Oscar Bernadotte
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Prince Oscar Carl August Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (15 November 1859 in Drottningholm – 4 October 1953 in Stockholm) was the second son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sofia of Nassau. He was born a Prince of Sweden and Norway and was then Prince Oscar, Duke of Gotland.
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Through Oscar's marriage in Bournemouth on 15 March 1888 to Swedish noblewoman Ebba Munck af Fulkila (Jönköping, 15 March 1858 – Stockholm, 16 October 1946), lady-in-waiting to the Crown Princess, without the consent of his father, the King, he gave up his right of succession to the Swedish throne and his royal title.
Ebba was a lady-in-waiting of the crown princess, Victoria of Baden, who in 1885 visited her brother-in-law in Amsterdam, where he was to undergo a medical examination. Ebba and Oscar visited the Norwegian sailor church during their stay in Amsterdam and fell in love: Ebba was religious and influenced Oscar in this regard. When Oscar told his family that he wished to marry Ebba, they were scandalized and he was forced to take a two years consideration period, and Ebba was dismissed as a lady-in-waiting. In 1887, Oscar told his family that he had not changed his mind, and the royal house gave its consent to the marriage on condition that Oscar's brothers signed a document promising that they should never enter a similar marriage, which they did. On 21 January 1888, a ball was arranged on the Royal Palace of Stockholm where Ebba and Oscar were allowed to dance with each other, and on 29 January 1888, the engagement was formally announced. The match was regarded as a great sorrow within the royal house, but it received a lot of sympathy from the public. It was said that a bridge had been placed between the people and the royal house: "The Munck bridge", and the fact that Oscar had to give up his royal title made people say that the king no longer had four sons but only three, as one of them "married and had to quit". When the couple left Stockholm, a large crowd had gathered on the train station to see them off and show their support.
They were married 15 March 1888 in St Stephen's Church in Bournemouth in England by the vicar Gustaf Beskow, who was close to the queen, Sofia of Nassau, in the presence of Oscar's mother, Queen Sophia, his brothers, two of his brothers, Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke and his cousin, the Danish crown princess Louise of Sweden, as well as the mother and brother of Ebba.
He and his wife were invested with the new titles of Prince and Princess Bernadotte on their wedding day.[1] It has never been determined if this was a title of nobility or another form of unofficial courtesy title (such as some later dynasty members have been given). On 2 April 1892, he was also given a hereditary title as Count of Wisborg by his uncle Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, previously Duke of Nassau. Wisborg was derived from Visborg, castle ruins in Oscar's former Duchy of Gotland.
His wife was the daughter of Carl Jacob Munck af Fulkila and wife baroness Henrika Ulrika Antoinetta Cederström. They had five children;
- Countess Maria Sophie Henrietta Bernadotte af Wisborg (1889–1974)
- Count Carl Oscar Bernadotte af Wisborg (1890–1977)
- Baroness Ebba Sofia Fleetwood (1892–1936)
- Mrs Elsa Victoria Cedergren (1893–1996)
- Count Folke Bernadotte af Wisborg (1895–1948)
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