| Sigvard Bernadotte | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Bernadotte prev.Duke of Uppland | |||||
 Bernadotte in 1944 | |||||
| Born | Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland (1907-06-07)7 June 1907 Stockholm Palace,Stockholm, Sweden | ||||
| Died | 4 February 2002(2002-02-04) (aged 94) Stockholm, Sweden | ||||
| Burial | 15 February 2002 Royal Cemetery,Solna, Sweden | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Michael Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg | ||||
| |||||
| House | Bernadotte | ||||
| Father | Gustaf VI Adolf | ||||
| Mother | Margaret of Connaught | ||||
Sigvard Oscar Fredrik, Prince Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (7 June 1907 – 4 February 2002) born as, and until 1934 known as,Prince Sigvard of Sweden, Duke of Uppland, was a member of theSwedish Royal Family and a successfulindustrial designer.
He was the second son ofthe future King Gustaf VI Adolf and his first wife,Princess Margaret of Connaught, eldest daughter ofPrince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and granddaughter of Britain'sQueen Victoria. He was a Prince of Sweden from birth, but was excluded from theline of succession in 1934 when he married a woman of unequal rank, a violation of provisions prohibiting marriages between a Prince and a "private man's daughter" (Swedish:enskild mans dotter), in force at the time, contained in both the1809 Instrument of Government and the1810 Act of Succession, and, in addition, he lost his princely and ducal titles as decided by theKing in Council.[1] As per the king's wishes, he was then to be called onlyMr. Sigvard Bernadotte in Sweden. In 1951, he was granted Luxembourgian titles of nobility, the interpretation of which remained a point of contention with theRoyal Court for the rest of his life, Bernadotte having formally declared in 1983 that his title wasPrince Sigvard Bernadotte.
Bernadotte was a paternal uncle of KingCarl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and a maternal uncle of QueenMargrethe II of Denmark.
Bernadotte was born at 7 June 1907 onDrottningholm Palace in Stockholm as the second child ofCrown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden andPrincess Margaret of Connaught. He graduated fromLundsbergs School in 1926 and went on to study political science and art history atUppsala University. Upon graduating in 1929, he became the first member of theHouse of Bernadotte to earn an academic degree. In 1930, he was admitted to the design schoolKonstfack.
DuringWorld War II, Bernadotte served asLieutenant in theSvea Life Guards.
After World War II, Bernadotte became creative director ofGeorg Jensen A/S.[2] His originalart deco "Bernadotte" collection was designed in 1938 and remains a stable in the company's product range to this day. He continued his collaboration with Georg Jensen until 1980.
In 1950, he and Danish architect and designerActon Bjørn founded the design studio Bernadotte & Bjørn Industrial A/S in Copenhagen.
Among his iconic designs were theRed Clara opener; EKA Swede 38 folding knife;[3] the Margrethe bowl – named for his nieceQueen Margrethe II of Denmark; the Bernadotte jug, and the Facit Private typewriter.[4] He also designed glasses frames.[5]
In 1964, Bernadotte opened his own studio Bernadotte Design AB in Stockholm.
He worked as anassistant director atMGM inCulver City, California and served as a technical advisor on the 1937 filmThe Prisoner of Zenda.
He appeared briefly in the 1968 Italianmondo filmSweden: Heaven and Hell. His work in industrial design at Bernadotte Design AB is featured, along with select items from his portfolio.
Bernadotte was born Prince of Sweden and Duke of Uppland, but having made anunequal match was disqualified from theline of succession. He was also forbidden to use his birth titles[6] and left to be calledMr. Bernadotte. His cousinLennart Bernadotte, who two years earlier had experienced the same thing (as the first Swede in history), considered himself, and even more so Sigvard, subjected to very cruel treatment for several decades by theRoyal Court of Sweden due to their marriages.[7]
On 2 July 1951, for himself, his wife and his marital descendants, Bernadotte was admitted byGrand Duchess Charlotte (head of state at the time) into the nobility of Luxembourg with the titleCount of Wisborg[8] and in that conferral was also calledSigvard Oscar Frederik Prince Bernadotte.[9]
After more than 30 years of argument and controversy in Sweden over his rank and titles, problems which worsened when his father died in 1973, and fed up after having been demonstratively snubbed by the Royal Court of Sweden during a state visit by QueenElizabeth II in 1983, Bernadotte announced toTidningarnas Telegrambyrå on 28 May of that year that he was to be known asPrince Sigvard Bernadotte from then on.[10]
Over the years since then, based on precedent established in 1888 for his great-uncleOscar,[11] and citing Oscar's title of nobility as it was confirmed by the Government of Luxembourg in 1892, Bernadotte was supported by several legal experts[12] when he petitioned for acknowledgement in Sweden of thePrince Bernadotte title as his also,[13] although he did not seek reinstatement in the line of succession to the throne as a royal prince of that country.King Carl XVI Gustaf has been criticized for never obliging and for his consequent estrangement from his uncle.[14]
Bernadotte went to theEuropean Court of Human Rights in an effort to have the Government of Sweden acknowledge his princely title there, but in 2004, after his death, the ECHR declared the application inadmissible.[15]
He 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 inCaxton Hall in London and the witnesses were the bride's brother Georg Patzek and a lawyer Mr Gordon. Sigvard lost all royal privileges following the wedding and started his silver design business. They were divorced on 14 October 1943.
Bernadotte remarried a Danish woman, Sonja Helene Robbert (1909–2004), on 26 October 1943 and they were divorced on 6 June 1961. They had one son: Michael (born 21 August 1944).
Lastly, Bernadotte married Swedish actressMarianne Lindberg Tchang on 30 July 1961.
From 1994 to 2002, he was the oldest living great-grandchild ofQueen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and having reached the age of 94, he was her longest-lived male descendant until being overtaken by his younger brotherCarl Johan on 29 June 2011.
Bernadotte died on 4 February 2002 at the nursing home Borgarhemmet in Stockholm. His funeral took place on 15 February 2002 inEngelbrekt Church and was attended by members of both the Swedish and the Danish royal families. He is buried atRoyal Cemetery inHagaparken and the wording on his gravestone, does make it clear that he was "born Prince of Sweden".[16]
Commander Grand Cross of theOrder of the Polar Star (21 March 1952)[17]
King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal (1928)[17]King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal II (1948)[17]
Prince Eugen Medal (1997)[18]
![Arms of the Counts of Wisborg[8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aArmoiries_de_Lennart_Bernadotte_comte_de_Wisborg.svg)
| Ancestors of Sigvard Bernadotte |
|---|
Sigvard Bernadotte Born: 7 June 1907 Died: 4 February 2002 | ||
| Swedish royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Duke of Uppland | Succeeded by none |
