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 son of Gustaf VI Adolf, who was crown prince for most of his son's life and ascended the Swedish throne three years after his son's death. The current king,

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

, is Prince Gustaf Adolf's son. The prince was killed on 26 January 1947 in an airplane crash at Kastrup Airport,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Early life

Gustaf Adolf was born in

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 ...

on 22 April 1906 as the eldest son of the then Prince Gustaf Adolf and his first wife Princess

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

. He was known by his last given name, Edmund, in the family. Gustaf Adolf passed '' studentexamen'' at Stockholm Palace in 1925 and attended the Cavalry Officer Candidate School (''Kavalleriets officersaspirantskola'', KavOAS) in Eksjö the following year and in 1926–1927 the Royal Military Academy. He was then commissioned as '' fänrik'' in the Svea Life Guards (I 1) and the Life Regiment Dragoons (K 2) and in 1928 in the Life Regiment of Horse (K 1). Gustaf Adolf continued his military training and became major in the General Staff Corps, Svea Life Guards, and the Life Regiment of Horse in 1941 In 1943, he became lieutenant colonel in the General Staff Corps, in Svea Life Guards, in

Västerbotten Regiment The Västerbotten Regiment (), designations I 19, I XIX, I 20 and I 20/Fo 61, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Västerbott ...

and in the Swedish Cavalry. He was lieutenant colonel at his death.

Interests and royal duties

Gustaf Adolf, who served as president of the Swedish Olympic Committee from 1933 until his death in 1947, had competed in

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. Gustaf Adolf joined the Boy Scouts, and as an adult became a Scoutmaster. He earned his Wood Badge beads at Gilwell Park in England. When the Svenska Scoutrådet formed he served as its first president or Chief Scout. He led the Swedish contingents at the 5th World Scout Jamboree in 1937 and at the World Scout Moot in 1939. He served on the World Scout Committee from May 1937 until his death. From 1932, Prince Gustaf Adolf was chairman of the Swedish Scout Council and from 1937 honorary chairman of the International Scout Committee. Since 1933, the prince was also chairman of the Central Board of the Swedish Sports Confederation, the Swedish Central Association for Sports Promotion (''Centralföreningen för idrottens främjande'') and the Swedish Olympic Committee. Prince Gustaf Adolf was chairman of the Royal Swedish Aero Club from 1937 and the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

from 1939. He was first honorary member of the Swedish Central Federation for Voluntary Military Training (''Centralförbundet för Befälsutbildning''), of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences, of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

, of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences and honorary member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. He was also honorary chairman of the Central Organization of the Swedish Women’s Auxiliary Veterinary Corps (''Centralstyrelsen för Svenska blå stjärnan'').

World War II

As an official representative of Sweden, Gustaf Adolf met with many Nazi leaders, including

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

, which has led to speculations about possible Nazi sympathies. In his book ''Alla dessa Bernadottar'' (''All these Bernadottes''), Staffan Skott asserts that letters and diary entries by influential anti-Nazi Swedes disprove the rumors. The Swedish Royal Court made a statement denying any knowledge of Nazi sympathies. Gustaf Adolf expressed his support for

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

during the Continuation War of 1941–1944, and would even have liked to participate as a voluntary soldier in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

of 1939–1940, but the King's disapproval prevented this from happening. Some leading Swedish politicians were averse to the possibility of seeing Gustaf Adolf inherit the throne, and one prominent Social Democrat publicly uttered that the prince was "a person who must never be king". Per Svensson in ''Han som aldrig fick bli kung'' Norstedts 2006 p. 281

Marriage and family

On 20 October 1932 at St. Moritz Church in Coburg, Gustaf Adolf married his second cousin, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, daughter of Charles Edward, former Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They had five children: Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler (born 31 October 1934); Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Hohenzollern (19 January 1937 – 4 December 2024); Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld (born 2 June 1938); Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson (born 3 August 1943); and King

of Sweden (born 30 April 1946).

Death

Gustaf Adolf was killed in an airplane crash in the afternoon of 26 January 1947 at Kastrup Airport,

. The prince, along with two companions, was returning to Stockholm from a hunting trip and visit to Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The delayed KLM flight from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

had landed at

for a routine stop before continuing to

. Soon after the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

aircraft took off, it climbed to an altitude of about 50 meters (150 ft), stalled, and plummeted nose-first to the ground, where it exploded on impact. All 22 people aboard the plane (16 passengers and six crew members) were killed. Also aboard the ill-fated flight was American singer and actress

Grace Moore Mary Willie Grace Moore (December 5, 1898January 26, 1947) was an American operatic lyric soprano and actress in musical theatre and film.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', January 29, 1947, page 48. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee N ...

and Danish actress Gerda Neumann. An investigation found that an inexperienced young employee had serviced the aircraft and, short of time, the plane's captain had failed to perform the final pre-flight check list properly. He took off not realizing that elevator locking pins were still in place. At the time of his death, Gustaf Adolf had been second in line to the Swedish throne behind his father, the crown prince, who in 1950 became King Gustaf VI Adolf. The younger Gustaf Adolf was succeeded as second in line by his only son, Carl Gustaf (at the time only 9 months old), who would later succeed his grandfather in 1973 as King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Honours and arms

Military ranks

; * 1927: '' Fänrik'' in the Svea Life Guards and the Life Regiment Dragoons * 1928: ''Fänrik'' in the Life Regiment of Horse * 1941:

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the General Staff Corps, Svea Life Guards, and the Life Regiment of Horse * 1943: Lieutenant Colonel in the General Staff Corps, Svea Life Guards,

, and in the Swedish Cavalry

Honours

;Orders * 1906: Knight and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty the King (Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim) * 1906: Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword * 1906: Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star * 1906: Crown Prince Gustaf V and Crown Princess Silver Wedding Medal * 1907: King Oscar II and Queen Sofia's Golden Wedding Medal * 25 May 1928: King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal * 1906: Knight of the Order of Charles XIII ;Foreign honours * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold * Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

* Order of the Cross of the Eagle, 1st class * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland * First Class of the Order of the Cross of Liberty with swords, oak leaf and star *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest Order (honour), State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of ...

* Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

* Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav with Collar * Grand Cross of the

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order ()Hausorden
Herzogliche Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha was a ...

* Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

* Recipient of the King George VI Coronation Medal

Arms

The arms of Prince Gustaf Adolf were those of the Kingdom of Sweden, with a quarter with the arms of Västerbotten in base.

Ancestry

References

External links

The Swedish Royal Court
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustaf Adolf, Duke Of Vasterbotten, Prince Gustav 1906 House of Bernadotte Dukes of provinces of Sweden Swedish Lutherans Swedish anti-communists Swedish people of World War II 1906 births 1947 deaths World Scout Committee members Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Denmark Scouting and Guiding in Sweden Swedish people of British descent Swedish people of German descent Burials at Kungliga begravningsplatsen Swedish people of French descent Royalty from Stockholm Olympic equestrians for Sweden Swedish male equestrians Equestrians at the 1936 Summer Olympics Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1947 Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Sons of kings Knights of the Order of Charles XIII Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order