Wedding of Prince Bertil of Sweden, 1976

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Wedding of Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland and Lilian Craig at the Drottningholm Palace Chapel on this day in 1976. They had been lovers for over 34 years by that time, after meeting in the 1940s, but didn’t marry in order to preserve his place in the line of succession, in case his nephew, King Carl Gustav, came to throne before reaching the age of majority, and they eventually married after the King’s wedding earlier that year. Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian were valued members of the family and eventually became surrogate grandparents for the children of King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia. He died in 1997, and she passed away in 2013.

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2 thoughts on “Wedding of Prince Bertil of Sweden, 1976

  1. This is such a love story! They lived together because they truly loved each other. They were willing to put up with the conventions of the time out of a sense of duty. I have seen an interview with Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian where he says that their only regret was not having children. That is indeed a big sacrifice they did for their country. I’ve also read where his other brothers were miffed that he got to keep his HRH after his wedding to a commoner whereas they had to give up theirs. Well, I say it’s a fair exchange for all Prince Bertil and Prince Lilian gave up. He was there for his nephew 100% and I’m glad his nephew was there for him as well.

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