Happy 80th Birthday Princess Birgitta!

Today is the eightieth birthday of Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern.

Born on January 19, 1937, Birgitta Ingeborg Alice is the second of five children born to Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Princess and her siblings (Princesses Margaretha, Desireé and Christina, and the current King Carl XVI Gustaf) spent their childhood at Haga Palace, with the residence giving the four sisters a group nickname – ‘The Haga Princesses‘.

During her teenage years, the Princess developed an interest in tennis, fencing and golf, and undertook language studies in Germany in the late 1950s. Golf continues to be one of her keenest interests; she hosts an annual golf competition, the Princess Birgitta Trophy, in Mallorca.

Princess Birgitta married Prince Johann-Georg ‘Hansi’ of Hohenzollern in a civil ceremony at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, before a religious ceremony at the Sankt Johann Church in Sigmaringen in May 1961. Because she married a fellow royal, Princess Birgitta retained her Swedish style, HRH (unlike her sisters, who lost the style upon marriage to commoners). The couple, who separated in 1990 but chose not to divorce, had three children, two sons and a daughter: Prince Carl Christian, born on April 5, 1962; Princess Désirée, born on November 27, 1963; and Prince Hubertus, born on June 10, 1966. Hansi passed away in 2016.

The Princess currently lives in Mallorca, Spain. Her birthday will be celebrated with a private dinner in Sweden attended by family and close friends.

Click here to read more about Princess Birgitta and her family.

NB: A version of this post was first published on January 19, 2012.

Filed under Germany, Sweden
Tagged Birthday, House of Hohenzollern, Princess Birgitta of Sweden.

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