Wikipedia

Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha(Sibylle Calma Marie Alice Bathildis Feodora;[1]18 January 1908 – 28 November 1972)[2]was a member of theSwedish royal familyand the mother of the currentking of Sweden,Carl XVI Gustaf.

Princess Sibylla
Duchess ofVästerbotten
Sibylla in 1947
Born(1908-01-18)18 January 1908
Friedenstein Palace,Gotha,Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,German Empire
Died28 November 1972(1972-11-28)(aged 64)
Stockholm,Sweden
Burial7 December 1972
Royal Cemetery,Solna,Sweden
Spouse
​
​
(m.1932;died1947)​
Issue
Names
Sibylle Calma Marie Alice Bathildis Feodora[1]
HouseSaxe-Coburg and Gotha
FatherCharles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
MotherPrincess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein

Born into theHouse of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,Sibylla was the daughter ofCharles Edward,the lastdukeofSaxe-Coburg and Gotha.She became a Swedish princess when she marriedPrince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbottenin 1932. She thus had the prospect of one day becoming queen, but the prince was killed in anairplane crash in 1947and did not live to ascend the Swedish throne. Her son became king the year after her death.

Early life

edit
Sibylla and brother Hubertus in 1917

Sibylla was born on 18 January 1908 atSchloss Friedensteinin the city ofGotha,one of the twocapitalsin theDuchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gothain centralGermany.She was the elder daughter and second child ofCharles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,andPrincess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein.Her father was aposthumousson ofPrince Leopold, Duke of Albany,the youngest son ofQueen Victoriaof theUnited KingdomandPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.Prince Charles Edward had, at the urging of his grandmother, inherited the position of duke after his uncle in 1900. The same year he had married Princess Victoria Adelaide, who was a daughter ofFriedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-HolsteinandPrincess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg,sister of theEmpress Augusta Victoria.

Like the other princes of theGerman Empire,her father was forced toabdicatein November 1918, just before the end ofWorld War I,when the Germanmonarchieswere abolished amidst the tumults of theGerman Revolution of 1918–1919.[3]This also affected Princess Sibylla's position. In 1919, her father was deprived of his Britishpeerages,as a consequence of theTitles Deprivation Act of 1917,which authorized enemies of the United Kingdom during theFirst World Warto be deprived of their Britishpeeragesand royal titles.[4]He and his children also lost their entitlement to the titles ofPrinceandPrincess of the United Kingdomand thestylesofRoyal HighnessandHighness.[a]

Princess Sibylla grew up in Coburg with her siblingsHereditary Prince Johann Leopold,Prince Hubertus,Princess Caroline-MathildeandPrince Friedrich Josias.The children received, as was common in aristocratic circles at the time, their initial schooling byprivate tutorsandgovernesses.Later, Princess Sibylla attended theGymnasium Alexandrinumin Coburg and theKunstgewerbeschuleinWeimar.[5]

Marriage

edit
The bride and groom at their wedding on 20 October 1932.

In November 1931, Sibylla was inLondonto attend the wedding of her paternal first cousinLady May Cambridgeas a bridesmaid. One of the other bridesmaids was her second cousin PrincessIngrid of Sweden,who introduced Sibylla to her brother,Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten.Theirengagementwas announced atCallenberg CastleinCoburg16 June 1932. Prince Gustaf Adolf was the eldest son of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden (later KingGustaf VI Adolf) andPrincess Margaret of Connaught,a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf were thus second cousins, as they were both great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria.[citation needed]

Wedding of Princess Sibylla and Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden in Coburg in October 1932.

The wedding took place in Coburg in October of the same year - known as the "Sweden Year", as in the same year the 300th-anniversary of the death of the great Swedish KingGustavus II Adolphuswas marked. Although the monarchy had been abolished, the wedding was still celebrated in an official manner in Coburg, with, among other things, military honors and a public procession, as theGerman PresidentPaul von Hindenburghad ordered that no honours should be spared.[6]However, as the city of Coburg was already strongly dominated by theNazi partyat the time,[b]the official celebrations there wereNaziinfluenced, which made a very bad impression in Sweden.[6]On 19 October, Princess Sibylla married Prince Gustaf Adolf in a civil ceremony at theVeste Coburg,followed by a church wedding the following day after, at theSt. Moriz Church.The couple spent their honeymoon in Italy before arriving in Stockholm on 25 November 1932.[citation needed]

The couple had five children:

Her daughters have revealed that Sibylla suffered two miscarriages, first between the births of Margretha and Birgitta and since between the births of Désirée and Christina.[9]

Princess of Sweden

edit
Sybilla in 1940
Arms
Monogram

The couple settled atHaga Palace,and their four daughters were to be commonly known during their childhood as the "Hagaprinsessorna"(English:" The Haga Princesses "). Sibylla shared her husband's enthusiasm for sport and outdoor activities, and the couple owned a cottage inIngaröand another one inStorlien.[6]

During her lifetime, she was appointed chairman of various organisations such asSällskapet Barnavård(English: "The Childcare Society" ) in 1948 and the honorary chairmanship of theHörselfrämjandet(English: "The Hearing Society" ) in 1935; theSveriges flickscoutråd(English: "The Swedish Girl Scouts" ) in 1939;Kvinnliga bilkåren(English: "The Women's Automobile Force" ) in 1939; theStiftelsen Solstickan(English: "The Solstickan Society" ) in 1941; and theStiftelsen Drottning Victorias Vilohem på Öland(English: "The Queen Victoria Resting Home in Öland" ) in 1951. In 1938, she founded thePrinsessan Sibyllas S:t Martin-stiftelse(English: "The Princess Sibylla Foundation of St Martin" ).[citation needed]

Widowhood

edit
Grave of Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf on Karlsborg Island inSolna,Sweden

Sibylla became a widow on 26 January 1947 when Gustaf Adolf died in anairplane crashat theCopenhagen AirportinDenmark.Their only son, Carl Gustaf, became second-in-line to the throne at the age of nine months and, later,Crown Princeat the age of four. In 1950, Sibylla moved from Haga to theRoyal Palace of Stockholm.During the summers, she stayed atSolliden.During these years, she developed an interest in environmental issues.

After her stepmother-in-law,Queen Louise,died in 1965, Princess Sibylla became the highest ranking woman in the royal family. She took over her duties in support of her father-in-law, King Gustaf VI Adolf. During these years, she enjoyed somewhat more popularity, as she was more exposed, and as her humour and sense of self-irony became more known and appreciated. She continued with the so-called "Democratic ladies lunches" for career women initiated by Queen Louise in 1962 as a replacement for the court presentation.

Sibylla died in Stockholm ofcancerless than a year before her son ascended to the throne.

Ancestry

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^As a male-line grandson of the British Sovereign, Duke Charles Edward was a Prince of the United Kingdom with the qualification of Royal Highness, in accordance with Queen Victoria's Letters Patent of 30 January 1864 and of 27 May 1898. Under settled practice dating to 1714, his children, as legitimate male-line great-grandchildren of the British Sovereign, were Princes and Princesses of the United Kingdom with the qualification of Highness. However, their right to use these British titles and styles ceased with George V's Letters Patent of 30 November 1917.
  2. ^In 1929, Coburg was the first German town in which theNazi Partywon the absolute majority of the popular vote during municipal elections.[7]In 1932, Coburg was the first German town to makeAdolf Hitleranhonorary citizen.[8]

References

edit

Citations

edit
  1. ^ab"Sibylla C M A B F"Svenskt biografiskt lexikon,volume 32, page 120. Riksarkivet, retrieved 11 September 2023
  2. ^"Prinsessan Sibylla 100 år".kungahuset.se(in Swedish). Swedish Royal Court. 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2021.Retrieved19 September2021.
  3. ^Bouton, S. Miles (2017).And the Kaiser Abdicates: the German Revolution November 1918 – August 1919.Library of Alexandria.ISBN9781465538109.Retrieved2017-12-31– via Google Books.
  4. ^"At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 28th day of March, 1919".London Gazette.His Majesty's Stationery Office. 28 March 1919. pp. Issue 31255, Page 4000.Retrieved28 November2011.
  5. ^"ZeitZeichen – 18. Januar 1908: Prinzessin Sibylla von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha wird geboren".10 January 2023.
  6. ^abcLars Elgklou (Swedish): Bernadotte. Historien - och historier - om en familj (English: "Bernadotte. The history - and stories - of a family" ) Askild & Kärnekull Förlag AB, Stockholm 1978.ISBN91-7008-882-9.[page needed]
  7. ^Man of the Year,Time,2 January 1939
  8. ^Oltmann, Joachim (18 January 2001)."Seine Königliche Hoheit der Obergruppenführer (German)".Zeit Online.Retrieved14 July2016.
  9. ^Både okänsligt och otacksamt, kungen,Aftonbladet,4 January 2023

Bibliography

edit
  • Elgklou, Lars (1978).Bernadotte. Historien - och historier - om en familj[Bernadotte. The history - and stories - of a family] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Askild & Kärnekull Förlag AB.ISBN91-7008-882-9..
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related toPrincess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Princess_Sibylla_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha&oldid=1276198549"