Died 5 May 2012, Ängelholm, Sweden Parents Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Princess Margaret of Connaught Siblings Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland, Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten Similar Gunnila Bernadotte, Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Prince Bertil - Duke of Halland, Prince Gustaf Adolf - Du | ||
Carl Johan Arthur Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, KmstkNO (originally Prince Carl Johan Arthur of Sweden, Duke of Dalarna; 31 October 1916 – 5 May 2012) was the fifth and youngest child, and the fourth and youngest son, of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. He was a paternal uncle of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and a maternal uncle of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.
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Marriages and children
Bernadotte lost his succession rights to the Swedish throne and renounced his titles in 1946 when he married in New York City, on 19 February a woman who was not of equal rank (i.e., not of a sovereign house), the journalist Elin Kerstin Margaretha Wijkmark (4 October 1910 in Stockholm – 11 September 1987 in Båstad), daughter of Henning Wijkmark and wife Elin Larsson.
They adopted two children:
The Bernadottes lived for some time in New York, where he worked as the representative of the Anglo-Nordic Trading Company. They made friends with the film star Greta Garbo, who stayed with them in their Swedish home near Båstad.
On 29 September 1988, the widowed Count married Countess Gunnila Märtha Louise Wachtmeister af Johannishus (12 May 1923 – 12 September 2016) in Copenhagen. She was the daughter of Count Nils Wachtmeister af Johannishus and Baroness Märta de Geer af Leufsta and at the time of her marriage to Bernadotte was the widow of Carl-Herman Bussler. She married Carl-Herman Bussler in 1942; the couple had three children together. In 1988, she married Bernadotte.
Titles and styles
When marrying morganatically on 19 February 1946 he lost his Swedish royal titles, i.e. Prince of Sweden and Duke of Dalarna. He subsequently assumed the surname Bernadotte, the name of the Swedish Royal Family.
On 2 July 1951, for himself, his wife and his marital descendants, he was admitted by Grand Duchess Charlotte (head of state at the time) into the Nobility with the title Count of Wisborg. and in that conferral was also called Carl Johan Arthur Prince Bernadotte. Counts of Wisborg are considered to be part of the Swedish unintroduced nobility.
He was the chairperson of Ointroducerad Adels Förening, the association of the unintroduced nobility in Sweden, from 1948 till 1963.
Ancestry
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte descended from King Gustaf V of Sweden through his father, King Gustaf VI Adolf. He also descended from Queen Victoria's son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, through Prince Arthur's daughter, Princess Margaret of Connaught.
On 29 June 2011, he surpassed his elder brother, Sigvard (1907-2002), as the longest-lived of Queen Victoria's male descendants, a record he would hold until being surpassed by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 13 December 2016. He was the last surviving great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, following the 2007 death of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark. He was also the last surviving child of Gustaf VI Adolf and last surviving grandchild of Gustaf V and also the last grandchild of Arthur, Duke of Connaught, his maternal grandfather.
Decorations and awards
Certain Swedish decorations were awarded at birth in 1916 and renounced in 1946.