Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld

Princess Désirée Désirée prior to the wedding of her niece Madeleine in June 2013 Born 2 June 1938 Haga Palace, Solna, Sweden Spouse Baron Nils August Silfverschiöld (m. 1964) Issue Baron Carl Silfverschiöld Baroness Kristina-Louisa Silfverschiöld Baroness Hélène Silfverschiöld Full name Désirée Elisabeth Sibylla House Bernadotte Father Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten Mother Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Swedish Royal Family HM The King HM The Queen HRH The Crown Princess HRH Prince Daniel HRH Princess Estelle HRH Prince Oscar HRH Prince Carl Philip HRH Princess Sofia HRH Prince Alexander HRH Princess Madeleine HRH Princess Leonore HRH Prince Nicolas HRH Princess Birgitta Extended royal family

Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, (Désirée Elisabeth Sibylla) (born 2 June 1938) is the third child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. Her brother is King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Biography

Princess Desiree was born and grew up at the family home, Haga Palace outside Stockholm, with her three sisters; together they were known as the Haga Princesses. She was named after her ancestress Queen Desideria of Sweden and after her mother Sibylla.

Marriage and children

Princess Désirée at her wedding.

Princess Désirée's engagement to Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, born at Koberg Castle, Sweden on 31 May 1934, son of Baron Carl Silfverschiöld and wife Madeleine Bennich, was announced on 18 December 1963, and the couple married the next year on 5 June 1964 in Storkyrkan in Stockholm. As a result of her non-royal marriage, she lost her style of Royal Highness, by the King was given the courtesy Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld. Under the Swedish constitution of that time, she, as a woman, and her descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne. Thus they still are not.

Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld's marriage has produced three children and four grandchildren:

• Baron Carl Otto Edmund Silfverschiöld (b. Göteborg, 22 March 1965) married in the presence of the complete Royal family in 2005 to Maria Fredriksson (b. Slottsstaden, Malmö, 12 April 1965). They have one daughter.
• Baroness Kristina-Louisa Ewa Madeleine Silfverschiöld (b. Göteborg, 29 September 1966), married Baron Hans de Geer af Finspång (b. Stockholm, 26 January 1963). They have three children.
• Baroness Hélène Ingeborg Sibylla Silfverschiöld (b. Göteborg, 20 September 1968), who in 1976 was a bridesmaid at the weddings of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and of Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian.^[1]

Representative duties

In November 1960 Désirée accompanied her elder sister Princess Birgitta for a visit to the United States on behalf of their grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf for the 50th anniversary of the The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In their honour a ball was organised for the two princesses at the Renaissance Blackstone Hotel in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley.^[2]

Silfverschiöld lives in the family's home at Castle Koberg and at Gasevadholm Castle in Halland.^[3] She takes part in Swedish Royal Family events. Princess Désirée and Baron Silfverschiöld are occasionally invited to state dinners and receptions in Sweden.

With her family, she was a guest at the 2010 Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling, where her grandson Ian was a pageboy.^[4] Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld is Crown Princess Victoria's godmother.

Honours

See also List of honours of the Swedish Royal Family by country

Désirée's original coat of arms when she was a princess of Sweden.

National honours

•  Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (LoK av KMO)^[5][6][7]
•  Sweden: Member of the Royal Family Order of King Gustaf VI Adolf, 1st Class^[8]
•  Sweden: Member of the Royal Family Order of King Carl XVI Gustaf, 1st Class^[9][10]
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 90th Birthday Medal of King Gustav V
•  Sweden: Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of King Gustav V
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 85th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustaf VI Adolf
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
•  Sweden: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling
•  Sweden: Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf^[11]

Foreign honours

•  Japan: Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown^[12]
•  Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau^[13]
•  Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav^[14]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld

16. Oscar II of Sweden               8. Gustaf V of Sweden                       17. Princess Sophia of Nassau               4. Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden                             18. Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden               9. Princess Victoria of Baden                       19. Princess Louise of Prussia               2. Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten                                   20. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha               10. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn                       21. Victoria of the United Kingdom               5. Princess Margaret of Connaught                             22. Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia               11. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia                       23. Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau               1. Princess Désirée of Sweden                                         24. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (= 20)               12. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany                       25. Victoria of the United Kingdom (= 21)               6. Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha                             26. George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont               13. Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont                       27. Princess Helena of Nassau               3. Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha                                   28. Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg               14. Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg                       29. Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe               7. Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg                             30. Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg               15. Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg                       31. Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

References

1. "Finaste gåvan får Carl Philip (Swedish)". Aftonbladet.
2. "1960/11/03/page/49/article/2-princesses-will-visit-chicago/index". archives.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
3. "Gasevadholm".
4. "Royal wedding guest list published". Stockholm News. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
5. "http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76257&d=1105045329". theroyalforums.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06. External link in |title= (help)
6. "Image: d8ca9d13417a78fe1b5af5ba1beeeb53.jpg, (736 × 785 px)". s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
7. "Image: tumblr_npwl748TMI1tihyjzo1_1280.jpg, (1200 × 799 px)". 41.media.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
8. "Image: tumblr_n4x7xufHWd1qzjmo0o1_500.jpg, (500 × 345 px)". 41.media.tumblr.com. 2014-05-01. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
9. "Image: tumblr_mmyjkfgYSs1qiu1coo3_400.jpg, (289 × 439 px)". 41.media.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
10. "Image: 1420429176655.jpg, (978 × 551 px)". is12.snstatic.fi. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
11. "Image: 0bf120d6b3b1bf714495580b46426932.jpg, (319 × 480 px)". s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
12. "http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9314&stc=1&d=1056358296". theroyalforums.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06. External link in |title= (help)
13. "Het geheugen van Nederland". geheugenvannederland.nl. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
14. "Image: 2f5d867d0b09afd467d0411e87986e72.jpg, (430 × 600 px)". s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 2015-09-06.

External links