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Princess Désirée of Sweden, Baroness Silfverschiöld, the older sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf, has died at the age of 87. The Swedish Royal Court said she “passed away peacefully in her home” at Koberg Castle in Västergötland, a province in southern Sweden, on January 21, surrounded by her family. The King has ordered the flags at Drottningholm Palace and Haga Palace in Stockholm to be flown at half mast on Wednesday in her memory.
Princess Birgitta on the left, Princess Desiree On The Right: both passed away at the age of 87
Born in 1938 in Stockholm, Princess Désirée was the third daughter of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was named after Desideria, Queen Consort of Sweden and Norway in the 19th century. Désirée grew up at Haga Palace outside Stockholm with her three sisters, a group referred to in Sweden at the time as the “Haga princesses.”
In 1964, she married Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, a captain in the Swedish Army, at Stockholm Cathedral. Because Silfverschiöld was not of royal rank, Désirée lost her style as a royal highness and her position as a Princess of Sweden under the laws then. At the time, women and their descendants were excluded from the Swedish Line of Succession. Later constitutional changes limited succession to the descendants of her brother, King Carl XVI Gustaf. She was thereafter known as Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld.
However, as a descendant of Queen Victoria through her granddaughter, Princess Margaret of Connaught, who married King Gustaf VI Adolf in 1905, Désirée was also technically included in the British Line of Succession.
The couple had three children. Their son, Baron Carl Otto Edmund Silfverschiöld, was born in 1965, followed by Baroness Christina Louise Ewa Madeleine in 1966 and Baroness Hélène Ingeborg Sibylla in 1968. After their marriage, Désirée lived primarily at Koberg Castle and Gåsevadholm Castle in Halland, a coastal province in southern Sweden. She remained closely connected to the royal family and was a godmother to her niece, Crown Princess Victoria. Her husband died in 2017 at the age of 82.
The King’s second-eldest sister, Princess Birgitta, died in 2024, also at the age of 87. Princess Margaretha, the eldest of the siblings, turned 91 in October and lives a private life in Oxfordshire, England. Princess Christina, 82, has retired from royal duties and lives in Stockholm.
Princess Désirée is survived by her three children—Baron Carl, Baroness Christina-Louise, and Baroness Hélène—and their families. The Palace said information on Princess Désirée’s funeral will be provided at a later date.
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