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 The Swedish royal family ( sv, Svenska kungafamiljen) since 1818 has consisted of members of the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. Today those who are recognized by the government are entitled to royal ti ...

and a successful

industrial designer Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufact ...

by profession. He was the second son of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf and his first wife,

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 ...

, eldest daughter of

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 185016 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as G ...

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 her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. He was a Prince of Sweden from birth, but was excluded from the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.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 A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

for the rest of his life, Bernadotte having formally declared in 1983 that his title was Prince Sigvard Bernadotte. He was 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 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 ...

Professional life

An industrial designer, Bernadotte was known for designing everything from luxurious silver objects for

Georg Jensen Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie). Early life Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife gr ...

to everyday-use household items in plastic. 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. He worked as an

assistant director The role of an assistant director 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 to tak ...

at MGM 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. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

and served as a technical advisor on the 1937 film ''

The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in orde ...

''. He appeared briefly in the 1968 Italian

mondo film Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include p ...

'' Sweden: Heaven and Hell''. His work in industrial design at Bernadotte Design AB is featured, along with select items from his portfolio.

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 Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily noted for its historical associations. It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and ar ...

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 Christensen Robbert (1909–2004) on 26 October 1943 and they were divorced on 6 June 1961. They had one son: Michael (b. 21 August 1944) who married Christine Wellhofer on 6 February 1976, and they in turn have one daughter and one granddaughter. Lastly, Bernadotte married Swedish actress Marianne Lindberg Tchang on 30 July 1961.

Title

Bernadotte was born Prince of Sweden and Duke of Uppland, but having made an unequal match was disqualified from the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.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 The Royal Court of Sweden ( sv, Kungliga Hovstaterna) is the official name for the organisation ( royal households) that supports the monarch, and the royal house. The incumbent monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is head of the Royal Court. The Royal ...

due to their marriages. On 2 July 1951, for himself, his wife and his marital descendants, Bernadotte was admitted by

Grand Duchess Charlotte Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) reigned as Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 foll ...

(

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

at the time) into the nobility of Luxembourg with the title

Count of Wisborg Count of Wisborg (french: Comte de Wisborg; ; german: Graf von Wisborg) is a title granted by the monarchs of Luxembourg to some men formerly titled as princes of Sweden and their descendants. Since 1892, the title has been borne by the male-lin ...

. 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 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

in 1983, Bernadotte announced to

Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå TT News Agency (Swedish: TT Nyhetsbyrån or simply TT; formerly ''Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå'' until 2013) is a Swedish news agency, the largest in Scandinavia, owned jointly by the country's newspapers and the media groups behind them. TT's se ...

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 Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

, 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 Prince Bernadotte is a title that has been used by several members of the House of Bernadotte. It is most commonly known as a title granted to men who were formerly titled as princes of Sweden before losing their royal titles when they married unequ ...

'' 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 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 ...

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 (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

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. The wording on his gravestone, at the Royal Cemetery, which is owned by the king, does make it clear that he was "born Prince of Sweden". From 1994 to 2002, he was the oldest living great-grandchild of

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom 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 her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, 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.

Honours and arms

Orders and decorations

Order_of_the_Polar_Star_-_Ribbon_bar,_pre_1975

Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

(21 March 1952) * Seraphimerorden_ribbon

King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal (1928) * Seraphimerorden_ribbon

King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal II (1948)

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 Count of Wisborg (french: Comte de Wisborg; ; german: Graf von Wisborg) is a title granted by the monarchs of Luxembourg to some men formerly titled as princes of Sweden and their descendants. Since 1892, the title has been borne by the male-lin ...

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernadotte, Sigvard 1907 births 2002 deaths Artists from Stockholm

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

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