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Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prince Gustaf AdolfDuke of Västerbotten
Spouse Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Issue
Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler
Princess Birgitta of Sweden
Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld
Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson
Carl XVI Gustaf
Full name
Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund
Father Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden
Mother Princess Margaret of Connaught
Born 22 April 1906(1906-04-22)
Stockholm Palace, Stockholm, Sweden
Died 26 January 1947 (aged 40)
Kastrup Airfield, Copenhagen, Denmark
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (Stockholm, April 22, 1906 – Kastrup Airfield, Copenhagen, January 26, 1947) was the eldest son of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. His mother was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria since she was the daughter of HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and his wife, Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia.
Marriage and family
On October 19/October 20 1932, he married in Coburg his second cousin, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, daughter of Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Princess Sibylla was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, a granddaughter of HRH Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. They had five children:
Children
Name Birth Death NotesPrincess Margaretha 31 October 1934 married John Kenneth Ambler, has children
HRH Princess Birgitta 31 January 1937 married Johann Georg of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, has children
Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld 2 June 1938 married Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, has children
Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson 3 August 1943 married Tord Gösta Magnuson, has children
HM King Carl XVI Gustaf 30 April 1946 married Silvia Sommerlath, has children
Politics and World War II
Some recent journalists and historians[who?] portray Gustaf Adolf as sympathetic towards the Nazi movement in Germany in the 1930s, an opinion which has been highly debated and criticized. It is a fact that Gustaf Adolf as an official representative of Sweden met with many Nazi leaders, including Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring (the latter had lived in Sweden and had many friends among the Swedish upper class). As the prince very rarely spoke of political matters and left no written evidence of any political sympathies of any kind, the subject is very much a matter of speculation.
These rumours however made him unpopular among many Swedes during his life time. The public called him tyskprinsen (the German prince). However, according to journalist and author Staffan Skott in his book Alla dessa Bernadottar (All these Bernadottes[1]), these rumors are disproved by letters and diary entries by influential Swedes of decidedly anti-Nazi persuasion, including the diplomat Sven Grafström and the wife of a government minister Gustav Möller, as well as the stepson of Hermann Göring who said that a visit by the prince to Göring's home was a complete failure and that Göring and Gustaf Adolf did not get along well. Also, the anti-Nazi newspaper Expressen said that the rumors had been denied by "plausible witnesses who were also strongly pro-democracy". The Swedish Royal Court also has made a statement denying any knowledge of Nazi sympathies.
Scouting
Gustaf Adolf was a Boy Scout and as an adult became a Scoutmaster. He earned his Wood Badge beads at Gilwell Park in England. When the Svenska Scoutrådet was formed he served as its first president or Chief Scout. He was leader of the Swedish contingent at the 5th World Scout Jamboree in 1937 and to the World Scout Moot in 1939. He served on the World Scout Committee from May 1937 until his death.[2] [3]
Military career
Gustaf Adolf reached the substantive rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the 1940s.
Death
Prince Gustaf Adolf was killed in an airplane crash on the afternoon of 26 January 1947, at the Kastrup Airport, Kastrup, Denmark. The prince, along with two companions, was returning to Stockholm from a hunting trip and visit to Crown Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The delayed KLM flight from Amsterdam had landed at Copenhagen for a routine stop before continuing to Stockholm. Soon after the Douglas DC-3 aircraft took off, it climbed to an altitude of about 50 meters (150 ft), stalled, and plummeted nose-first to the ground, where it exploded on impact. All 22 people aboard the plane (16 passengers and six crew members) were killed. Also aboard the ill-fated flight was American singer and actress Grace Moore. The investigation showed that the crash had been caused by a forgotten gust lock to the elevator. Short of time, the captain had failed to perform the checklist properly and took off not realizing the lock was still in place.
At the time of his death, Prince Gustaf Adolf had been second in line to the Swedish throne behind his father, who in 1950 became King Gustaf VI Adolf. The younger Gustaf Adolf was succeeded as second in line by his only son, Carl Gustaf, who would later succeed his grandfather as King Carl XVI Gustaf.