Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Encyclopedia
Princess Sibylla of Sweden, Duchess of Västerbotten (born Princess Sibylla Calma Maria Alice Bathildis Feodora of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Schloss Friedenstein, 18 January 1908 – Stockholm
, 28 November 1972), was the wife of Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and is the mother of the current King of Sweden
, Carl XVI Gustaf
.
, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein, a daughter of Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
and Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
, and descended from an older Scandinavian royal house. Through her father, she was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her grandfather was Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
, the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
as a bridesmaid. One of the other bridesmaids was Ingrid of Sweden
, who introduced Sibylla to her brother, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten
. The engagement was announced at Callenberg Palace in Coburg 16 June 1932.
On 19 October in Coburg
, Sibylla married her second cousin Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten
in a civil ceremony, followed by a church wedding the day after. Gustaf Adolf was the eldest son of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden (later Gustaf VI Adolf
) and Princess Margaret of Connaught
, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Both Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf were great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. Sibylla never became Crown Princess herself since her husband died before his grandfather (King Gustav V). The wedding was celebrated in a very grand official manner in Coburg, as President Hindenburg
had ordered that no official military honors should be spared to celebrate the wedding officially. However, as the city of Coburg was dominated by the Nazi party at the time, the official celebrations there was influenced by the Nazi Party, which made a very bad impression in Sweden. The couple spent their honeymoon in Italy before arriving in Stockholm 25 November 1932.
The couple settled at Haga Palace, and their four daughters were to be commonly known during their childhood as "Hagaprinsessorna" (English: "The Haga Princesses"). Sibylla started her royal duties already a couple of days after her arrival, when she awarded the winner at a fencing tournament, assisted by princess Ingrid.
Sibylla shared her husband's enthusiasm for sport and outdoor activities, and the couple own a cottage in at Ingarö
and another one in Storlien
. She was a keen supporter of the Swedish Girl Guide movement. She is shown in a photo wearing a Guide uniform with her husband at a reception (see his article
).
Sibylla was, however, not very popular in Sweden. She and her husband was frequent guests at various German associations and clubs in Stockholm, which made them suspicions in the eyes of a public and press which during the 1930s easily associated everything German with the Nazi party. The fact that members of her own family and relatives in Germany were active within Nazism also affected her own reputation in Sweden. Additionally, she had difficulty in learning the Swedish language, which added to the distance between her and the Swedish public. Sibylla became more reserved, and her and her husbands relationship to the press was never very good, though Sibylla made efforts to break the distance.
Among her official assignments were the chairmanship of Sällskapet Barnavård (English:"The Childcare Society") in 1948, as well as being honorary chairman of Hörselfrämjandet (English:"The Hearing Society") in 1935, Sveriges flickscoutråd (English:"The Swedish Girls Scouts") in 1939, Kvinnliga bilkåren (English:"The Women's Automobile Force") in 1939, Stiftelsen Solstickan (English:"The Solstickan Society") in 1941 and Stiftelsen Drottning Victorias Vilohem på Öland (English: "The Queen Victoria Resting Home in Öland") in 1951. In 1938, she herself founded Prinsessan Sibyllas S:t Martin-stiftelse (English:"The Princess Sibylla Foundation of S:t Martin").
in Denmark
. Their son, Carl Gustaf, became second-in-line to the throne at the age of one year, and later Crown Prince
at the age of four. In 1950, she moved in to the Royal Palace of Stockholm from Haga. During the summers, she stayed at Solliden. During these years, she developed in interest in environment issues and nature protection.
After her stepmother-in-law Queen Louise
died in 1965, Sibylla became the senior Royal Princess of Sweden, acting in a supporting role for her father-in-law, King Gustaf VI Adolf. During these years, she enjoyed somewhat more popularity, as she was more exposed and her humour and sense of self irony became more known and appreciated. She continued with the so called "Democratic ladies lunches" for career women, which was instigated by queen Louise as a replacement for the court presentation in 1962.
Sibylla died of cancer
before her son ascended to the throne.
said about her, that Sibylla had "a warmth in her personality, a friendly eagerness in her interest for people which was perhaps greater than most in this country may have thought".
Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf had five children:
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, 28 November 1972), was the wife of Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and is the mother of the current King of Sweden
Monarch of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Sweden. The present monarch, Carl XVI Gustaf, has reigned since 15 September 1973. He and his immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
, Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
.
Early life
She was the daughter of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaCharles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the fourth and last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, two duchies in Germany , and the head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1900 until his death in 1954...
, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein, a daughter of Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was the second-eldest daughter of Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.-Family:Karoline Mathilde's elder sister, Augusta Viktoria was German...
and Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Friedrich Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was the fourth Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg-Family and succession:...
, and descended from an older Scandinavian royal house. Through her father, she was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her grandfather was Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow...
, the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Marriage
In November 1931, Sibylla was in London to attend the wedding of Lady May Abel SmithLady May Abel Smith
Lady May Abel Smith born Princess May of Teck was a descendant of the British Royal Family, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. From her birth, she was known as Princess May of Teck, a title in the Kingdom of Württemberg...
as a bridesmaid. One of the other bridesmaids was Ingrid of Sweden
Ingrid of Sweden
Ingrid of Sweden was a Swedish princess and the queen consort of King Frederick IX of Denmark.-Background:...
, who introduced Sibylla to her brother, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
Prince Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund, Duke of Västerbotten was Duke of West Bothnia and the eldest son of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught...
. The engagement was announced at Callenberg Palace in Coburg 16 June 1932.
On 19 October in Coburg
Coburg
Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
, Sibylla married her second cousin Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
Prince Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund, Duke of Västerbotten was Duke of West Bothnia and the eldest son of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught...
in a civil ceremony, followed by a church wedding the day after. Gustaf Adolf was the eldest son of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden (later Gustaf VI Adolf
Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden
Gustaf VI Adolf - Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf - was King of Sweden from October 29, 1950 until his death. His official title was King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends. He was the eldest son of King Gustaf V and his wife Victoria of Baden...
) and Princess Margaret of Connaught
Princess Margaret of Connaught
Princess Margaret of Connaught was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria, and his wife, Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia...
, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Both Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf were great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. Sibylla never became Crown Princess herself since her husband died before his grandfather (King Gustav V). The wedding was celebrated in a very grand official manner in Coburg, as President Hindenburg
Hindenburg
The term "Hindenburg" is most commonly used to refer to the LZ 129 Hindenburg, the first of the German Hindenburg-class airships, which famously caught fire and crashed in 1937 during the infamous Hindenburg disaster.The word "Hindenburg" may also refer to:...
had ordered that no official military honors should be spared to celebrate the wedding officially. However, as the city of Coburg was dominated by the Nazi party at the time, the official celebrations there was influenced by the Nazi Party, which made a very bad impression in Sweden. The couple spent their honeymoon in Italy before arriving in Stockholm 25 November 1932.
The couple settled at Haga Palace, and their four daughters were to be commonly known during their childhood as "Hagaprinsessorna" (English: "The Haga Princesses"). Sibylla started her royal duties already a couple of days after her arrival, when she awarded the winner at a fencing tournament, assisted by princess Ingrid.
Sibylla shared her husband's enthusiasm for sport and outdoor activities, and the couple own a cottage in at Ingarö
Ingarö
Ingarö is an island in Värmdö Municipality, Stockholm County. The chief settlement is called Brunn. With an area of 63 km2, it is the 16th biggest island in Sweden. Petroglyphs indicate that the island has been inhabited since the Nordic Bronze Age. For most of the 20th century the resident...
and another one in Storlien
Storlien
Storlien is a village and ski resort in the Åre municipality, in Jämtland, Sweden, a kilometre from the Swedish-Norwegian border.The village has only 78 permanent inhabitants. The work opportunities are based on tourism and shopping. Most tourists are Norwegians or Swedes. Shopping tourists arrive...
. She was a keen supporter of the Swedish Girl Guide movement. She is shown in a photo wearing a Guide uniform with her husband at a reception (see his article
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
Prince Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund, Duke of Västerbotten was Duke of West Bothnia and the eldest son of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught...
).
Sibylla was, however, not very popular in Sweden. She and her husband was frequent guests at various German associations and clubs in Stockholm, which made them suspicions in the eyes of a public and press which during the 1930s easily associated everything German with the Nazi party. The fact that members of her own family and relatives in Germany were active within Nazism also affected her own reputation in Sweden. Additionally, she had difficulty in learning the Swedish language, which added to the distance between her and the Swedish public. Sibylla became more reserved, and her and her husbands relationship to the press was never very good, though Sibylla made efforts to break the distance.
Among her official assignments were the chairmanship of Sällskapet Barnavård (English:"The Childcare Society") in 1948, as well as being honorary chairman of Hörselfrämjandet (English:"The Hearing Society") in 1935, Sveriges flickscoutråd (English:"The Swedish Girls Scouts") in 1939, Kvinnliga bilkåren (English:"The Women's Automobile Force") in 1939, Stiftelsen Solstickan (English:"The Solstickan Society") in 1941 and Stiftelsen Drottning Victorias Vilohem på Öland (English: "The Queen Victoria Resting Home in Öland") in 1951. In 1938, she herself founded Prinsessan Sibyllas S:t Martin-stiftelse (English:"The Princess Sibylla Foundation of S:t Martin").
Later life
Sibylla was widowed in 1947 when Gustaf Adolf died in an airplane crash at the Copenhagen AirportCopenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Their son, Carl Gustaf, became second-in-line to the throne at the age of one year, and later Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
at the age of four. In 1950, she moved in to the Royal Palace of Stockholm from Haga. During the summers, she stayed at Solliden. During these years, she developed in interest in environment issues and nature protection.
After her stepmother-in-law Queen Louise
Louise Mountbatten
Louise Alexandra Marie Irene Mountbatten became Queen consort of Sweden in 1950 and served as such until her death in 1965...
died in 1965, Sibylla became the senior Royal Princess of Sweden, acting in a supporting role for her father-in-law, King Gustaf VI Adolf. During these years, she enjoyed somewhat more popularity, as she was more exposed and her humour and sense of self irony became more known and appreciated. She continued with the so called "Democratic ladies lunches" for career women, which was instigated by queen Louise as a replacement for the court presentation in 1962.
Sibylla died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
before her son ascended to the throne.
Legacy
Sibylla always had a difficult time in Sweden. She never adjusted to Swedish culture and was under pressure to produce a male heir after the births of four daughters. She was disliked by some Swedes for her German background and her father's support of the Nazis. The journalist Barbro AlvingBarbro Alving
Barbro Alving was a Swedish journalist and writer, a pacifist and feminist. She is widely known for writing under her pseudonym Bang. She wrote for, among others, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and the magazines Idun and Vecko-Journalen...
said about her, that Sibylla had "a warmth in her personality, a friendly eagerness in her interest for people which was perhaps greater than most in this country may have thought".
Titles and styles
- 18 January 1908 – 28 March 1919: Her Highness Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland
- 28 March 1919 – 19 October 1932: Her Highness Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony
- 19 October 1932 – 28 November 1972: Her Royal Highness Princess Sibylla of Sweden, Duchess of Västerbotten
Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf had five children:
Issue
| Name | |Death | Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler , was born at Haga Palace outside Stockholm. She is the first child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught .-Life and... | 31 October 1934 | married John Kenneth Ambler John Ambler John Kenneth Ambler was a British businessman married to Princess Margaretha of Sweden. His parents were Captain Charles Ambler and Louise Cullen .... , has issue |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HRH Princess Birgitta of Sweden Princess Birgitta of Sweden Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Hohenzollern is a sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She was born at Haga Palace in Stockholm County.-Family:... |
31 January 1937 | married Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern is the sixth child of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern and his wife Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern (Johann Georg Carl Leopold Eitel-Friedrich Meinrad Maria Hubertus Michael; born 31 July 1932 in Schloss Sigmaringen,... , has issue |
|||
| Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld , was born at Haga Palace outside Stockholm. She is the third child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden... |
2 June 1938 | married Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, has issue | |||
| Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, is the sister of Carl XVI Gustaf, the current King of Sweden. She was born at Haga Palace outside Stockholm. She is the fourth child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and granddaughter of King Gustaf VI... |
3 August 1943 | married Tord Gösta Magnuson, has issue | |||
| HM King Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him... |
30 April 1946 | married Silvia Sommerlath Queen Silvia of Sweden |align=right|Queen Silvia of Sweden is the Queen consort of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Styled Her Majesty The Queen, Silvia is the mother of the heir apparent to the throne, Crown Princess Victoria.-Childhood:Queen Silvia was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on 23 December 1943... , has issue |