by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2014
Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern; Photo: Wikipedia
Princess Birgitta Ingeborg Alice of Sweden was born January 19, 1937, at the Haga Palace in Solna, Sweden, the second daughter of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the second of the four elder sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Like her sisters, she was educated privately at Haga Palace, where her family lived until moving to the Royal Palace in 1950.
Birgitta had three siblings:
- Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler (born 1934) married John Ambler, has one daughter and two sons
- Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld (born 1938) married Baron Nils-August Silfverschiöld, had one son and two daughters
- Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson (born 1943) married Tord Magnuson, had three sons
- King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (born 1946) married Silvia Sommerlath, had two daughters and one son
After supposedly having turned down a marriage proposal from the Shah of Iran (citing religious differences as the reason), Princess Birgitta met her future husband, Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern, a fine arts expert, at a cocktail party in Germany in 1959. Their engagement was announced in December 1960.
The couple was married in a civil ceremony in Stockholm on May 25, 1961. A religious ceremony followed on May 30, 1961, at the parish church of St John The Evangelist at Sigmaringen Castle, the seat of the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Princess Birgitta applied to convert to Catholicism at the time of her marriage. However, her spiritual commitment to the change was questioned and the application was rejected. Because she married a man of princely status, Birgitta retained her royal style and title as Princess of Sweden and is the only one of her sisters to remain an official member of the Swedish Royal House.
Princess Birgitta and Prince Johann Georg had three children:
- Prince Carl Christian of Hohenzollern (born 1962), married Nicole Helene Neschitsch, had one son
- Princess Désirée of Hohenzollern (born 1963), married (1) Heinrich, Count of Ortenburg, had two sons and one daughter, divorced (2) Eckbert von Bohlen and Halbach
- Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern (born 1966), married Uta Maria König, had one son and one daughter
Birgitta and her husband separated in 1990 but remained married. Prince Johann Georg lived in Munich, Germany while Princess Birgitta lived on the island of Majorca, in Spain. They were occasionally seen together at family functions, such as the 2010 wedding of Crown Princess Victoria. Princess Birgitta is one of the godparents of her nephew Prince Carl Philip. Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern died in Munich, Germany on March 2, 2016, following a brief illness at the age of 83.
An avid golfer, Birgitta was an Honorary Board Member of the Royal Swedish Golf Society, and since 1991, hosted her own golf tournament, The Princess Birgitta Trophy, at the Santa Ponsa Golf Club on Majorca.
Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern, died, aged 87, on December 4, 2024, in Mallorca, Spain, where she lived.
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