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Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland

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Prince Wilhelm
Duke of Södermanland
The Duke of Södermanland (1911)
Born(1884-06-17)17 June 1884
Tullgarn Palace, Trosa, Sweden
Died5 June 1965(1965-06-05) (aged 80)
Stenhammar Palace, Sweden
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1908; div. 1914)​
IssueLennart Bernadotte
Names
Carl Wilhelm Ludvig
HouseBernadotte
FatherGustaf V of Sweden
MotherVictoria of Baden

Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland (Carl Wilhelm Ludvig; 17 June 1884 – 5 June 1965) was a Swedish and Norwegian prince. He authored many books (primarily in Swedish) as Prins Wilhelm.

Personal life

Prince Wilhelm with his elder brother and father King Gustaf V at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Wilhelm was born at Tullgarn Palace, the second son of King Gustaf V of Sweden and his wife Victoria of Baden. [1]

Marriage and divorce

On 3 May 1908, in Tsarskoye Selo, Wilhelm married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia by his first wife Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. The bride was a cousin of the reigning Russian tsar, Nicholas II. The couple had one son: Lennart (1909–2004).

The marriage was unhappy. Their son, Lennart, later wrote an autobiography in which he revealed several details of the Swedish royal family. The autobiography tells of how Maria, like her aunt and namesake Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, felt that she had married beneath herself in marrying a younger son of the King of Sweden, and this caused problems of ego between the couple. Maria insisted that the servants address her by her correct style Your Imperial and Royal Highness, to the chagrin of her husband, who was merely a Royal Highness. When apprised of the matter, Wilhelm's father King Gustav V had no choice but to acquiesce with his daughter-in-law's wish, which was perfectly valid in law, and ordered that the imperial style be used invariably for Maria.

Maria sought a divorce because of what she described as the horror she then felt toward the Swedish royal family, due to their unlimited support of their official physician, Axel Munthe, who had accosted her sexually.[2] The divorce was granted in 1914, and Maria returned to Russia.

Later life

Wilhelm had a relationship, which was not publicly known, with Jeanne de Tramcourt which lasted from around 1914 (starting date unknown) until Jeanne's death in 1952. They lived together for more than 30 years on the estate Stenhammar near Flen. This was at a time when cohabitation was very unusual and not officially allowed to occur among royalty. Jeanne de Tramcourt was therefore called his "hostess" at Stenhammar. On 2 January 1952 she died in a car accident in a snowstorm near Stjärnhov in Södermanland, when they were on their way to Stenhammar after visiting Wilhelm's son Lennart. Wilhelm was driving when the accident took place. After this tragedy, he is said never to have recovered.

Career and interests

Wilhelm was a noted photographer and the author of several books written in Swedish under the pen name Prins Wilhelm.[3][4]

In keeping with protocol demanded of royalty in modern democracies, Wilhelm kept studiously away from politics. One of his rare forays into the political sphere happened during the Second World War, following the murder of the Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor Kaj Munk on 4 January 1944. It was alleged, perhaps correctly, that the occupying German forces (specifically the Gestapo) were behind the murder, and the Danish resistance newspaper De frie Danske carried condemnatory reactions from numerous influential Scandinavians. Wilhelm was one of those who condemned the murder.[5]

Death

The simple grave of Prince Wilhelm and his first daughter-in-law Karin (Nissvandt) Bernadotte in Flen

Wilhelm suffered from emphysema caused by several years of chain smoking and died in his sleep, from a heart attack, in Flen, just 12 days before his 81st birthday.

Honours and awards

He received the following orders and decorations:[6]

National honours

Foreign honours

Arms

  • Wilhelm's coat of arms as prince of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Södermanland 1884 to 1905
    Wilhelm's coat of arms as prince of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Södermanland 1884 to 1905
  • Wilhelm's coat of arms as prince of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland after 1907
    Wilhelm's coat of arms as prince of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland after 1907

Ancestors

References

  1. ^ "Prince Wilhelm - Sveriges Kungahus". www.kungahuset.se. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. ^ Lennart Bernadotte in Käre prins, godnatt! ISBN 91-0-041935-4 pp. 155-158
  3. ^ Amerika från estraden 1928
  4. ^ Känner du landet 1950
  5. ^ "KAJ MUNK IN MEMORIAM". De frie Danske (in Danish). January 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 18 November 2014. Nu er han borte. Myrdet af fire gangstere, en Forbrydelse uden lige. Hvor meningsløst: Ordet dør ikke, fordi man dræber Ordets Forkynder, Aanden knuses ikke af en Revolverkugle. Terror kan aldrig udslette Digterværk, saalidt som den formaar at undertrykke Ideer. Tankens Frihed overvinder selv den væreste Forbrydelse. Kaj Munk blev en Martyr for sit Frihedskrav, men hans skabende Kulturindsats skal leve med stigende Intensitet efter dette. Nordisk Litteratur har Landesorg
  6. ^ Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1955, p. 6, retrieved 6 January 2018 – via runeberg.org
  7. ^ Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1955, p. 127, retrieved 6 January 2018 – via runeberg.org
  8. ^ "The Order of the Norwegian Lion", The Royal House of Norway. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  9. ^ Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1963) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1963 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1963] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p. 18. Retrieved 1 May 2020 – via da:DIS Danmark.
  10. ^ Italy. Ministero dell'interno (1920). Calendario generale del regno d'Italia. p. 58.
  11. ^ Journal de Monaco
  12. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36500. London. 6 July 1901. p. 12.
  13. ^ "No. 27807". The London Gazette. 16 June 1905. p. 4251.
  14. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1910), "Großherzogliche Orden" p. 41


Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland
Born: 17 June 1884 Died: 5 June 1965
Swedish royalty
Preceded by Duke of Södermanland Succeeded by
Prince Alexander, Duke of Södermanland
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