Gustav, Prince of Vasa (; 9 November 1799 – 4 August/5 August 1877), born Crown Prince of Sweden, was the son of King

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1792 until he Coup of 1809, was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Fin ...

and Queen Frederica. His Austrian princely title (from 1829) was actually spelled ''Wasa''.

Life and career

After his birth at

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 ...

, he was raised under the supervision of the royal governesses Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie and Charlotte Stierneld in succession. When he was ten years old, his father was deposed by the Coup of 1809 and the family was forced into exile. The Gustavian party tried to get him accepted as

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

in 1809 and 1810, but were unsuccessful. Queen Charlotte, wife of the new king, was one of the leading figures of the Gustavian Party, and often visited ex-queen Frederica in her house arrest and worked for prince Gustav to be acknowledged as heir to the throne. She wrote of this issue in her diaries: during a dinner, General Georg Adlersparre told her that Jean Baptiste Bernadotte had asked whether she had any issue, and was interested when he found she had not. She said that the throne already had an heir in the deposed King's son. Adlersparre became upset and expressed the opinion of his party that none of the instigators of the coup would accept this as they feared that the boy would take revenge against them when he became King, and that they would go as far as take up the old rumour that the deposed King was, in fact, illegitimate and the son of Queen Sophia Magdalena and Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila to prevent this.
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Between the time after the coup and before the royal family left Sweden, they were held under house arrest. During that period, Queen Charlotte described him in her famous diary as an obedient and dutiful child with a great ability to learn. He was not haughty as his younger sister Princess Sophie, but humble. Rather, he seemed too quiet and too careful for his age. When Princess Sophie asked him why their father was no longer King, he told her that it was best not to talk about it. He asked no questions and did not appear to miss his father. After he was told that his father had been deposed, he acted embarrassed towards his mother. However, when she told him that he too had lost his position as heir, he cried and embraced her without a word. The announcement gave him much relief and happiness. In 1816, he assumed the title of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Itterburg. He served as an officer to the Habsburgs of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and in 1829, Emperor Francis I created him Prince of Vasa (). During the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

(1821–1829) there was some talk of Gustav becoming its first king, but this never materialized. He was made a Field Marshal-Lieutenant in the Austrian Army in 1836.

Marriage and issue

In 1828, he became engaged to Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, but political pressure forced an end to any wedding plans. On 9 November 1830, he married in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

his first cousin Princess Louise Amelie of Baden (5 June 1811 in Schwetzingen – 19 July 1854 in

). They divorced in 1843. A son, Louis, was born in 1832 but died shortly after birth. Their daughter, Princess Carola, married the Catholic Albert, King of Saxony, but they had no issue. Gustaf died on 5 August 1877 at Pillnitz. In 1884, his (and his infant son's) remains were moved to Stockholm, to be buried beside his father.

In popular culture

Martin Butzke portrayed Gustav of Vasa in the 2022 Netflix historical drama '' The Empress''.

Honours

Awards

Ancestry

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustav Of Sweden, Crown Prince 1799 births 1877 deaths Gustav 1799 Royalty from Stockholm Swedish heirs apparent who never acceded House of Holstein-Gottorp Burials at Riddarholmen Church Disinherited European royalty Sons of kings Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Royal reburials