Prince Gustav and Carina Axelsson, Current Events Part 2: Aug 2009 - June 2022

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #51, 2010.
Vild med juletræer - Crazy about Christmas trees.
Written by Annelise Weimann.

Carina Axelsson has been the de facto mistress of Berleburg since 2005 and she is openly treated as such in Billed Bladet.
Annelise Weimann went to Berleburg for an interview and to be shown around the Schloss to see the Christmas decorations there.

She and Prince Gustav live in a large apartment on the top floor and have a number of private rooms on the second floor.
However Carina has also been busy decorating the more official ground and first floor of Schloss Berleburg.

She confides to us: "I love Christmas trees".
And Christmas trees is very much the basis of her decorations. She has the Ice Tree, the Dog Tree, the Soldier Tree and the Golden Tree. She gets the actual decorations from Denmark and Germany. (There are even more trees, not listed here. Good grief)!
- "I mostly but Christmas decorations at Bjarne Als in Bering House of Flowers and at Jette Frölich, I think they are two people who make nice things.

She and Gustav are going to spend Christmas at Berleburg with her parents-in-law. And they will served turkey, that is something Carina is used to from growing up in USA.

Apart from placing Christmas trees all over the place she is also busy supervising the renovation of the schloss room for room.
- "I enjoy find old things and restore them. It really interest me. In many of the rooms the furnitures were stacked three deep and nothing had been touched since WWII. I've found fine old furnitures and paintings and had them mended".

The Dog Tree is decorated with 24 dogs, that Carina found in Bering House of Flowers in Copenhagen

The Ice Tree is decorated with balls in silver and bells in an ice-clear material, that matches the doors and furnitures. (*)

A huge tree in the hall, happens to be Gustav's favourite tree, (**) is decorated with big red bows/loops and red balls and figures of Santa Clauses.

The Golden Tree is placed in the corner of a dining room, which is used when Gustav and Carina have more than twenty guests. That is decorated with gold balls, gold birds and gold butterflies.

The big Soldier Tree is decorated by figures of soldiers equipped with music instruments and gold stars, which belonged to Gustav's grandmother, Fürstin Margareta.

Then we have another big tree, a private one, placed in one of the living rooms on the second floor. It's decorated with gold and silver thingies and white angels and stars. Standing in a light room, it matches the room perfectly. - The caption says...

I guess pictures will eventually surface on the BB site.

(*) This is an example of me translating something I simply don't comprehend. How and why Christmas decorations do or should match something is simply beyond me. So I do what all sensible men eventually learn; leave it to my wife and nod in agreement.

(**) Or maybe he just said it was, because he had to say something...

I wonder if a moderator would be so kind and merge this link with my previous post?

Billed-Bladet - Se de flot pyntede juletræer i Berleburg

 

[michelleq]

I wonder if a moderator would be so kind and merge this link with my previous post?

Billed-Bladet - Se de flot pyntede juletræer i Berleburg

Merry Christmas!

Here is an english link to BIlled-Bladet

Billed-Bladet - Se the beautifully decorated Christmas trees in Berleburg

 

[Muhler]

Excerpts from a pretty frank interview in Billed Bladet #1, 2011.
Jeg bliver måske aldrig gift - I may never get married.
Interviewer: Annelise Weimann.

Who went to Berleburg to see Carina Axelsson before Christmas.
About her relationship with the DRF:
"I feel really well recieved by the Danish Royal Family. And I'm fine when I'm with them. It's Gustav's family, he loves them and so do I. I don't think about whether I'm considered a part of the family. I'm Carina Axelsson and that's enough for me".
- "It's the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess we see the most, and Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. We are of similar age. But we see the entire family regularly, both in the summer, when we are at Gråsten and regularly thorugh out the year. But things can change, now that the CP-couple has moved in at Amalienborg. Perhaps we'll see more of the in the future".

She and Prince Gustav have lived together at Schloss Berleburg for five years and they live in the main building, while Prince Richard and Princess Benedikte live in an adjescent building.
Carina Axelsson is busy managing the restoration of the schloss.

Her main interests is books. She has no formal education but desrcibes herself as autodidakt, self-taught.

The locals address her: Mrs./Frau Axelsson. (*)

Q: Do you discuss the work with Prince Gustav?
"I discuss everything with him. It's his estate. It's he who says yes or no to my projects. I have many ideas and he has given me free hands. If the ideas are good, he will back them up 100%. He wish for me to be happy here. But I also like to discuss things with Princess Benedikte so that she knows what I'm doing. I don't necessarily ask her for permission, but I would like her to know what is going os, so that she is not feeling left out".

She and Benedikte don't help eachother in their work. Benedikte live half the year in DK and almost all her work is related to DK.

Carina's next project is to help the school in Berleburg.

Q: How is it to live so close to Prince Richard and Princess Benedikte?
"It has advantages as well as disadvantages. I would not recommend all families to live this close, but that's how it is here".

Q: Do you see the rest of the family much?
"No, not really. Our households are completely apart". Meaning they do not interfere with each others homes/businesses.

Q: Prince Richard in particular is known to be very frank?
"Yes, he's sepcial and sometimes that makes things more difficult. On the other hand it has forced me to be patient and a balance within myself. So the outcome is good. Prince Richard has a strong temper and he is direct. I've not grown up with someone like Prince Richard, so it has taken me a good deal of time to learn to genuinely get to know him. My own father is a kind and gentle man. But Prince Richard is as he is. And Princess Benedikte is a very sweet lady, friendly and very kind".

Prince Gustav haven't taken over completely from Prince Richard. They share the running of Berleburg and the vast estate. Carina adds: "Prince Richard isn't so much involved in the practical work, Prince Gustav is, because he has to. The generation of Prince Richard have spend their money in a completely different way from what you do today, so Prince Gustav's generation has to cut spendings. The old way, simply won't do anymore".

Q: The entire family is very fonr of horses, how about you?
"Yes, but I prefer Icelandic horses. Some years ago Prince Gustav took me with him to Iceland, I'd never seen Icelandic horses before, only on photographs, but I became crazy about them. They are wonderful and beautiful and one day we will have some here. Fortunately Prince Gustav also likes Icelandic horses, but honestly, the rest of the family don't. They prefer dressage horses. That's a pretty closed world. The world of dressage is known to be special. I may get in trouble when I say that, but you are free to write that".

She appears to know a lot about dogs, she knows more than 200 difefernt breeds of dogs. But with Berleburg being surrounded by wild animals, she's contend with just having her dog, Amber, around.

Q: You often wear a ring with a big ruby, encircled by diamonds (**). Is that an engagementring?
"That's a question I'd prefer not to answer. But no, it's not an engagementring. It's a very beautiful and lovely present".

Q: From Prince Gustav?
"Yes. But I will not say more about the ring. I'd like to talk about my work, but not my private life".

Q: We hope to announce one day that are going to marry Prince Gustav.
"I may never be married. I'm fully contend by being Carina Axelsson".

- And this was the last summary from Billed Bladet this week.
I will leave it to someone more in the know than me, to explain why Carina and Gustav cannot marry yet, in case anyone should ask.

(*) Interesting. I wonder if there are German parallells to Old Danish Law. According to that: A woman who held the keys to a house/estate for three years and acted and was treated like the mistress of that house, would after three years be granted the same legal rights as if she was married to the man, who owned the house/estate. - Regardless whether she or the man was married to someone else or not.
People, and the legislation was very practical back then. This was a way to go around the very difficult process of being divorced, or if the husband/wife had vanished, or if people simple fell in love with someone else and moved in together. - What to do in that situation? Well, they simply came up with a law covering that eventuality.
Don't even for one second think people didn't care that much about the law 500 years ago. On the contrary! The law was your only gurantee for any rights you had and people were almost obsessive about keeping to the letter of the law.
The top lawyers back then would have been more than a match for the top lawyers of today.

(**) I know, Sternchen, FasterB etc. but I know just as little about jewelry as I know about dresses.

 

[michelleq]

Quite informative.

This is my opinion, only.

I am quite surprised to see that she would grant an interview like this. It appears as if she is trying to make a case for herself as it seems that all is not well.

Before any backlashes, again, this is only my opinion.

 

[Muhler]

Quite informative.

This is my opinion, only.

I am quite surprised to see that she would grant an interview like this. It appears as if she is trying to make a case for herself as it seems that all is not well.

Before any backlashes, again, this is only my opinion.

Yeah, I must admit there were a few times where I was a little surprised.
I'm not sure what to think of this.
I don't feel I know that branch of the family to say whether that is a normal way for them to express themselves.

My impression from this interview is that Carina Axelsson is a woman who knows what she wants and that her relationship with her father-in-law isn't that warm.

 

[Zonk]

Not sure why she would feel the need to say something about Prince Richard. I certainly agree that you people should put up a front of everyone is happy and we are a great big family that is happy all the time.

But why make comments such as these that can raises eyebrows? Its like you are seeking publicity for something that should be private. I need to read the synopsis again maybe I am missing something.

 

[michelleq]

It amazes me that no one has seen a copy of the actual will. I believe that I read somewhere that Richard's brother, Robin, was the one who was enforcing the will.

Did anyone else read this anywhere?

 

[Hanna Regina]

Carina made a very similar interview with the Swedish mag Svensk Damtidning just before christmas. It was pretty much the same questions and answers although it was made by their own reporter, who posed for photographs with Carina in one of the grand rooms at Schloss Berleburg.

 

[Zonk]

Maybe Carina is tired of the "we can't marry because of the will" talk and uses these articles to quiet down expectations.

I mean you can't get an clearer than say I don't want to marry.

 

[Sternchen]

It amazes me that no one has seen a copy of the actual will.

Why should anyone have access to it? In Germany, you don't need to make it public.

 

[michelleq]

I didn't know that.

Thank you Sterchen for enlightening me.

 

[Vesper1987]

I am very surprised that she would talk about Gustav's family that way, IMO she made it seem like all is not well with her and his family. IMO this is not a very flattering interview.

 

[soraya]

I agree with you Vesper it's really not a flattering interview.
What's happening to her?
I wonder what would be the reaction of Gustav's family.
When you are an adult you keep family stories secret especially when you are part of a well known family.
I was favorable to her and sad because she can't marry her lover but now I am disappointed.Being part of royal family is not simply wearing a tiara and gala dress,you are also expected to remain loyal to them.

 

[Sternchen]

Being part of royal family is not simply wearing a tiara and gala dress,you are also expected to remain loyal to them.

I don't think it only is like that with royal families

 

[camelot23ca]

Well, that interview was unusually frank!! I got the impression that Carina is either a very upfront and direct woman, or she's reached the end of her rope, especially with Richard. Normally I think a family, royal or not, should stand together in public and refrain from airing their dirty laundry, but Prince Richard himself has broken this rule in the past and has made statements about his wife and her family that I thought bordered on rude, so I can't say I have much sympathy for him now that he's getting a taste of his own medicine.

 

[michelleq]

Well, that interview was unusually frank!! I got the impression that Carina is either a very upfront and direct woman, or she's reached the end of her rope, especially with Richard. Normally I think a family, royal or not, should stand together in public and refrain from airing their dirty laundry, but Prince Richard himself has broken this rule in the past and has made statements about his wife and her family that I thought bordered on rude, so I can't say I have much sympathy for him now that he's getting a taste of his own medicine.

I said it before and I will say it again, she has become more "Royal" than the Royals.

 

[lilibeth77]

It has always seemed to me that maybe prince Richard was a bit uptight and rough in a way but .. this interview I think says it all. Maybe Carina is just so fed up with the fact that her situation may not ever change - let's hope it will but nothing it's certain-. I've been searching through the internet interviews of Prince Richard but I seem to find nothing that could tell me more about how he is. I'd appreciate some help on this.

 

[Rascal]

Has this happened before?

Diana aside, has there been another occasion where a woman or man has been in a committed relationship/married into a royal family and given an interview where they speak about that family in such a manner? Even Diana waited until her marriage was completely broken before taking to a media offensive - and IIRC directed most of her criticism at Charles and Camilla.

I don't know much about Carina, but as more is revealed I am less and less impressed. Would any of the current crop of crown princesses/prince have made it to the altar if they had said such things publicly? Can you imagine if Daniel had remarked about the King CG's demeanor or said that he made it difficult for he and Victoria to have a relationship? Or if Mette-Marit had criticized the Norwegian royal couple for putting obstacles in front of her marriage to Haakon?

Even with the long list of former lovers/relationships, I don't recall anyone making such statements. Didn't Eva Sannum speak publicly about her relationship with Felipe? But even with that, she didn't speak unflatteringly about JC and Sofia.

For someone who seems to have done quite a bit of research about her sitiuation, Richard being a rather gruff/humorless person should have been no surprise to Carina. Nor is it news to anyone who follows the Danish royals. And perhaps there is more to this than we know/Carina revealed. Maybe what has appeared to be embracing her as part of the family has been an act and Benedikte, Margrethe, and all the rest have treated her poorly and been difficult to live with. If that is the case, perhaps she should have packed her bags, left the palatial home, bank account, fancy parties, and borrowed tiaras...and returned home to her own family (if they would have her - as she seems to be rather distant with them as well).

 

[Benedikte]

Well as even Princess Benedikte herself and her husbond has stated that he is a walking temper tantrum there is nothing to be alarmed about.

Actually Carina gives a very positive impression IMO. She makes a big effort to involve princess Benedikte eve when she isn't obliged to.

 

[Yekaterina]

he should say bye bye to her and marry a noble woman like his grandfather said in last will. because if the poor woman wants children they will be born out of wedlock. and if they marry he loses everything. he should be more clever.

 

[Benedikte]

he should say bye bye to her and marry a noble woman like his grandfather said in last will. because if the poor woman wants children they will be born out of wedlock. and if they marry he loses everything. he should be more clever.

As it happens he is loving Carina and finding love is worth more than any enheritance.

 

[michelleq]

As it happens he is loving Carina and finding love is worth more than any enheritance.

My opinion, to Gustav, love is not worth more than any inheritance, because he would had married her and let the castle go to the next heir.

 

[Benedikte]

My opinion, to Gustav, love is not worth more than any inheritance, because he would had married her and let the castle go to the next heir.

I'm not sure I understand you.

When Gustav is loving Carina are you then suggesting that he should marry some one else. And who should this unhappy woman be - living in a loveless marriage becuase of what?

 

[Sternchen]

What most don't take into account, what if the next heir (who would inherit if Gustav would marry) doesn't want to take over the estate and made it quiet clear that he was unwilling so change his life so he can take over? What is Gustav supposed to do, let it all go down the drain?

 

[Lumutqueen]

I'm not sure I understand you.

When Gustav is loving Carina are you then suggesting that he should marry some one else. And who should this unhappy woman be - living in a loveless marriage becuase of what?

michelleq, I think is trying to say that Gustav doesn't love Carina enough to marry her and throw away his inheritance and whatever he would loose.

he should say bye bye to her and marry a noble woman like his grandfather said in last will. because if the poor woman wants children they will be born out of wedlock. and if they marry he loses everything. he should be more clever.

And where does love come into this?
Your saying he should basically marry to keep his inheritance.

 

[sgl]

What most don't take into account, what if the next heir (who would inherit if Gustav would marry) doesn't want to take over the estate and made it quiet clear that he was unwilling so change his life so he can take over? What is Gustav supposed to do, let it all go down the drain?

I think the next heir (Prince Robin?) is watching this closely and will enforce the will if Gustav marries. I've read this before but unfortunately I can't remember where I read this. I don't think it would go down the drain. To me, it seems that the estate is more important to him than marrying Carina. Or course, there's the added pressure of the fact that Gustav wouldn't be the only one "homeless" if he lost the estate. His parents and sister would be affected also.

(Of course, I highly doubt that they'd be living on the street if they lost Berleburg)

 

[Benedikte]

michelleq, I think is trying to say that Gustav doesn't love Carina enough to marry her and throw away his inheritance and whatever he would loose.



And where does love come into this?
Your saying he should basically marry to keep his inheritance.

Oh now I understand

 

[NotAPretender]

I think that the article was more revealing than the subject intended for it to be. Essentially, Gustav's girlfriend is asserting her absolute dominion over the estate, indicating that a Royal princess has not kept up an estate (the comment about rooms being untouched since WWII) and that the same Royal princess (Benedikte) has no control over what the girlfriend chooses to do with the estate. Gustav's girlfriend further goes on to boast of her close relationship with the Crown Princely couple of Denmark while denigrating the sister of the Queen of Denmark (see my prior sentence) and finishes off by denigrating that Royal princess' husband, himself a Serene Highness. All in all, a very poor performance for someone who is living there at the sufferance of others.

I think the next heir (Prince Robin?) is watching this closely and will enforce the will if Gustav marries. I've read this before but unfortunately I can't remember where I read this. I don't think it would go down the drain.

The will is enforced under German law, not at the behest of individuals. I would be very curious as to your source for Prince Robin "enforcing" the will, as 1) it's not within his power; and 2) it benefits him not at all, as he is not the "next heir." He himself (Robin) married in contravention of the terms of the will; if Gustav dies without an heir, the estate passes to Prince Bernhard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein.

What most don't take into account, what if the next heir (who would inherit if Gustav would marry) doesn't want to take over the estate and made it quiet clear that he was unwilling so change his life so he can take over? What is Gustav supposed to do, let it all go down the drain?

The next heir is Prince Bernhard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, who already manages a similar estate in size and complexity, is married in accordance with the terms of the will, and has a legitimate heir. Why do you surmise that he would 1) not be willing to take over or 2) would have to change his life to do so? It appears to me that taking over Berleberg would be a continuation of his existing life.

There's never a chance it would "go down the drain."

Or course, there's the added pressure of the fact that Gustav wouldn't be the only one "homeless" if he lost the estate. His parents and sister would be affected also.

Really? Can you please provide the source as to his parents being "homeless" should Gustav marry: where is this information coming from? (Generally speaking, in such circumstances where legatees have "obeyed" the rules of a legacy, provision is made for life estates of residency.) Please provide the source of your assertion that Gustav's parents will be "homeless." This is not the first time that this claim has been asserted here and I would like to see the source of it.

Finally, about Prince Richard: the man grew up in boarding schools; his father had gone missing and was not declared dead until decades afterward, and his mother not always in residence due to ill health. The reason he is sharing power with his son Gustav is that Richard was diagnosed with not just one, but two forms of cancer. If he is considered "difficult," then I say he has good and decent cause to be a bit on the cranky side. I suggest that someone who lives under his roof take the time to walk a mile in his shoes before spitting on his hospitality.

 

[Benedikte]

Well I've read the interview in Billedbladet and I thought nothing of the comments about Princess Benedikte and Prince Richard.

Prince Richard has a certain way of stating his mind according to himself on several occasions and according to princess Benedikte. He has always had this temper. Carina was just implying a well known fact.

Princess Benedikte has a lot of duties in Denmark and that is a fact also.

 

[rosebud707]

They do make a lovely couple. Married or not, it's of no concern for ours.