Princess Birgitta of Sweden (Birgitta Ingeborg Alice; 19 January 1937 – 4 December 2024) was a member of the Swedish royal family. She was the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and an elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf.
From 1961, she was a member of the Swabian branch of the deposed House of Hohenzollern by her marriage to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.
Early life
thumb|[[Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and children in the 1950s. Birgitta is second from right.]]
Born at Haga Palace in Stockholm, Birgitta was the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and a granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf. She and her three sisters were affectionately called "Hagasessorna" (the Haga Princesses). She was 10 years old when her father was killed in the 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster.
Princess Birgitta was involved with golf and charities outside of Sweden and was an honorary board member of the (British) Royal Swedish Golfing Society.
In 1997, Birgitta published her memoir Min egen väg and on Christmas Day 2022, Sweden's national public service Sveriges Television broadcast a recent hour-long documentary and interview with the princess where she detailed her often troubled life as a Swedish royal.
Marriage
thumb|262px|Birgitta and Johann Georg on their wedding day
In the fall of 1959, Birgitta moved to Munich, Germany, to study German.
The couple had three children:
- Prince Carl Christian Friedrich Johannes Meinrad Maria Hubertus Edmund of Hohenzollern (born 5 April 1962 in Munich, Germany), married Nicole Helene Neschitsch (born 22 January 1968 in Munich) on 26 July 1999 in Kreuzpullach. They have one son:
- Prince Nicolas Johann Georg Maria of Hohenzollern (born 22 November 1999)
- Princess Désirée Margareta Victoria Louise Sibylla Katharina Maria of Hohenzollern (born 27 November 1963 in Munich). She married Heinrich Franz Josef Georg Maria Reichsgraf (Imperial Count) zu Ortenburg (born 11 October 1956 in Bamberg) on 21 September 1998 in Weitramsdorf. They had three children before divorcing in 2002. Then she married Eckbert Georg Klaus von Bohlen und Halbach (born 24 March 1956)
Death
On 4 December 2024, the Swedish Royal Court announced that Princess Birgitta had died earlier that day in Mallorca, Spain, at the age of 87. The cause of death was later revealed to be a fall. A private funeral was held on 15 December 2024 in the palace church at Drottningholm Palace. She was buried in the Royal Cemetery in Hagaparken.
As Princess Birgitta was a member of the Order of the Seraphim, the Seraphim toll at Riddarholmen Church was rung on the day of her funeral.
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|1= 1. Princess Birgitta of Sweden
|2= 2. Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten
|3= 3. Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
|4= 4. Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden
|5= 5. Princess Margaret of Connaught
|6= 6. Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
|7= 7. Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
|8= 8. Gustaf V of Sweden
|9= 9. Princess Victoria of Baden
|10= 10. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
|11= 11. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia
|12= 12. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
|13= 13. Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont
|14= 14. Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
|15= 15. Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg