Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland (Bertil Gustaf Oskar Carl Eugén; 28 February 1912 – 5 January 1997), was a member of the Swedish royal family. He was the third son of King Gustaf VI Adolf and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, as well as the uncle of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. From 1973 to 1979, he was heir presumptive to his nephew Carl XVI Gustaf and the Swedish throne.
The family lived in apartments at Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, at Ulriksdal Palace near the capital in Ulriksdal and at the summer residence: Sofiero Palace in Helsingborg in the southernmost province of Sweden, Scania.[1]
Royal role
Bertil was granted a very old dukedom, one that was bestowed in the Middle Ages on various Danish and Swedish royal relatives. After his eldest brother, Prince Gustaf Adolf, died in 1947, leaving an infant son, Prince Carl Gustaf, in the line of succession, and because his elder brother Sigvard had already given up his place in the succession (owing to a constitutionally unacceptable marriage), it seemed likely that Bertil could one day become regent. After Carl Gustaf became king, Bertil remained the next in line to the throne (until the birth of Prince Carl Philip in 1979), and continued to act as the King's deputy.
When the Act of Succession was changed in 1980, rights to the throne were restricted to Carl XVI Gustaf and his descendants; however, a special addendum was made for Bertil's case, so that he became third (and, after the birth of Princess Madeleine in 1982, fourth) in line to the throne.
In 1943, Bertil met his long-term partner, WelshcommonerLilian Craig. However, in order to preserve his place in the royal succession, Bertil and Lilian did not marry for decades. They lived together discreetly, as a fully private arrangement, from the 1940s until their marriage was announced and took place in 1976. Their common base was a home in Sainte-Maxime, in the south of France.[2]
Since his life with Craig was not official, Prince Bertil's single status meant he was suggested as a match for, among others, Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom.[3] After the death of Gustaf VI Adolf in 1973, the new king, Carl XVI Gustaf, married a non-royal woman and approved the marriage of Bertil and Lilian, which took place at Drottningholm Palace on 7 December 1976.[citation needed]
Bertil was fond of cars, owning a rare Aston Martin DB2[4] and a Chevrolet Corvette.[5]Volvo asked him to open the Volvo Halifax Assembly plant in 1963 in Nova Scotia, Canada. A parking garage in Sainte-Maxime is named after him. The ex-HRH Prince Bertil of Sweden also owned a 1926 Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix [6] A copy of its original Swedish registration document starting in the name of HRH Prince Bertil in 1939.
Prince Bertil was a keen supporter and practitioner of various sports, notably tennis and boules. In 1947, he was elected Chairman of both the Swedish Sports Confederation and Sweden's Olympic Committee. He was also a member of the fine-dining society La Chaine des Rotisseurs.
He died at his home the Villa Solbacken in Stockholm in 1997, with Princess Lilian at his side. Their grave is at the Royal Cemetery in Haga Park.
On his creation as Duke of Halland, Prince Bertil was granted use of a coat of arms based on the Arms of Dominion of Sweden, with the arms of Halland in the third quarter.
^"Originally the property of HRH Prince Bertil of Sweden 1952 Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupé". Bonhams.
^"Restoring HRH Prince Bertil of Sweden's Corvette". GM Heritage.
^"Originally the property of HRH Prince Bertil of Sweden". William I’Anson Ltd. 21 March 2024.
^ abSveriges statskalender för skottåret 1964 (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1964. p. 349.
^ abcHård af Segerstad, Pia, ed. (1969-10-18). "Dag för dag". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 13. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
^Nordenvall, Per (1998). Kungliga Serafimerorden: 1748-1998 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kungl. Maj:ts orden. pp. 58, 444. ISBN 9163067447. SELIBR 8364835.
^Sveriges statskalender för året 1955 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1955. p. 127.
^ abcdefghi"Besök på ordenssalarna". www.phaleristica.com (in Swedish). 8 June 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
^"Anfragebeantwortung" [Response to inquiries] (PDF) (in German). Austrian Parliament. 23 April 2012. p. 95. 10542/AB XXIV. GP. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
^ abcdefghSveriges statskalender för skottåret 1940 (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1940. p. 5.
^ abcdeSveriges statskalender för året 1950 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1950. p. 5.
^ abcSveriges statskalender för året 1955 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1955. p. 5.
^ ab"Tildelinger av ordener og medaljer" [Awards of medals and medals]. www.kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). Royal Court of Norway. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
^"III. Otras disposiciones" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). 9 November 1979. p. 26058. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
^"แจ้งความสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์" (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 28 December 1960. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
^"Många ordnar utdelade vid drottningbesöket" [Many orders awarded at the Queen's visit]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 9 June 1956. p. A13. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
^"Visit of Sweden and official dinner". Retrieved 16 December 2020.
External links
Media related to Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland at Wikimedia Commons
The generations indicate descent from Gustav I, of the House of Vasa, and continues through the Houses of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, Holstein-Gottorp; and the Bernadotte, the adoptive heirs of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, who were adoptive heirs of the Palatinate-Zweibrückens.
1Also prince of Norway 2Also prince of Poland and Lithuania 3Lost his title due to an unequal marriage 4Not Swedish prince by birth, but created prince of Sweden