Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern, one of the four elder sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, died, aged 87, on December 4, 2024, in Majorca, Spain, where she lived. She is the first of the five siblings to die.

Her brother King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden made the following statement:

“With great sadness today I have received the news that my sister, Princess Birgitta, has died. My sister was a colorful and straightforward person who will be deeply missed by me and my family. Together with my entire family today I send my condolences to Princess Birgitta’s children and grandchildren.”

Princess Birgitta Ingeborg Alice of Sweden was born on January 19, 1937, at the Haga Palace in Solna, Sweden. She was the second of the five children and the second of the four daughters of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her paternal grandparents were King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her maternal grandparents were Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a grandson of Queen Victoria, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein. Sadly, her father Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten died in an airplane crash in 1947, when Princess Birgitta was ten years old.

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, Sweden 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. Because her husband was of princely status, Birgitta retained her royal style and title as Princess of Sweden and was 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, no children
• Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern (born 1966), married Uta Maria König, had one son and one daughter

Princess 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. Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern died in Munich, Germany on March 2, 2016, following a brief illness at the age of 83.

Read more about the Swedish royal family at Unofficial Royalty: Kingdom of Sweden Index