
Princess Lilian of Sweden, Duchess of Halland (born Lillian May Davies, later Craig; 30 August 1915 – 10 March 2013), was a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
fashion model who became a member of the Swedish royal family through her 1976 marriage to
Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland (1912–1997). As such, she was a paternal aunt-in-law of
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and an aunt-in-law of Queen
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent fema ...
and
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Anne-Marie, ( el, Άννα-Μαρία ; born 30 August 1946) is a Greek and Danish royal who was the last Queen of Greece from 1964 to 1973 as the wife of King Constantine II. The Greek monarchy was abolished with the 1974 Greek Republic Re ...
.
Biography
Early life
Lillian May Davies was born on 30 August 1915, in
Swansea,
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
, the daughter of William John Davies, who had a market stall after working in a coal mine, and his wife Gladys Mary (née Curran), a shop assistant. The site of the terraced house where they lived is now beneath the
Quadrant Shopping Centre. Her parents separated in the 1920s, but they were not divorced until 1939. She moved to London when she was 16.
She dropped one 'l' from her first name when she became a
fashion model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...
. She was photographed for magazines such as ''
Vogue''.
In 1940 Lilian married the
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
actor
Ivan Craig
Walter Ivan Sackville Craig (22 February 1912 – 7 March 1995) was a British (Scottish) actor, the son of Dr. Eric S. Craig and Dorothy Gertrude Meldrum.
Ivan Craig was born in Edinburgh. In 1940 he married Lilian May Davies, a fashion mo ...
(1912–1995) in
Horsham
Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...
.
[ Shortly after their wedding, Craig joined the British Army and left for ]Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, where he saw active service during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.[ In his absence, Lilian worked in a factory that made radios for the ]Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
and at a hospital for wounded soldiers.
Marriage to Prince Bertil of Sweden
In 1943, she met the Swedish Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland, in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, reportedly at a cocktail party for her 28th birthday. Soon after their meeting, they became lovers although she was still married to Craig.[ When she and her husband were reunited after the war, Craig expressed his wish to marry another woman, and they were amicably divorced on 7 November 1947.
Bertil's older brother, ]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 ...
, was second in line to the Swedish throne; but he died in 1947. As Gustaf Adolf's son, Carl Gustaf, was less than one year old, it seemed likely that, when Bertil's grandfather, King Gustaf V, and father (Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, the future King Gustaf VI Adolf) died, he would have to serve as regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
(other heirs having given up their places in the line of succession because of marriages not acceptable to the king). For this reason, Bertil chose not to marry Lilian, so the couple simply lived together discreetly for more than thirty years. In 1946, Prince Bertil acquired a house in Sainte-Maxime, France, that became their private retreat.
Bertil never had to become regent, since his father, who ascended the throne in 1950, lived long enough to see his grandson, Carl Gustaf, come of age. Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973.
He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, D ...
ascended the throne in 1973, and, having married a commoner himself, he approved Bertil's and Lilian's marriage, meaning that Bertil would be able to keep his titles and place in the line of succession, and that Lillian would become a princess. They were married on 7 December 1976 at the church of Drottningholm Palace
The Drottningholm Palace ( sv, Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Drottningholm is near the capital Stockholm. Built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), it is one of S ...
in the presence of the king and the queen.
Widowhood
Prince Bertil died on 5 January 1997 in their home. From 1997 until 2010 Lilian continued to represent the royal family at various engagements and other occasions. She was the patron of many organizations. In 2000, Lilian released a biography of her life with Bertil.
In August 2008, Lilian fell and broke her femur in her apartment; and, in February 2009, she again suffered a fall in her home. It was announced on 3 June 2010, that Lilian was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and was no longer able to appear in public. She lived her final years at Villa Solbacken, her longtime home in the Djurgården
Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museu ...
area of Stockholm, attended by three nurses.[
Lilian died in Stockholm on 10 March 2013, aged 97, sixteen years after her husband. The Royal Palace did not give a cause of death, but she had been in poor health for several years.] Her death came as the royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term p ...
was preparing for Princess Madeleine's wedding, and the family interrupted what they were doing to spend her last moments together with her.
Her 16 March funeral was broadcast live on SVT. It was attended by her nephew and niece-in-law the King and the Queen of Sweden; her nieces-in-law the Queen of Denmark, Princess Margaretha, Princess Birgitta, Princess Désirée, and Princess Christina; her grandnieces Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine; and her grandnephew and grandnephew-in-law Prince Carl Philip and Prince Daniel
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
. Princess Astrid of Norway was also in attendance, as were her friends Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...
and his Swedish wife Kiki Tholstrup.
Honours
National honours
*
: Member and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty the King ( Royal Order of the Seraphim)
*
: Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
*
: Member of the Royal Family Decoration of King Carl XVI Gustaf, 2nd Class
*
: Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
Foreign honours
*
: Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín
*
: Grand Cross of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
*
: Grand Cross with Diamonds of the Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...
*
: Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana First Class
*
: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (France)
*
: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
*
: Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon
The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by 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. ...
*
: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.
The highest-rankin ...
*
: Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
*
: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordan
*
: Grand Officer of the Order of the Three Stars
Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvija ...
*
: Grand Cross of the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas
*
: Grand Cross of the Order of Christ
*
: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...
Award
* : Honorary Grand Cross of the Social Order of Innocence
Patronage
* : Patron of the Social Order of Innocence
Bibliography
*
References
External links
The Royal Court of Sweden: Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillian, Duchess Of Halland, Princess
1915 births
2013 deaths
People from Swansea
Lilian 1976
Welsh emigrants to Sweden
Welsh expatriates in Sweden
Welsh female models
Royalty and nobility models
Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star
Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria
Grand Crosses of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin
Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash 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 the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
Swedish duchesses
Burials at Kungliga begravningsplatsen