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was the younger sister of Friedrich III of Germany (“Fritz”) and aunt of Wilhelm II of Germany.

In 1852, the Swedish royal house wished to make peace with the deposed Swedish royal house, and King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg tried to arrange a meeting, but without success, with resistance coming from Grand Duchess Sophie.

In 1863, however, Sophie met the Swedish heir presumptive Prince Oscar of Sweden, Duke of Östergötland, and future King Oscar II of Sweden and his consort Sophie of Nassau. Prince Oscar was from the House of Bernadotte the dynasty that replaced Princess Sophie’s family. The meeting was a success: Sophie asked him about how the Stockholm of her childhood had changed, and when they left, she presented the couple with a gift to their son prince Gustaf, a medallion with the inscription “G” and the crown of the Swedish Crown Prince, because he had the same name as her brother.

Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden. Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

In 1864, Sophie was interviewed by an unnamed Swedish writer, an interview which was published in her biography about famous Swedish women by Wilhelmina Stålberg (who was likely the unnamed writer in question):

She particularly remembered Haga Palace and Stockholm Royal Palace, the latter so well that, if she should ever see it again, she would have the ability to find her way in any part of the palace. I asked, if she should not make a visit to her childhood home. There had been rumours in Sweden that she had the wish to do so, and that she had written about it to King Oscar, who had assured her of a kind welcome. The Grand Duchess disregarded the rumour as “completely unfounded”. She had never had a serious plan to visit Sweden, despite the fact that she often longed for it. Especially during spring she always felt a strange melancholic longing for her childhood home. But to travel there was now too late for her. This she uttered with a tearful glimmer in her big blue eyes. In any case, a true smile seemed uncharacteristic for this not-really-beautiful but very interesting face. As for the latest Swedish literature, she did read it, but all in translation, “Because”, she said, “I can no longer remember the Swedish language well enough to speak or read it in person. I can however understand it spoken, and my prayers are in Swedish!”

Dowager Grand Duchess Sophie, former Princess Sophie died at Karlsruhe Palace on July 6, 1865, aged 64.

Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway and Princess Victoria of Baden

Through Grand Duchess Sophie’s granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Baden, the blood of the Holstein-Gottorp Dynasty returned to the Swedish Royal Family. Princess Victoria’s father was Sophie’s son, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, and his wife Princess Louise of Prussia. On September 20, 1881 in Karlsruhe, Princess Victoria married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, the son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and Sofia of Nassau.

December 8, 1907 King Oscar II of Sweden died and the Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden became King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria of Sweden. This makes the former Princess Sophie of Sweden the great-great-great grandmother of Sweden’s current monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf.

March 8, 1844: Oscar I becomes King of Sweden and Norway.

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Charles XIV John of Sweden, Charles XV of Sweden, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Josephine of Leuchtenberg, King Oscar II of Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden, Oscar I of Sweden and Norway

Oscar I (July 8, 1799 – July 8, 1859) was King of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte.

Oscar was born at 291 Rue Cisalpine in Paris to Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte,, and Désirée Clary, Napoleon Bonaparte’s former fiancée. Oscar was named Joseph after his godfather Joseph Bonaparte, who was married to his mother’s elder sister Julie, but was also given the names François Oscar. The latter name was chosen by Napoleon after one of the heroes in the Ossian cycle of poems. Désirée is said to have chosen Napoleon to be Oscar’s godfather. Oscar’s father, Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was the-then-French Minister of War and later Marshal of the Empire and Sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo.

Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway

On August 21, 1810, Oscar’s father was elected heir-presumptive to the Swedish throne by the Riksdag of the Estates, as King Carl XIII was without legitimate heirs. Two months later, on November 5, he was formally adopted by the king under the name of “Carl Johan”; Oscar was then created a Prince of Sweden with the style of Royal Highness, and further accorded the title of Duke of Södermanland. Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm in June 1811; while Oscar soon acclimatized to life at the royal court, quickly acquiring the Swedish language, Désirée had difficulty adjusting and despised the cold weather. Consequently, she left Sweden in the summer of 1811, and would not return until 1823.

Oscar became Crown Prince in 1818 upon the death of his adoptive grandfather, Carl XIII and the accession of Carl Johan to the Swedish and Norwegian thrones as King Carl XIV-III Johan.

Carl XIV-III Johan of Sweden feared the legitimist policy of the Congress of Vienna, and that they may restore the deposed King Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden, therefore he wished to give the House of Bernadotte connections through blood with old royal dynasties of Europe. The marriage of his son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Oscar, was the solution to this problem, and in 1822, he finally forced his son to agree to marry and to make a trip to Europe to inspect a list of potential candidates for the position of Crown Princess and Queen. This is the list of the four princesses as candidates for marriage, in order of his priority:

* Wilhelmina of Denmark (born January 18, 1808), daughter of Frederik VI of Denmark and Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel (ultimately she married first Frederik VII of Denmark and second Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, eldest brother of the future King Christian IX of Denmark)
* Joséphine of Leuchtenberg (born March 14, 1807), daughter of Eugene, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and Augusta of Bavaria, and granddaughter of the Empress Josephine.
* Marie of Hesse-Cassel (born September 6, 1804), daughter of Wilhelm II, Elector of Hesse and Augusta of Prussia (ultimately she married Bernard II of Saxe-Meiningen)
* Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (born 3 February 1808), daughter of Charles Friedrich I of Saxe-Weimar and Maria Pavlovna of Russia (ultimately she married Prince Charles of Prussia)

Joséphine of Leuchtenberg

Crown Prince Oscar declined marriage to a Danish Princess, but expressed his interest in the Princess of Leuchtenberg after his first meeting with Joséphine on 23 August 23, 1822 in Eichstätt. The couple reportedly developed a mutual attraction and fell in love when they saw each other, and therefore, the marriage was accepted by both families and duly arranged. Through her mother, Joséphine was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden and Charles IX of Sweden, making her children descendants of Gustav Vasa. Through her maternal grandfather, Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, she was also one of the descendants of Renata of Lorraine, granddaughter of Christian II of Denmark.

Oscar married of Joséphine of Leuchtenberg first by proxy at the Leuchtenberg Palace in Munich on May 22, 1823 and in person at a wedding ceremony conducted in Stockholm on June 19, 1823.

The couple had five children:
1. King Carl XV-IV (1826–1872)
2. Prince Gustaf, Duke of Uppland (1827–1852)
3. King Oscar II (1829–1907)
4. Princess Eugenie (1830–1889)
5. Prince August, Duke of Dalarna (1831–1873)

In 1838 Carl XIV-III Johan began to suspect that his son was plotting with the Liberal politicians to bring about a change of ministry, or even his own abdication. If Oscar did not actively assist the Opposition on this occasion, his disapprobation of his father’s despotic behaviour was notorious, though he avoided an actual rupture. Yet his liberalism was of the most cautious and moderate character, as the Opposition—shortly after his accession to the thrones in 1844—discovered to their great chagrin.

Daguerreotype of Oscar I in 1844; this is the first known photograph of a Swedish monarch.

The new king would not hear of any radical reform of the cumbersome and obsolete 1809 Instrument of Government, which made the king a near-autocrat. However, one of his earliest measures was to establish freedom of the press. He also passed the first law supporting gender equality in Sweden when he in 1845 declared that brothers and sisters should have equal inheritance, unless there was a will.

Oscar I also formally established equality between his two kingdoms by introducing new flags with the common Union badge of Norway and Sweden, as well as a new coat of arms for the union.

In foreign affairs, Oscar I was a friend of the principle of nationality; in 1848 he supported Denmark against the Kingdom of Prussia in the First War of Schleswig by placing Swedish and Norwegian troops in cantonments in Funen and North Schleswig (1849–1850), and was the mediator of the Truce of Malmö (26 August 1848). He was also one of the guarantors of the integrity of Denmark (the London Protocol, May 8, 1852).

As early as 1850, Oscar I had conceived the plan of a dynastic union of the three Scandinavian kingdoms, but such difficulties presented themselves that the scheme had to be abandoned. He succeeded, however, in reversing his father’s obsequious policy towards Imperial Russia. His fear lest Russia should demand a stretch of coast along the Varanger Fjord induced him to remain neutral during the Crimean War, and, subsequently, to conclude an alliance with Great Britain and the Second French Empire (November 25, 1855) for preserving the territorial integrity of Sweden-Norway.

Death

In an address to him in 1857, the Riksdag declared that he had promoted the material prosperity of the kingdom more than any of his predecessors. Also, in the 1850s, Oscar’s health began to rapidly deteriorate, becoming paralyzed in 1857; he died two years later at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on July 8, 1859. His eldest son, who served as Regent during his absence, succeeded him as Carl XV.

December 8, 1907: Accession of King Gustaf V of Sweden.

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Gustaf IV Adolph of Sweden, Gustaf V of Sweden, House of Bernadotte, House of Holstein-Gottorp, House of Vasa, Kings of Sweden, Oscar II of Sweden, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Baden, Wilhelm I of Germany

Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; June 16, 1858 – October 29, 1950) was King of Sweden from 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, the youngest daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau, by his second wife Princess Pauline Friederica Marie of Württemberg. Duke Wilhelm of Nassau was also the father of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg by his first wife, Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

King Gustaf V of Sweden

Reigning from the death of his father Oscar II on December 8, 1907, until his own death 43 years later, Gustaf V holds the record of being the oldest monarch of Sweden and the third-longest reigning after Magnus IV-VII of Sweden and Norway (1319-1364) and the present Swedish King, Carl XVI Gustaf. He was also the last Swedish monarch to exercise his royal prerogatives, which largely died with him, although formally abolished only with the remaking of the Swedish constitution in 1974. He was the first Swedish king since the High Middle Ages not to have a coronation and hence never wore a crown, a tradition continuing to date.

Gustaf’s early reign saw the rise of parliamentary rule in Sweden, although the leadup to World War I pre-empted his overthrow of Liberal Prime Minister Karl Staaff in 1914, replacing him with his own figurehead Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (father of Dag Hammarskjöld) for most of the war. However, after the Liberals and Social Democrats secured a parliamentary majority under Staaff’s successor, Nils Edén, he allowed Edén to form a new government which de facto stripped the monarchy of all virtual powers and enacted universal and equal suffrage, including for women, by 1919.

Meeting of the three kings in Malmö, December 18, 1914: Haakon VII of Norway, Gustaf V of Sweden, and Christian X of Denmark.

Bowing fully to the principles of parliamentary democracy, he remained a popular figurehead for the remaining 31 years of his rule, although not completely without influence – during World War II he allegedly urged Per Albin Hansson’s coalition government to accept requests from Nazi Germany for logistics support, refusing which might have provoked an invasion. This remains controversial to date, although he is not known to have shown much support for fascism or radical nationalism; his pro-German and anti-Communist stance was well known also in World War I.

On September 20, 1881 he married Princess Victoria of Baden in Karlsruhe, Germany. Victoria of Baden was the daughter of Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, and Princess Louise of Prussia, the second child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Victoria was named after her aunt, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Gustaf and Victoria

German Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta were present at the wedding, and marriage was arranged as a sign that Sweden belonged to the German sphere in Europe. The marriage was popular in Sweden where she was called “The Vasa Princess”, because of her descent from the old Vasa Dynasty

Victoria of Baden was the granddaughter of Princess Sophie of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden, the daughter of the deposed King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and his wife, Frederica of Baden. Victoria’s marriage to Gustaf V united the reigning Bernadotte dynasty with the former royal house of Holstein-Gottorp, which claimed descent from the House of Vasa which brought Sweden its independence and thus was popular throughout Sweden.

The kings of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, which produced the kings of Sweden from 1751 to 1818, often emphasized their Vasa descent, albeit through a female line. The current ruling house of Bernadotte similarly prides in its Vasa descent: Carl XIV, the first Bernadotte king, was an adopted son of Carl XIII, the last from the House of Holstein-Gottorp; his son Oscar I married a Vasa descendant Josephine of Leuchtenberg; and the focus of this blog post, his grandson Gustaf V, married Victoria of Baden who was, as we’ve seen, a great-grandchild of Gustav IV Adolf of the house Holstein-Gottorp.

Gustaf and Victoria were brought together by their families and their marriage was reported not to have been a happy one. Their marriage produced three children:

1. King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (1882-1973) (aged 90) married 1) Princess Margaret of Connaught (1882–1920), had issue (four sons, one daughter), married 2) Louise Mountbatten (1889–1965), a stillborn daughter.

2. Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland (1884-1965)(aged 80) married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1890–1958), had issue.

3. Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland (1889-1918) (aged 29) died unmarried of the Spanish flu, no issue

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden with her mother, Grand Duchess Louise of Baden (only daughter of Wilhelm I, German Emperor) and her eldest son, baby Gustaf Adolf, 1883.

In 1890–1891, Victoria and Gustaf travelled to Egypt to repair their relationship, but it did not succeed, allegedly due to Victoria’s interest in one of the courtiers, and she repeated the trip to Egypt in 1891–1892. After 1889, the personal relationship between Victoria and Gustaf is considered to have been finished, in part, as estimated by Lars Elgklou, due to the bisexuality of Gustaf V.

Victoria of Baden, Queen Consort of Sweden

An avid hunter and sportsman, Gustaf V presided over the 1912 Olympic Games and chaired the Swedish Association of Sports from 1897 to 1907. Most notably, he represented Sweden (under the alias of Mr G.) as a competitive tennis player, keeping up competitive tennis until his 80s, when his eyesight deteriorated rapidly. He died from flu complications and was succeeded by his son as King Gustaf VI Adolf.

Following his death at age 92, in 1950, Gustaf V was implicated in a homosexual affair in the Haijby affair. His alleged lover Kurt Haijby was imprisoned in 1952 for blackmail of the court in the 1930s. Homosexuality was a criminal offense in Sweden until 1944, though Gustaf’s position would have granted automatic immunity.

HM King Carl XVI Gustaf limits the members of the House of Bernadotte.

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Act of Succession, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, House of Bernadotte, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Kings and Queens of Sweden, Royal Family

Today, October 7, 2019, HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden limited the members of the House of Bernadotte. These personages will still be members of the Swedish Royal Family, but only official members of the House of Bernadotte will be expected to work in representing the King.

Styles such as His/Her Royal Highness have been stripped from non working royals. According to the Marshal of the Realm, the princely titles will be regarded as personal. Future spouses and children are not entitled to use those titles.

The Act of Succession has not been change. The requirement that they have to be brought up in Sweden has not been abolished.

Below is the decree released by the Marshal of the Realm.

Here is a previous list of the Members of the House of Bernadotte with the now current members.

Here is a picture of the King and his children, their spouses and grandchildren. Below that is a picture of the King, his daughter Crown Princess Victoria and her eldest daughter and heir Princess Estelle.

200th Anniversary of the House of Bernadotte.

Tags

Charles XIII of Sweden, Charles XIV Johan of Sweden, Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden, Gustav V of Sweden, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden

Today marks the 200th Anniversary of the House of Bernadotte on the Swedish throne.

The House of Bernadotte (/ˌbɜːrnəˈdɒt/ BUR-nə-DOT; Swedish pronunciation: [bɛɳäˈdɔtː]) is the royal house of Sweden, which has reigned since February 5, 1818. Between 1818 and 1905, it was also the royal house of Norway. Its founder, Carl XIV-III Johan of Sweden and Norway born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte and was adopted by the elderly King Carl XIII-II of Sweden and Norway who had no other heir and whose Holstein-Gottorp branch of the House of Oldenburg thus was soon to be extinct.

History of the Royal House

Following the conclusion of Finnish War in 1809, Sweden lost possession of Finland, which had constituted roughly the eastern half of the Swedish realm for centuries. Resentment towards King Gustav IV Adolf precipitated an abrupt coup d’état. Gustav Adolf (and his son Gustav) was deposed and his uncle Carl XIII was elected King in his place. However, Carl XIII was 61 years old and prematurely senile. He was also childless; one child had been stillborn and another died after less than a week. It was apparent almost as soon as Carl XIII ascended the throne that the Swedish branch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp would die with him. In 1810 the Riksdag of the Estates, the Swedish parliament, elected a Danish prince, Prince Christian-August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg-Augustenborg, as heir-presumptive to the throne. He took the name Carl-August, but died later that same year.

At this time, Emperor Napoleon I of France controlled much of continental Europe, and some of his client kingdoms were headed by his brothers. The Riksdag decided to choose a king of whom Napoleon would approve. On August 21, 1810, the Riksdag elected Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, a Marshal of France, as heir presumptive to the Swedish throne.

Bernadotte was elected partly because a large part of the Swedish Army, in view of future complications with Russia, were in favour of electing a soldier, and partly because he was also personally popular, owing to the kindness he had shown to the Swedish prisoners in Lübeck. The matter was decided by one of the Swedish courtiers, Baron Karl Otto Mörner, who, entirely on his own initiative, offered the succession to the Swedish crown to Bernadotte.

On February 5, 1818 following the death of Carl XIII-II of Sweden and Norway The Crown Prince became King Carl XIV Johan in Sweden and King Carl III Johan in Norway. Initially the king was popular in both countries. The democratic process and forces steadily matured under the King’s restrained executive power. With the accession of Carl-Johan as king the old dynasty of Holstein-Gottorp was replaced with the House of Bernadotte.

Genealogically the current occupant of the Swedish throne, King Carl XVI Gustav, is a descendant of both the House of Bernadotte and the old House of Holstein-Gottorp. Princess Sofia Wilhelmina of Sweden (May 21, 1801 – July 6, 1865), was the eldest daughter of the deposed king, Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden and Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina of Baden (1781–1826). Princess Sofia Wilhelmina married Grand Duke Leopold of Baden, and their granddaughter Victoria of Baden would marry the Bernadotte king Gustaf V of Sweden on September 20, 1881 thus making the present King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden as Gustav IV Adolph’s heir.

The coat of arms of the House of Bernadotte dimidiates the coat of arms of the House of Vasa (heraldic right) and the coat of arms of Bernadotte as Prince of Pontecorvo (heraldic left). It is visible as an inescutcheon in the Greater Coat of Arms of the Realm.
When elected to be Swedish royalty the new heir had been called Prince Bernadotte according the promotions he received from Emperor Napoleon I, culminating in sovereignty over the Principality of Pontecorvo. Some Swedish experts have asserted that all of his male heirs have had the right to use that Italian title, since the Swedish government never made payments promised Carl-Johan to get him to give up his position in Pontecorvo.

Some members of the house who lost their royal status and Swedish titles due to unapproved marriages have also been given the titles Prince Bernadotte and Count of Wisborg in the nobility of other countries.