Margaret of Connaught

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Princess Margaret of Connaught and Strathearn, circa 1905

Princess Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah von Connaught and Strathearn VA (born January 15, 1882 in Bagshot Park , Surrey , † May 1, 1920 in Stockholm , Sweden) was a member of the British royal family , from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , and through her marriage to the later King Gustav VI. Adolf Crown Princess of Sweden and Duchess of Scania . In addition, she is the grandmother of the Swedish King Carl XVI. Gustaf and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Lineage and Early Life

Margaret of Connaught in the arms of her grandmother Queen Victoria (1882)

Born Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah on January 15, 1882 in Bagshot Park, Surrey, Princess Margaret of Connaught was the eldest daughter of Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850-1942), and his wife Princess Luise Margaret of Prussia (1860 –1917), daughter of Field Marshal Prince Friedrich Karl and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau . Her paternal grandparents were the British Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .

Margaret of Connaught, by Karl Rudolf Sohn (1885)

Princess Margaret was baptized on March 11, 1882 in the private chapel of Windsor Castle by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Archibald Campbell Tait . Her grandmother Queen Victoria, her great-grand-uncle Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia (represented by the German ambassador Count Georg Herbert zu Münster ), Empress Augusta , her aunt, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia (represented by her sister Princess Helena ), and her grandparents acted as godparents On her mother's side, Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and his wife Maria Anna (represented by the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice ) as well as her uncle the Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII. As the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, she was named Her Royal from birth Highness The Princess Margaret . Within the family she was called Daisy .

Taught by private tutors, Princess Margaret received special training in oil painting from the French impressionist Madeleine Fleury. Her landscape paintings, now in the Swedish Royal Collection, are highly valued by Swedish art historians. She acted as bridesmaid on July 6, 1893 at the wedding of the future British King George V and Maria von Teck . In March 1898, her confirmation took place in the private chapel of Windsor Castle.

Courtship and marriage

Crown Prince Couple of Sweden, 1907

Princess Margaret and her younger sister Patricia were counted among the most beautiful princesses in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century . Her uncle, King Edward VII, wanted to marry off European kings or crown princes. The Connaught ducal family traveled to Portugal in January 1905 , where they were received by the royal couple Charles I and Amélie . The two sons of Charles I, Crown Prince Ludwig Philipp (1887-1908) and his younger brother Prince Manuel (1889-1932), came into question as marriage candidates for the two young British princesses, and the Portuguese court expected one of these Princesses Portuguese Queen Would. Then the Connaughts traveled to Spain and were here by the young King Alfonso XIII. receive. But none of the marriage expectations came true.

The Connaught family continued their journey to Egypt and Sudan . In Cairo she met Gustav Adolf (1882–1973), the eldest son of the Swedish Crown Prince and later King Gustav V and Princess Victoria of Baden . Gustav Adolf was then on a study trip to the pharaohs tombs . Margaret's sister Patricia was originally thought of as the bride of Gustav Adolf, but then Margaret and the Swedish prince are said to have fallen in love at first sight. Margaret's parents were very pleased with their daughter's planned marriage.

On June 15, 1905, the wedding of the 23-year-old Margaret and the ten months younger Gustav Adolf took place in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle . The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Ireland and arrived in Sweden on July 8, 1905. Margaret's wedding favors included the Connaught tiara, which is now in the Swedish royal jewelery collection.

progeny

Gustav VI. Adolf and his wife Margaret, who are four children (from left to right): Sigvard, Gustav Adolf, Bertil and Ingrid (photo 1912)

The marriage of Princess Margaret and Gustav Adolf was considered very happy, and the mutual relationship resulted in five children:

⚭ 1934 (divorced 1943) Erika Maria Patzek (1911–2007)
⚭ 1943 (divorced 1961) Sonja Christensen Robbert (1909-2004)
⚭ 1961 Gullan Marianne Lindberg (* 1924)
⚭ 1946 Elin Kerstin Margaretha Wijkmark (1910–1987)
⚭ 1988 Countess Gunnila Märtha Louise Wachtmeister af Johannishus (1923–2016)

Crown Princess

Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, 1920

In Sweden Princess Margaret was called "Margareta". After arriving in her new home, she was not particularly welcome at the pro-German-minded Swedish court, but quickly found some approval among the common people. She received lessons to learn the national language and after two years she was able to speak Swedish quite well. She also asked for a tutorial on Swedish history and welfare. During her first years in Sweden she appeared very serious and reserved and was therefore regarded as stiff, but her public perception changed due to her keen interest in sport, which she was more casual about when practicing. In winter she went skiing and ice skating , while she used the summer months to play tennis and golf. She was also in correspondence with several relatives.

Art-loving Margaret, who rose to become the Swedish Crown Princess in December 1907, not only painted herself, she also enjoyed taking photos, took singing lessons and showed a penchant for garden design. She and her husband had received Sofiero Castle as a wedding present, where they often stayed in the summer and took great care of the English-style gardens there. On this subject Margaret wrote the book Vår trädgård på Sofiero ("Our Garden in Sofiero") in 1915 and Från blomstergården ("From the flower garden") in 1917 , which works were illustrated with her own drawings and photographs and sold for the benefit of household schools with childcare . Margaret was also very inclined to promote teacher training as well as the blind.

Crown Princess Margaret with her children Bertil and Ingrid in the 1910s

During the First World War Margaret was unable to openly show her pro-British attitude in Germany-friendly Sweden and could not visit her family in England even after her mother's death in March 1917. She founded a tailors' association in Sweden to support the Red Cross. This association was called Kronprinsessans Centralförråd för landstormsmäns beklädnad och utrustning ("The Crown Princess' central warehouse for clothing and equipment for the Landwehr") and was supposed to provide the Swedish armed forces with suitable underwear. When the paraffin supplies ran low, she initiated a candle collection, and in November 1917 drafted a plan to train girls in farm labor. She also acted as a supporter for families separated by the war. With their help, private letters and requests to track down missing people were passed on. She also campaigned across Europe for prisoners of war, especially British citizens, by having them send them food parcels. In 1917 the princess organized the Margaretainamlingen för de fattiga ("Margaret's collection of donations for the poor"). Because of her activities she was highly respected in British government circles.

In the final phase of the war, the Crown Princess - in contrast to her royal in-laws - was positive about taking the last steps to establish full democracy in Sweden and influenced her husband, the Crown Prince, in this sense. Your stance may have contributed significantly to reducing tensions and preserving the Swedish monarchy.

death

Thirty years before the accession of her husband died Crown Princess Margareta suddenly on May 1, 1920, the Royal Palace of Stockholm from the consequences of blood poisoning , which they after surgery a protracted otitis media ( mastoiditis had closed). The 38-year-old was eight months pregnant with her sixth child and was buried in the Haga cemetery after her death . In her will she had decreed that she did not want to be buried in any church.

Titles and awards

  • 1882–1905 Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Princess of Connaught and Strathearn
  • 1905–1907 Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret of Sweden and Duchess of Skåne
  • 1907–1920 Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden
  • Royal Order of Seraphines
  • Order of the sword
  • North Star Order

literature

  • Clare Sheridan : Me, my children and the great powers of the world. A book of life of our time. List, Leipzig 1928 (memories of a close friend of Princess Margaret).
  • Charlotte Zeepvat: Margaret, Princess . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB), Vol. 36 (2004), pp. 652f.

Web links

Commons : Margaret of Connaught  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Connaught, Margaret of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Princess Margaret of Connaught, Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah Wettin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Crown Princess of Sweden
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Bagshot Park , Surrey
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1920
Place of death Stockholm