Royal Burial Ground in Haga Park in Solna, Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The bridge and gate to the Royal Burial Ground in Haga Park; Credit – Wikipedia

The Royal Burial Ground (in Swedish Kungliga Begravningsplatsen) in Haga Park in Solna, Sweden, is located just north of Stockholm on the island of Karlsborg in the Bay of Brunnsviken. The Royal Burial Ground was established in 1922 and now covers the whole island.

Karlsborg Island where the Royal Cemetery is located; Credit – Wikipedia

Born Princess Margaret of Connaught, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Crown Princess Margeret of Sweden, the first wife of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (reigned 1950 – 1973), came up with the idea to build a cemetery on the island. Margaret loved gardens and the outdoors and expressed her desire not to be buried inside a church. Riddarholmen Church, the traditional site for royal ceremonies, funerals, and burials, no longer had space for new burials. Margaret and Gustaf Adolf picked a site for the future burial site of the Swedish royal family near Haga Palace whose park was located on the Bay of Brunnsviken. The tip of a small cape was excavated to form Karlsborg Island where the new Royal Cemetery in Haga Park would be located. The entrance to the cemetery is accessible by a small bridge from the mainland part of Haga Park. Swedish architect Ferdinand Boberg designed the bridge to the island and the cemetery.

Crown Prince Margaret of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Ironically, Crown Princess Margaret was the first member of the Swedish royal family to be buried at the Royal Burial Ground. Margaret was eight months pregnant with her sixth child in 1920 when she underwent mastoid surgery. An infection set in, killing Margaret, at the age of 38, and her unborn child on May 1, 1920, her father’s 70th birthday. Her family along with the Swedish and British public mourned her death greatly.

Grave of Crown Princess Margaret, her husband King Gustaf VI Adolf, and his second wife Queen Louise; Credit – Wikipedia

Until the Royal Burial Ground was completed, Crown Princess Margaret was temporarily interred at the Storkyrkan (The Great Church) next to the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1922, Margaret’s remains were transferred to a burial site in the Royal Burial Ground that Margaret and her husband had chosen for themselves. Since 1922, with a few exceptions, all male members of the House of Bernadotte and their wives have been buried at the Royal Burial Ground. (See Wikipedia: Family buried elsewhere since 1922.) Recently deceased Princess Birgitta, sister of current King Carl XVI Gustaf and daughter of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, who would have been King of Sweden if he had not died in a plane crash, is expected to be buried at the Royal Burial Ground in keeping with her wishes.

The grave of Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla, parents of Carl XVI Gustaf, the current King of Sweden; Credit – By Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2431747

Burials at the Royal Burial Ground in Haga Park in Solna, Sweden:

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Works Cited

  • Bidragsgivare till Wikimedia-projekten. (2005). Kyrkogård för svenska kungliga familjen. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kungliga_begravningsplatsen#Andra_kungliga_gravplatser
  • The Royal Cemetery. (2023). Kungligaslotten.se. https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/royal-palaces-and-sites/royal-national-city-park/the-royal-cemetery.html
  • ‌Wikipedia Contributors. (2023). Kungliga begravningsplatsen. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation