Princess Birgitta of Sweden

Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Hohenzollern (Birgitta Ingeborg Alice, born 19 January 1937) is a Swedish princess, an elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Family

Born at Haga Palace in Stockholm, she is the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Vasterbotten and Princess Sibylla of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, and a granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf. Her sisters are Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Amber, Princess Desiree, Baroness Silverschiold, and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson. She is a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Birgitta is the estranged wife of HSH Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.

Among her sisters she alone married a man of princely status, and in keeping with the tradition that princess who marry princes retain their royal status, Princess Birgitta retained her Swedish style of Royal Highness. A princess of Hohenzollern would normally be entitled to the lesser style of Serene Highness.

Marriage

On a visit in 1959 to friends and relatives in Germany, the princess met her future husband at a cocktail party.

On 15 December 1960, her engagement to Johann Georg Carl Leopold Eitel-Friedrich Meinrad Maria Hubertus Michael, Prince of Hohenzollern (b.1932) was announced.

The civil ceremony took place at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 25 May 1961, and the religious in the Sankt Johann Church at the bridegroom's Family Palace of Sigmaringen on 30 May / 31 July 1961. The bridesmaids were the bride's sister Princess Christina and cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark; the groomsmen were the bride's brother Crown Prince Carl Gustaf and her cousin Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (son of Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg).

Birgitta converted to the Catholic Church when she married the Hohenzollern prince and thus she and her children have been ineligible for succession to the Swedish throne even when new constitutional regulations took effect in Sweden in 1979 to 1980.

Prince Johann Georg and Princess Birgitta separated in 1990, though they remain legally married. She lives on the island of Majorca in Spain, while her husband lives in Munich.

Personal Life

In November 1960 Birgitta visited the United States accompanied by her younger sister Princess Desiree on behalf of grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf for the 50th of the The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In their honour a ball was organized for two princesses at the Renaissance Blackstone Hotel in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley.

Princess Birgitta has had assignments for golf and charities outside of Sweden and is an Honorary Board Member of the (British) Royal Swedish Golfing Society, a position she took over when her uncle Prince Bertil died.

She has her own golf competition in Majorca, the Princess Birgitta Trophy, at her home golf course.

She participates in the celebrations of the Swedish Lucia every year, and in the held at her golf club on Sweden's National Day.

She also takes part in Swedish royal family events; with her husband and children, she was a guest at the 2010 Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling, and at Princess Madeleine's wedding in 2013.

Issue

Princess Birgitta's marriage has produced three children:

-HSH Prince Carl Christian of Hohenzollern (b. 5 April 1962 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany), married in 1999 to Nicole Helene Neschitsch (b.22 January 1968). They have one son:

-HSH Prince Nicolas Johann Georg Maria of Hohenzollern (b. 1999)

-HSH Princess Desiree of Hohenzollern (b. Munich, Bavaria, Germany 27 November 1963); married firstly in 1990 to Heinrich Franz Josef Georg Maria, Hereditary Count of Ortenburg (b. Bamberg 1956); three children; divorced in 2002. Married secondly in 2004 to Eckbert von Bohlen Halbach (b.1956):

-Hereditary Count Carl-Theodor Georg Philipp Maria of Ortenburg (b. 1992)

-Count Frederik Hubertus Ferdinand Maria of Ortenburg (b.1995)

-Countess Carolina Maria Franziska Christina Stephanie of Ortenburg (b.1997)

-HSH Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern (b. Munich, Bavaria, Germany 10 June 1966), married in 2000 to Uta Maria Konig (b.Trier 25 February 1964). The couple had a son, who died a few days later, and then adopted a daughter:

HSH Prince Lennart Carl Christian of Hohenzollern (born on 10 January 2001 and died on 14 January 2001)

-Vivianne von Hohenzollern (b. 2009)

Title, Styles, Honours

19 January 1937-present: Her Royal Highness Princess Birgitta of Sweden

National Honours

Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Seraphim

Sweden: Recipient of the Royal Family Order of King Gustaf VI Adolf

Sweden: Recipient of the Royal Family Order of King XVI Gustaf

Sweden: Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Sweden: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling

Sweden: Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Foreign Honours

Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Special Issue

Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau

House: Bernadotte

Religion: Roman Catholic

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