Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland

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Prince Wilhelm
Duke of Södermanland
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Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Norway
Born (1884-06-17)17 June 1884
Tullgarn Palace, Trosa, Sweden
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Stenhammar Palace, Sweden
Spouse Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
Issue Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland
Full name
Carl Wilhelm Ludvig
House Bernadotte
Father Gustav V
Mother Victoria of Baden

Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Norway, Carl Wilhelm Ludvig (17 June 1884 – 5 June 1965), Duke of Södermanland, was a Swedish prince. He authored a large number of books (primarily in Swedish) as Prins Wilhelm.

Personal life

Wilhelm was born at Tullgarn Palace, the second son of King Gustav V of Sweden and his Queen consort Victoria of Baden.

Marriage and divorce

On 3 May 1908, in Tsarskoye Selo, Wilhelm married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia by his wife Princess Alexandra of Greece. The bride was a cousin of the reigning Russian tsar, Nicholas II and of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The couple had only one son:

  1. Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland and later Count of Wisborg (1909–2004).

The marriage was unhappy. Their son, Lennart, later wrote an autobiography in which he revealed several details of the Swedish royal family. The autobiography tells of how Maria, like her aunt and namesake the duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, felt that she had married beneath herself in marrying a younger son of the king of Sweden, and this caused problems of ego between the couple. Maria insisted that the servants address her by her correct style Your Imperial and Royal Highness, to the chagrin of her husband, who was merely a Royal Highness. When apprised of the matter, Wilhelm's father King Gustav V had no choice but to acquiesce with his daughter-in-law's wish, which was perfectly valid in law, and order that the imperial style be used invariably for Maria. Nor was this all. Maria also made her husband feel sexually inadequate. In later years, she would tell people that her husband was a homosexual, or at least sexually inadequate. The suggestion of homosexuality was probably a malicious falsehood because Wilhelm later had a lifelong relationship with another woman.

In 1913, Maria visited her mother-in-law in Capri, where the Queen was spending the winter. The Queen's physician, Axel Munthe, was present, and Maria took a dislike for the man, whom she found "hypnotic." Maria fell ill with some trifling ailment and refused to receive treatment from the doctor, insisting that there was nothing wrong with her. The doctor however felt that she was developing some ailment and insisted on treating or examining her, which Maria interpreted as a "sexual advance." She immediately accused the doctor of having molested her, and insisted that he be dismissed from court and receive other penalties. However, the doctor had been with the family for decades and had an unblemished record, while Maria had been an incessant problem for the family since the day of her wedding. They suggested to Maria that she had misunderstood the doctor's intentions, and asked her to say no more about the matter.

Shortly afterwards, Maria sought a divorce because of what she described as the horror she then felt toward the Swedish royal family, due to their unlimited support of Doctor Axel Munthe who had accosted her sexually.[1] The divorce was granted in 1914, and Maria returned to Russia.

Later life

Wilhelm had a relationship, which was not publicly known, with Jeanne de Tramcourt which lasted from around 1914 (starting date unknown) until Jeanne's death in 1952. They lived together for more than 30 years on the estate Stenhammar near Flen. This was at a time when cohabitation was very unusual and not officially allowed to occur among royalty. Jeanne de Tramcourt was therefore called his "hostess" at Stenhammar. On 2 January 1952 she died in a car accident in a snowstorm near Stjärnhov in Södermanland, when they were on their way to Stenhammar after visiting Wilhelm's son Lennart. Wilhelm was driving when the accident took place. After this tragedy, he is said never to have recovered.

Career and interests

Wilhelm was a noted photographer and the author of several books written in Swedish under the nom de plume Prins Wilhelm.[2][3]

In keeping with protocol demanded of royals in modern democracies, Wilhelm kept studiously away from politics. One of his rare forays into the political sphere happened during the Second World War, following the murder of the Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor Kaj Munk on 4 January 1944. It was alleged, perhaps correctly, that the occupying German forces (specifically the Gestapo) were behind the murder, and the Danish resistance newspaper De frie Danske carried condemnatory reactions from numerous influential Scandinavians. Wilhelm was one of those who condemned the murder.[4]

Death

File:Wilhelm of Sweden grave 2009 Flen.jpg
The simple grave of Prince Wilhelm and his first daughter-in-law Karin (Nissvandt) Bernadotte in Flen

Wilhelm died in Stockholm, just 12 days before his 81st birthday.

Honours and awards

Domestic

Foreign

Arms

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Wilhelm's coat of arms as prince of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Södermanland 1884 to 1905
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Wilhelm's coat of arms as prince of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland after 1907

Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Charles XIV John of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Oscar I of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Désirée Clary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Oscar II of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Eugène de Beauharnais
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Josephine of Leuchtenberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Princess Augusta of Bavaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Gustav V of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. William, Duke of Nassau
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Sofia of Nassau
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Prince Paul of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Princess Pauline of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Princess Katharina Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Sophie of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Frederica of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Victoria of Baden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Frederick William III of Prussia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. William I, German Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Princess Louise of Prussia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Augusta of Saxe-Weimar
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Maria Pavlovna of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. Lennart Bernadotte in Käre prins, godnatt! ISBN 91-0-041935-4 pp. 155-158
  2. Amerika från estraden 1928
  3. Känner du landet 1950
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. "Court Circular" The Times (London). Saturday, 6 July 1901. (36500), p. 12.


External links

Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland
Born: 17 June 1884 Died: 5 June 1965
Swedish royalty
Preceded by Duke of Södermanland Succeeded by
Prince Alexander, Duke of Södermanland

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