Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden

Gustaf VI Adolf
King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends
King of Sweden
Reign	29 October 1950 – 15 September 1973
Predecessor	Gustaf V
Successor	Carl XVI Gustaf
Spouse	Princess Margaret of Connaught Louise Mountbatten
Issue
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland Ingrid, Queen of Denmark Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland Carl Johan Bernadotte
Full name
Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf
House	House of Bernadotte
Father	Gustaf V of Sweden
Mother	Victoria of Baden
Born	11 November 1882(1882-11-11) The Royal Palace in Stockholm
Died	15 September 1973(1973-09-15) (aged 90) Helsingborg Hospital, Sweden
Burial	Royal Burial Grounds, Solna
Religion	Church of Sweden

Gustaf VI Adolf - Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf - (11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from October 29, 1950 until his death. His official title was King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends. He was the eldest son of King Gustaf V and his wife Victoria of Baden. Through his mother Victoria, Gustaf VI Adolf was a descendant of Gustav IV of Sweden of the deposed House of Holstein-Gottorp and the House of Vasa as well as the Bernadotte kings of Sweden. He was the grandfather of Queen Margarethe II of Denmark and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Family

He was born at the Royal Palace in Stockholm and at birth created Duke of Skåne. On 29 October 1950, he succeeded his father on the throne. His personal motto was Plikten framför allt, "Duty before all".

He married, firstly, Princess Margaret of Connaught on 15 June 1905 in St. George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle. Princess Margaret was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the United Kingdom.

He married, secondly, Lady Louise Mountbatten, formerly Princess Louise of Battenberg, on 3 November 1923 at St. James's Palace. She was the sister of Lord Mountbatten and aunt of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was Lady Louise who became Queen of Sweden. Both Queen Louise and her stepchildren were great grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Reign

Then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf with his first wife Margaret of Connaught and children in 1912.

In 1950, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf became king at age 67 upon the death of his father, King Gustaf V. He was at the time the world's oldest Crown Prince.

During Gustaf VI Adolf's reign, work was underway on a new Instrument of Government — eventually taking effect in 1975 after the king's death — to replace the 1809 constitution and produce reforms consistent with the times. Among the reforms sought by some Swedes was the replacement of the monarchy or at least some moderation of the old constitution's provision that "The King alone shall govern the realm."

Gustaf VI Adolf's personal qualities made him popular among the Swedish people and, in turn, this popularity led to strong public opinion in favour of the retention of the monarchy. Gustaf VI Adolf's expertise and interest in a wide range of fields (architecture and botany being but two) made him respected, as did his informal and modest nature and his purposeful avoidance of pomp. The monarchy was, however, made subordinate to a democratic state. Additional powers of the monarch were removed when Sweden's constitutional reform became complete in 1975.

Gustaf VI Adolf was a devoted archaeologist, and was admitted to the British Academy for his work in botany in 1958. Gustaf VI Adolf participated in archaeological expeditions in China, Greece, Korea and Italy, and founded the Swedish Institute at Rome.

He was the 1126th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1910 and the 915th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1954.

The King died in 1973 close to 91 years old at Helsingborg Hospital after a deterioration in his health that culminated in pneumonia. He was succeeded on the throne by his 27-year-old grandson Carl XVI Gustaf, son of the late Prince Gustaf Adolf. In a break with tradition, he was not buried in Riddarholmskyrkan in Stockholm, but in the Royal Burial Grounds in Haga alongside his two deceased wives.

King Gustaf VI Adolf and Crown Princess Margaretha of Sweden had together five children:

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Gustaf Adolf !Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten	01906-04-22 22 April 1906	1947-01-26 !26 January 1947(1947-01-26) (aged 40)	died in a plane crash, father of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Sigvard !Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland	01907-06-07 7 June 1907	2002-02-04 !4 February 2002(2002-02-04) (aged 94)	later Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg
Ingrid !Princess Ingrid	01910-03-28 28 March 1910	2000-11-07 !7 November 2000(2000-11-07) (aged 90)	later Queen of Denmark; wife of Frederick IX of Denmark and mother of the present Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Bertil !Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland	01912-02-28 28 February 1912	1997-01-05 !5 January 1997(1997-01-05) (aged 84)	married Lillian Davies, no issue
Carl Johan !Prince Carl Johan, Duke of Dalarna	1916-10-31 !31 October 1916 (1916-10-31) (age 95)	9999-12-31 !	later Count Carl Johan, Bernadotte af Wisborg, married Countess Gunilla Wachtmeister af Johannishus, had adopted issue

Crown Princess Margaretha of Sweden died suddenly on 1 May 1920 of an infection following surgery. At the time, she was eight months pregnant and expecting her sixth child.

Prince Gustaf Adolf later married Lady Louise Mountbatten, on 3 November 1923. This second marriage produced only one stillborn daughter on 30 May 1925.

King Gustaf VI Adolf with his second wife Lady Louise Mountbatten; Queen Louise, in the 1950s.

King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden was the grandfather of both his direct successor King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and also of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Styles of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden Reference style His Majesty Spoken style Your Majesty Alternative style Sir

Arms

Upon his creation as Duke of Skåne, Gustaf VI was granted a coat of arms with the arms of Skåne in base. These arms can be seen on his stall-plates both as Knight of the Swedish order of the Seraphim in the Riddarsholmskyrkan in Sweden, but also the Frederiksborg Chapel in Copenhagen, Denmark as an Knight of the Danish Order of the Elephant. Upon his accession to the throne in 1950, he assumed the Arms of Dominion of Sweden.

Arms of Gustaf VI as Duke of Skåne.	Arms of Gustaf VI Adolf as King.

Interests

The King's reputation as a "professional amateur professor" was widely known; nationally and internationally, and among his relatives.

Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf meets the some English footballers (c. 1910-1915).

Gustaf VI Adolf had an enormous private library consisting of 80 000 volumes and - nearly more impressively – he actually had read the main part of the books. He had an interest in specialist literature on Chinese art and East Asian history. Throughout his life, King Gustaf VI Adolf was particularly interested in the history of civilization, and he participated in several archaeological expeditions. His other great area of interest was botany, concentrating in flowers and gardening. He was considered an expert on the Rhododendron flower. At Sofiero (The king's summer residence) he created one of the very finest Rhododendron collections.

Like his son, Bertil, Gustaf VI Adolf maintained wide, lifelong interests in sports. He enjoyed tennis and golf, and fly fishing for charity.

Ancestors

32. Henri Bernadotte

16. Charles XIV John of Sweden

33. Jeanne de St. Vincent

8. Oscar I of Sweden

34. François Clary

17. Désirée Clary

35. Françoise Rose Somis

4. Oscar II of Sweden

36. Alexandre de Beauharnais

18. Eugène de Beauharnais

37. Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie

9. Josephine of Leuchtenberg

38. Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria

19. Princess Augusta of Bavaria

39. Landgravine Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt

2. Gustaf V of Sweden

40. Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg

20. Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg

41. Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau

10. William, Duke of Nassau

42. Wilhelm Georg, Count of Sayn-Hachenburg, Burgrave of Kirchberg

21. Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg

43. Isabella Auguste Reuss of Greiz

5. Sofia of Nassau

44. Frederick I of Württemberg

22. Prince Paul of Württemberg

45. Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

11. Princess Pauline of Württemberg

46. Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

23. Catherine Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen

47. Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

1. Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden

48. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Durlach

24. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden

49. Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz

12. Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden

50. Baron Ludwig Heinrich Philipp Geyer von Geyersberg

25. Louise Caroline of Hochberg

51. Countess Maximiliana Christiane of Sponeck

6. Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden

52. Gustaf III of Sweden

26. Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden

53. Sophia Magdalena of Denmark

13. Sophie of Sweden

54. Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden

27. Frederica of Baden

55. Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt

3. Victoria of Baden

56. Frederick William II of Prussia

28. Frederick William III of Prussia

57. Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

14. William I, German Emperor

58. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg

29. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

59. Landgravine Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt

7. Princess Louise of Prussia

60. Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

30. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

61. Landgravine Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt

15. Augusta of Saxe-Weimar

62. Paul I of Russia

31. Maria Pavlovna of Russia

63. Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg

External links

• Royal House of Sweden and Royal House of Norway
• Royal House of Great-Britain and Ireland
• Princely House of Battenberg

Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden House of Bernadotte Born: 11 November 1882 Died: 15 September 1973
Regnal titles
Preceded by Gustaf V	King of Sweden 1950-1973	Succeeded by Carl XVI Gustaf
Swedish royalty
Preceded by Gustaf, Duke of Värmland	Heir to the Swedish throne 1907-1950	Succeeded by Carl Gustaf, Duke of Jämtland later became Carl XVI Gustaf
Vacant Title last held by Charles XV	Duke of Skåne 1882-1950	Vacant

Preceded by William Grenfell Edward VII of the United Kingdom

President of Organizing Committee for Summer Olympic Games 1912

Succeeded by Henri de Baillet-Latour