Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, (''Christina Louise Helena''; born 3 August 1943) is a member of the Swedish royal family. She is the fourth child of

Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund; 22 April 1906 – 26 January 1947) was a Swedish prince who for most of his life was second in the line of succession to the Swedish throne. He was the eldest ...

, and

Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Sibylle Calma Marie Alice Bathildis Feodora; 18 January 1908 – 28 November 1972) was a member of the Swedish royal family and the mother of the current king of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf. Born into the H ...

, and the youngest of the four older sisters 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 ...

. She uses the name Christina Magnuson in a professional capacity.

Early life

Christina was born at

Haga Palace Haga Palace (), formerly known as the Queen's Pavilion (), is located in the Haga Park, Solna Municipality in Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden. The palace, built between 18021805, was modelled after ballet-master Louis Gallodier's Italian villa ...

outside

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

as the fourth child and youngest daughter of

, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. She served as bridesmaid at the 1961 civil wedding of her sister Princess Birgitta to

Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern (''Johann Georg Carl Leopold Eitel-Friedrich Meinrad Maria Hubertus Michael''; 31 July 1932 – 2 March 2016) was a German prince, and through his marriage to Princess Birgitta of Sweden, was brother-in-law of ...

as well as at the 1964 wedding of her cousin

Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark Anne-Marie (; born Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid of Denmark, 30 August 1946) is a Danish princess who was Queen of Greece as the consort of King Constantine II from their marriage on 18 September 1964 until the abolition of the Greek ...

to King

Constantine II of Greece Constantine II (, ; 2 June 1940 – 10 January 2023) was the last King of Greece, reigning from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine was born in Athens as the only son of Crown Prince Paul and ...

. She was educated at

Franska Skolan ''Franska Skolan'' () is a private school located in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1862. French school (French: École Française) is a school located on Döbelnsgatan 9 in Stockholm, founded in 1862 originally as a girls' school of the Ro ...

in Stockholm. Subsequently, she underwent studies at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

and as the only one of her siblings, she obtained a university degree in art history from

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

Public life

Between her grandfather King

Gustaf VI Adolf Gustaf VI Adolf (Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf; 11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until his death in 1973. He was the eldest son of Gustaf V and his wife, Victoria of Baden. Before Gustaf ...

's death in 1973 and her brother's wedding to

Silvia Sommerlath Silvia (born Silvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 December 1943) is Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She has held this title since her marriage to Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976. The king and queen have three children: Crown Princess Victo ...

in 1976, Christina effectively served as Sweden's first lady. As a result of this, she also maintained a public role within the royal family after her marriage in 1974, unlike her older sisters. Christina chaired the Swedish

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

for nine years between 1993 and 2002. Through her friendship with

Kjerstin Dellert Kjerstin Dellert (4 November 1925 – 5 March 2018) was a Swedish opera singer and theater manager. Life Early life Born in Stockholm, Dellert made her opera debut at Stora teatern (the old Gothenburg Opera stage) in Gothenburg in the 1950s. ...

, she has been chairman of the Ulriksdal Palace Theatre's Friendship Society for several years. Christina has co-authored several books – among them biographies about her grandmother,

Princess Margaret of Connaught Princess Margaret of Connaught (Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah; 15 January 1882 – 1 May 1920) was Crown Princess of Sweden as the first wife of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf. She was the elder daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of C ...

, and ancestress

Josephine of Leuchtenberg Josephine of Leuchtenberg (Joséphine Maximilienne Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais; 14 March 1807 – 7 June 1876), also Josefina, was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 to 8 July 1859 as the wife of King Oscar I. She was also Pri ...

. In January 2023, the princess was seen and heard commenting extensively throughout a two-part documentary broadcast by Sweden's national public service

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

about the ''last three kings of Sweden'': her brother, grandfather and great-grandfather. The princess has publicly condemned the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

calling it unacceptable and accusing

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

of committing

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

Marriage and children

She met her future husband, business executive

Tord Magnuson Tord Gösta Magnuson (born 7 April 1941) is a Swedish business executive and the consul general for Mauritius. He is married to Princess Christina of Sweden, the youngest of the older sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf. With the deaths of John A ...

, at a lunch in Stockholm in 1961. Her engagement to Magnuson was announced on 1 February 1974. They were married on 15 June 1974 in the Palace Church of the Royal Palace of

. The couple has three sons: * Carl ''Gustaf'' Victor Magnuson (born on 8 August 1975), godfather of Prince Nicolas of Sweden. He married Vicky Elisabeth Andrén (born on 25 January 1983) in 2013 but were divorced in 2020. They have one daughter: ** ''Désirée'' Elfrida Christina Magnuson (born on 11 July 2014), a goddaughter of

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée; born 14 July 1977) is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expec ...

* Tord ''Oscar'' Fredrik Magnuson (born on 20 June 1977), godfather of Prince Oscar of Sweden. He married Emelia "Emma" Charlotta Ledent (born on 18 April 1981) in 2011. They have two sons: ** Carl ''Albert'' Maurice Magnuson (born on 10 February 2013) ** ''Henry'' Guy Tord Magnuson (born on 16 October 2015) * ''Victor'' Edmund Lennart Magnuson (born 10 September 1980), godfather of Prince Alexander of Sweden. He married Frida Louise Bergström (born on 18 February 1980) in 2017. They have two sons: ** ''Edmund'' Bengt Lennart Magnuson (born on 11 December 2012) ** ''Sigvard'' Hans Gösta Magnuson (born on 25 August 2015) Christina is the godmother of her niece,

Princess Madeleine Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

, and

Prince Joachim of Denmark Prince Joachim of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (; Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian; born 7 June 1969) is a member of the Danish royal family. The younger son of Queen Margrethe II, he is fifth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, ...

, son of her first cousin, Queen

Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly ...

Health

In October 2016, it was announced that Magnuson has been diagnosed with chronic

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. It was later made known that she had been cured following

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

treatment.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

* 3 August 1943 – 1 February 1974: ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Christina of Sweden * 1 February 1974 – present: Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson

National honours

* : Member and Commander of the

Royal Order of the Seraphim The Royal Order of the Seraphim (; '' Seraphim'' being a category of angels) is the highest order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Sweden. It was created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Ord ...

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Liberator General San Martín The Order of the Liberator General San Martín () is the highest decoration in Argentina. It is awarded to foreign politicians or military, deemed worthy of the highest recognition from Argentina. It is granted by the sitting President of Argenti ...

* : Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official Order (decoration), orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all ...

(23 April 2024) * : Commander of the

National Order of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

* : Grand Cross 1st Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

* : Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Apr ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (11 October 2022) * : Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav * : Grand Cross of the

Military Order of Christ The Military Order of Christ is a Honorific orders of Portugal, Portuguese honorific order. It is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910, it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Chr ...

* : Star and Sash of the

Order of the Yugoslav Great Star The Order of the Yugoslav Star was the highest national order of merit awarded in Yugoslavia.Social Grand Order of the Amaranth * : Member Grand Cross of the Social Order of Innocence *

International Red Cross and Red Crescent The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human b ...

: Recipient of the

Henry Dunant Medal The Henry Dunant Medal is the highest award of the Red Cross Movement. It is named after Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross Movement. The medal is presented every two years by the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Th ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnuson, Princess Christina, Mrs. 1943 births Living people Christina 1943 Christina, Princess Disinherited European royalty People from Solna Municipality Swedish Lutherans Red Cross personnel Grand Crosses of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Commanders of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands)