Princess Margaret of Connaught

Princess Margaret of Connaught (Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah; later Crown Princess of Sweden; 15 January 1882 – 1 May 1920) was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria, and his wife, Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia. A Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, she was nicknamed Daisy.

Early life

The Princess was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 11 March 1882 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Tait, and her godparents were: Queen Victoria, the German Emperor and German Empress, the German Crown Princess, the Prince and Princess Friederich Karl of Prussia and the Prince of Wales. She was confirmed in the same chapel in March 1898, aged 16. Confirmation traditionally marked the end of childhood, after which a girl would 'come out' and be considered for marriage. Prior to her marriage, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret of Connaught.

Marriage

When Princess Margaret of Connaught was 23 and her youngest sister Princess Patricia of Connaught was 18, both girls were among the most beautiful and eligible princesses in Europe. Their uncle, King Edward VII, wanted his nieces to marry a European king or crown prince. On January 1905, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught visited Portugal where they were received by Carlos of Portugal and Amélie of Orléans, whose sons Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza, and Prince Manuel entertained the young English princesses. The Portuguese expected one of the Connaught princesses would become the future Queen of Portugal. Then the Connaughts visited Spain, where Patricia was expected to be King Alfonso XIII's future wife (later, Alfonso married another granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg). But neither of these expectations would become true; Margaret and Patricia had other destinies.

The Connaughts continued their trip to Egypt and Sudan. In Cairo they met Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, the future Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden, grandson of the Swedish King Oscar II. Gustaf and Margaret fell in love at first sight. Prince Gustaf proposed at a dinner held by Lord Cromer at the British Consulate in Egypt, and was accepted. Margaret had certainly fallen completely in love with Gustaf. Her parents were very happy with the match even though the Prince was ten months younger than his bride. Prince Gustaf was short of sight and used spectacles; he was "tall, dark, well informed, fond of music, an excellent shot and a good dancer". Gustaf and Margaret married on June 15, 1905 in St. George Chapel, at Windsor Castle.

She became the first wife of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden on 15 June 1905. When Gustaf Adolf's father Gustav V acceeded to the throne as King in 1907, the couple became Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden. In Sweden she was known as Margareta (styled Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Sweden).

She is the grandmother of the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, as well as her namesake, the current Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, and former Queen of Greece, Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark.

World War I

During World War I she created a sewing society in Sweden to support the Red Cross. When paraffin supplies ran low she organized a candle collection and in November 1917 she instituted a scheme to train girls to work on the land. She also acted as a point of contact for relatives divided by the war. With her help, private letters were passed on and requests to trace men missing in action. She was also tireless in her work on behalf of prisoners.

Later life

On 1 May 1920, she died suddenly when infection set in following a mastoid operation. At the time, she was eight months pregnant and expecting her sixth child.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 15 January 1882 – 15 June 1905: Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret of Connaught
• 15 June 1905 – 8 December 1907: Her Royal Highness Princess Margareta of Sweden, Duchess of Scania
• 8 December 1907 – 1 May 1920: Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Sweden

Honours

VA: Lady of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert
CI: Companion of the Order of the Crown of India
DJStJ: Dame of Justice of St John

Arms

Upon her marriage in 1905, she was granted use of the arms of the United Kingdom, with and inescutcheon of Saxony, the whole differenced by a label argent of five points, the first and fifth bearing fleurs-de-lys azure, the second and fourth shamrocks vert, and the central point a cross gules. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten	April 22 1906	January 26 1947	father of the present King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland	June 7 1907	February 4 2002	later Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg
Princess Ingrid	March 28 1910	November 7 2000	later Queen of Denmark; mother of the present Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and ex Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland	February 28 1912	January 5 1997	married Lilian Davies; no issue
Prince Carl Johan, Duke of Dalarna	October 31 1916		later Count Carl Johan, Bernadotte af Wisborg, married Countess Gunnila Wachtmeister af Johannishus, had adopted issue

Ancestry

References