Background
He was the second son of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Margaret, Duchess of Scania, and was originally known as Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland, but lost his royal titles in 1934 when he married a commoner.
He was the second son of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Margaret, Duchess of Scania, and was originally known as Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland, but lost his royal titles in 1934 when he married a commoner.
Uppsala University.
He was also a paternal uncle of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and a maternal uncle of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. Bernadotte married three times. Bernadotte was born Prince of Sweden and Duke of Upland, but having made an unequal match, he lost that royal status and was excluded from the line of succession.
This has been interpreted as the same right to style himself as Prince Bernadotte that his granduncle Oscar had.
Counts of Wisborg are considered to be part of the Swedish unintroduced nobility. On 28 May 1983 Bernadotte announced to Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå that he intended to title himself prince again.
Over the years, based on precedent established in 1888 for his granduncle Oscar, he petitioned for restoration of a princely title in Sweden, although he did not seek reinstatement in the line of succession to the throne. Bernadotte went to the European Court of Human Rights in an effort to reclaim his princely title.
In 2004, after his death, the ECHR declared the application inadmissible.
The wording on his gravestone, in a cemetery owned by the King, does makes it clear that Bernadotte was "born Prince of Sweden". An industrial designer, Bernadotte was known for designing everything from luxurious silver objects for Georg Jensen to everyday-use household items in plastic. Among his iconic designs were the Red Clara opener.
EKA Swede 38 folding knife.
The Margrethe bowl; the Bernadotte jug, and the Facit Private typewriter. He also designed glasses frames.