Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland


Prince Bertil of Sweden, Duke of Halland, was a member of the Swedish royal family. He was the third son of King Gustaf VI Adolf and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, as well as the uncle of King Carl XVI Gustaf. From 1973 to 1979, he was heir presumptive to his nephew Carl XVI Gustaf and the Swedish throne.

Early life

Bertil was born on 28 February 1912 at Stockholm, as the fourth of five children born to Princess Margaret of Connaught and Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden.
His siblings included: Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Vasterbotten, Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland, Princess Ingrid and Prince Carl Johan, Duke of Dalarna.
The family lived in apartments at Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, at Ulriksdal Palace near the capital in Ulriksdal and at the summer residence: Sofiero Palace in Helsingborg in the southernmost province of Sweden, Scania.

Royal role

Bertil was granted a very old dukedom, one that was bestowed in the Middle Ages on various Danish and Swedish royal relatives. After his eldest brother, Prince Gustaf Adolf, died in 1947, leaving an infant son, Prince Carl Gustaf, in the line of succession, and because his elder brother Sigvard had already given up his place in the succession, it seemed likely that Bertil could one day become regent. After Carl Gustaf became king, Bertil remained the next in line to the throne, and continued to act as the King's deputy.
When the Act of Succession was changed in 1980, rights to the throne were restricted to Carl XVI Gustaf and his descendants; however, a special addendum was made for Bertil's case, so that he became third in line to the throne.

Personal life

Bertil became a naval officer; and, during the Second World War, he served as Swedish naval attaché at the embassy in London.
In 1943, Bertil met his long-term partner, Welsh commoner Lilian Craig. However, in order to preserve his place in the royal succession, Bertil and Lilian did not marry for decades. They lived together discreetly, as a fully private arrangement, from the 1940s until their marriage was announced and took place in 1976. Their common base was a home in Sainte-Maxime, in the south of France.
Since his life with Craig was not official, Prince Bertil's single status meant he was suggested as a match for, among others, Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom. After the death of Gustaf VI Adolf in 1973, the new king, Carl XVI Gustaf, married a non-royal woman and approved the marriage of Bertil and Lilian, which took place at Drottningholm Palace on 7 December 1976.
Bertil was fond of cars, owning a rare Aston Martin DB2 and a Chevrolet Corvette. Volvo asked him to open the Volvo Halifax Assembly plant in 1963 in Nova Scotia, Canada. A parking garage in Sainte-Maxime is named after him. The ex-HRH Prince Bertil of Sweden also owned a 1926 Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix A copy of its original Swedish registration document starting in the name of HRH Prince Bertil in 1939.
Prince Bertil was a keen supporter and practitioner of various sports, notably tennis and boules. In 1947, he was elected Chairman of both the Swedish Sports Confederation and Sweden's Olympic Committee. He was also a member of the fine-dining society La Chaine des Rotisseurs.
He died at his home the Villa Solbacken in Stockholm in 1997, with Princess Lilian at his side. Their grave is at the Royal Cemetery in Haga Park.

Military ranks

National honours

On his creation as Duke of Halland, Prince Bertil was granted use of a coat of arms based on the Arms of Dominion of Sweden, with the arms of Halland in the third quarter.

Monogram

Ancestry