Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld

Biography

Désirée was born and grew up at the family home, Haga Palace outside Stockholm, with her three sisters; together they were known as the Haga Princesses. She was named after her ancestress Queen Desideria of Sweden and after her mother Sibylla.

Marriage and children

Désirée's engagement to Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, (31 May 1934 – 11 April 2017), son of Baron Carl Silfverschiöld and wife Madeleine Bennich, was announced on 18 December 1963, and the couple married on 5 June 1964 in Storkyrkan in Stockholm. As a result of her non-royal marriage, she lost her style of Royal Highness and her position as a princess of Sweden, but was given the courtesy Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld by the King. Under the Swedish constitution of that time, she, as a woman, and her descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne. When this was later changed to absolute primogeniture the right of succession was limited to the descendants of her brother, King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld's marriage has produced three children and four grandchildren:

• Baron Carl Otto Edmund Silfverschiöld (b. Gothenburg, 22 March 1965) married in the presence of the complete Royal family in 2005 to Maria Fredriksson (b. Slottsstaden, Malmö, 12 April 1965). They have one daughter.
• Baroness Christina-Louise Ewa Madeleine Silfverschiöld (b. Gothenburg, 29 September 1966), married Baron Hans de Geer af Finspång (b. Stockholm, 26 January 1963). They have three children.
• Baroness Hélène Ingeborg Sibylla Silfverschiöld (b. Gothenburg, 20 September 1968), who in 1976 was a bridesmaid at the weddings of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and of Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian.

Representative duties

In November 1960 while still a Princess of Sweden, Désirée accompanied her elder sister Birgitta for a visit to the United States on behalf of their grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf for the 50th anniversary of the The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In their honour a ball was organised for the two princesses at the Renaissance Blackstone Hotel in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley.

Since she got married Silfverschiöld lives in the family's home at Koberg Castle and at Gåsevadholm Castle in Halland. She takes part in Swedish Royal Family events. She and Baron Silfverschiöld were occasionally invited to state dinners and receptions in Sweden.

With her family, she was a guest at the 2010 Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling, where her grandson Ian was a pageboy. Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld is Crown Princess Victoria's godmother.

Honours

National honours

•  Sweden: Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (LoK av KMO)
•  Sweden: Member of the Royal Family Order of King Gustaf VI Adolf, 1st Class
•  Sweden: Member of the Royal Family Order of King Carl XVI Gustaf, 1st Class
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 90th Birthday Medal of King Gustav V
•  Sweden: Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of King Gustav V
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 85th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustaf VI Adolf
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
•  Sweden: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling
•  Sweden: Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
•  Sweden: Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Foreign honours

•  Japan: Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown
•  Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
•  Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav

Ancestry