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Sigvard Oscar Fredrik, Prince Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (7 June 1907 – 4 February 2002) born as, and until 1934 known as, Prince Sigvard of Sweden, Duke of Uppland, was a member of the Swedish Royal Family and a successful industrial designer. He was the second son of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, eldest daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and granddaughter of Britain's
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
. He was a Prince of Sweden from birth, but was excluded from the line of succession in 1934 when he married a woman of unequal rank, a violation of provisions prohibiting marriages between a Prince and a "private man's daughter" (), in force at the time, contained in both the 1809 Instrument of Government and the 1810 Act of Succession, and, in addition, he lost his princely and ducal titles as decided by the King in Council. As per the king's wishes, he was then to be called only ''Mr. Sigvard Bernadotte'' in Sweden. In 1951, he was granted Luxembourgian titles of nobility, the interpretation of which remained a point of contention with the Royal Court for the rest of his life, Bernadotte having formally declared in 1983 that his title was Prince Sigvard Bernadotte. Bernadotte was a paternal uncle of King
Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...
of Sweden and a maternal uncle of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.


Early life

Bernadotte was born at 7 June 1907 on Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm as the second child of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught. He graduated from Lundsbergs School in 1926 and went on to study political science and art history at
Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...
. Upon graduating in 1929, he became the first member of the
House of Bernadotte The House of Bernadotte is the monarchy of Sweden, royal family of Sweden, founded there in 1818 by King Charles XIV John of Sweden. It was also the monarchy of Norway, royal family of Norway between 1818 and 1905. Its founder was born in Pau, Py ...
to earn an academic degree. In 1930, he was admitted to the design school Konstfack. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Bernadotte served as
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the Svea Life Guards.


Professional life

After World War II, Bernadotte became creative director of Georg Jensen A/S. His original
art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
"Bernadotte" collection was designed in 1938 and remains a stable in the company's product range to this day. He continued his collaboration with Georg Jensen until 1980. In 1950, he and Danish architect and designer Acton Bjørn founded the design studio Bernadotte & Bjørn Industrial A/S in Copenhagen. Among his iconic designs were the Red Clara opener; EKA Swede 38 folding knife; the Margrethe bowl – named for his niece Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; the Bernadotte jug, and the Facit Private typewriter. He also designed glasses frames. In 1964, Bernadotte opened his own studio Bernadotte Design AB in Stockholm. He worked as an
assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...
at
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
in
Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...
and served as a technical advisor on the 1937 film '' The Prisoner of Zenda''. He appeared briefly in the 1968 Italian mondo film '' Sweden: Heaven and Hell''. His work in industrial design at Bernadotte Design AB is featured, along with select items from his portfolio.


Title

Bernadotte was born Prince of Sweden and Duke of Uppland, but having made an unequal match was disqualified from the line of succession. He was also forbidden to use his birth titles and left to be called ''Mr. Bernadotte''. His cousin Lennart Bernadotte, who two years earlier had experienced the same thing (as the first Swede in history), considered himself, and even more so Sigvard, subjected to very cruel treatment for several decades by the Royal Court of Sweden due to their marriages. On 2 July 1951, for himself, his wife and his marital descendants, Bernadotte was admitted by Grand Duchess Charlotte (
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
at the time) into the nobility of Luxembourg with the title Count of Wisborg and in that conferral was also called ''Sigvard Oscar Frederik Prince Bernadotte''. After more than 30 years of argument and controversy in Sweden over his rank and titles, problems which worsened when his father died in 1973, and fed up after having been demonstratively snubbed by the Royal Court of Sweden during a state visit by Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
in 1983, Bernadotte announced to Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå on 28 May of that year that he was to be known as ''Prince Sigvard Bernadotte'' from then on. Over the years since then, based on precedent established in 1888 for his great-uncle Oscar, and citing Oscar's title of nobility as it was confirmed by the Government of Luxembourg in 1892, Bernadotte was supported by several legal experts when he petitioned for acknowledgement in Sweden of the '' Prince Bernadotte'' title as his also, although he did not seek reinstatement in the line of succession to the throne as a royal prince of that country. King Carl XVI Gustaf has been criticized for never obliging and for his consequent estrangement from his uncle. Bernadotte went to the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
in an effort to have the Government of Sweden acknowledge his princely title there, but in 2004, after his death, the ECHR declared the application inadmissible.


Marriages

He married Erica Maria Regina Rosalie Patzek (1911–2007) on 8 March 1934. She was the daughter of German businessman Anton Patzek and his wife Maria Anna Lála. The wedding took place in Caxton Hall in London and the witnesses were the bride's brother Georg Patzek and a lawyer Mr Gordon. Sigvard lost all royal privileges following the wedding and started his silver design business. They were divorced on 14 October 1943. Bernadotte remarried a Danish woman, Sonja Helene Robbert (1909–2004), on 26 October 1943 and they were divorced on 6 June 1961. They had one son: Michael (born 21 August 1944). Lastly, Bernadotte married Swedish actress Marianne Lindberg Tchang on 30 July 1961. From 1994 to 2002, he was the oldest living great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and having reached the age of 94, he was her longest-lived male descendant until being overtaken by his younger brother Carl Johan on 29 June 2011.


Death

Bernadotte died on 4 February 2002 at the nursing home Borgarhemmet in Stockholm. His funeral took place on 15 February 2002 in Engelbrekt Church and was attended by members of both the Swedish and the Danish royal families. He is buried at Royal Cemetery in Hagaparken and the wording on his gravestone, does make it clear that he was "born Prince of Sweden".


Honours and arms


Orders and decorations


National

* Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (21 March 1952) * King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal (25 May 1928) * King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal II (21 May 1948) * Prince Eugen Medal (11 November 1997)


Foreign

* Knight of the Order of the Elephant (28 March 1952)


Arms

Blason du Prince Sigvard duc d'Uppland.svg, Sigvard's arms as Prince of Sweden and Duke of Uppland Arms of Prince Bernadotte 1951 Luxembourg.jpg, Arms as described by the Government of Luxembourg for Princes and Princesses Bernadotte in 1951 Armoiries de Lennart Bernadotte comte de Wisborg.svg, Arms of the Counts of Wisborg


Ancestry


See also

* Swedish Act of Succession * Instrument of Government (1809)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernadotte, Sigvard 1907 births 2002 deaths Artists from Stockholm Uppland Swedish memoirists Sigvard 1907 Swedish industrial designers Uppsala University alumni Sigvard Swedish people of British descent Sigvard Disinherited European royalty Sigvard Knights of the Order of Charles XIII Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Sigvard Sons of kings 20th-century memoirists Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star