Princess Birgitta of Sweden (Birgitta Ingeborg Alice; 19 January 1937 – 4 December 2024) was a member of the Swedish royal family. She was the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and an elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf.
From 1961, she was a member of the Swabian branch of the deposed House of Hohenzollern by her marriage to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern.
Born at Haga Palace in Stockholm, Birgitta was the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and a granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf. She and her three sisters were affectionately called "Hagasessorna" (the Haga Princesses). She was 10 years old when her father was killed in the 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster.
At the age of 14, Birgitta was educated at Franska Skolan in Stockholm, followed by a stay at a Swiss boarding school. Prior to that, she and her sisters had been homeschooled at Stockholm Palace. In 1958, she graduated with a degree in movement sciences from Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences.
In the late 1950s, Birgitta trained as a gymnastics instructor and worked for almost two years at Broms school in Stockholm. She was also interested in sport, particularly fencing, tennis and later golf, and had ambitions of competing for Sweden at the Olympic Games. According to the Swedish Royal Court, she was offered the opportunity to compete in fencing for Sweden at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, although she did not participate. In November 1960, Birgitta visited the United States accompanied by her younger sister Princess Désirée on behalf of their grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf for the 50th anniversary of The American-Scandinavian Foundation. In their honour, a ball was organised for the two princesses at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley. After her marriage to Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961, Birgitta moved to Munich, where she lived with her family and continued to pursue interests in sport and fashion. During the 1980s she operated her own fashion boutique in Munich.
Birgitta continued her interest in physical fitness and in 1967 released the LP Spänsta med Birgitta, accompanied by a book containing an exercise programme. In the mid-1990s, she moved permanently to Mallorca, where golf became a central part of her life. She was an honorary board member of the British Royal Swedish Golfing Society and hosted the Princess Birgitta Trophy at Golf Santa Ponsa, the golf course near her home. Outside sport, Birgitta remained involved in charitable and international activities. She participated in the Royal Sweden Hong Kong Society, which promoted trade and projects between Sweden and Hong Kong, and she was involved in environmental issues. She also co-founded the HELP Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children around the world, and a substantial portion of the proceeds from her memoir was donated to the foundation. She additionally participated in sportsman Sven Tumba's charitable projects in Africa, which supported children through funding for schools and school transportation.
In 1997, Birgitta published her memoir Min egen väg, written in collaboration with Fred König. She later continued to make occasional public appearances connected with Sweden and the royal family. In 2009, she was the Sommar presenter on Sveriges Radio's P1, where she discussed her life, family and charitable interests. On 25 December 2022, Sveriges Television broadcast the 59-minute documentary Sessan – en kunglig saga, directed by Jens Lind, in which Birgitta looked back on her childhood at Haga Palace, her father's death, her sporting ambitions, her marriage and life abroad, and her experiences as a member of the Swedish royal family.
In the fall of 1959, Birgitta moved to Munich, Germany, to study German. Here she met Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern at a cocktail party. Their engagement was announced on 15 December 1960.
The couple were married in a civil ceremony in the Hall of State of the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 25 May 1961. The bride's grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, had hoped for a Lutheran ceremony, but Pope John XXIII forbade this. The bridesmaids were the bride’s sister Princess Christina and cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark; the groomsmen were the bride's brother Crown Prince Carl Gustaf and her cousin Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (son of Sigvard Bernadotte). She wore Empress Josephine's cameo diadem, thus becoming the first in a line of Swedish princesses to do so, as well as her great-grandmother Queen Sofia's lace veil which was also worn by her mother, Princess Sibylla, on her wedding day in 1932.
A Catholic ceremony was held at Sankt Johann Church at the groom's family seat of Sigmaringen, Germany, on 30 May 1961. Birgitta applied to convert to Catholicism when she married the Hohenzollern prince, but her application was rejected in wording which questioned her spiritual commitment to the change.
The couple had three children:
Prince Carl Christian Friedrich Johannes Meinrad Maria Hubertus Edmund of Hohenzollern (born 5 April 1962 in Munich, Germany), married Nicole Helene Neschitsch (born 22 January 1968 in Munich) on 26 July 1999 in Kreuzpullach. They have one son:
Prince Nicolas Johann Georg Maria of Hohenzollern (born 22 November 1999)
Princess Désirée Margareta Victoria Louise Sibylla Katharina Maria of Hohenzollern (born 27 November 1963 in Munich). She married Heinrich Franz Josef Georg Maria Reichsgraf (Imperial Count) zu Ortenburg (born 11 October 1956 in Bamberg) on 21 September 1998 in Weitramsdorf. They had three children before divorcing in 2002. Then she married Eckbert Georg Klaus von Bohlen und Halbach (born 24 March 1956)
Hereditary Count Carl-Theodor Georg Philipp Maria zu Ortenburg (born 21 February 1992 in Lichtenfels)
Count Frederik-Hubertus Ferdinand Maria zu Ortenburg (born 7 February 1995 in Lichtenfels)
Countess Carolina Maria Franziska Christina Stephanie zu Ortenburg (born 23 March 1997)
Prince Hubertus Gustav Adolf Veit Georg Meinrad Maria Alexander of Hohenzollern (born 10 June 1966 in Munich), who served as page boy at the 1976 wedding of his uncle, King Carl XVI Gustaf. He married Uta Maria König (born 25 February 1964 in Trier). They had two children: