Princess whose forbidden love gripped Sweden dies

[Reader]

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=1&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_ETNWU00L1_UNEWS

STOCKHOLM (AP) — She was one of the better kept secrets of Sweden's royal household: a commoner and divorcee whose relationship with Prince Bertil was seen as a threat to the Bernadotte dynasty.

In a touching royal romance, Welsh-born Princess Lilian and her Bertil kept their love unofficial for decades and were both in their 60s when they finally received the king's blessing to get married.

Lilian died in her Stockholm home on Sunday at age 97. The Royal Palace didn't give a cause of death, but Lilian suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had been in poor health for several years.

She met Sweden's Prince Bertil in 1943, but his obligations to the throne and Lilian's status as a divorced commoner prevented them from making their love public. The couple's sacrifices and lifelong dedication to one another gripped the hearts of Swedes...............more.....

 

[SassyBrat]

Awe, what a love story.

 

[BlithePlum]

What a touching story

 

[kato]

Very interesting. Reminds me of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Also, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, had to give up the "love of her life" as well for similiar circumstances.

 

[SassyBrat]

Kato, thanks for the reminder about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor! I didn't realize Princess Margaret had to give up her love as well. It wasn't her the man she divorced all those years ago?

 

[kato]

Kato, thanks for the reminder about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor! I didn't realize Princess Margaret had to give up her love as well. It wasn't her the man she divorced all those years ago?

He was a commoner and Group Captain Peter Townsend, who was her father's equerry.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Re: Princess Margaret

The man she eventually married and divorced was Anthony Armstrong-Jones. He was the father of her two children.

I recently read a biography of his life. Can't remember the name of the book, but it would be the most recent one published. Wow, was it a good read! It was well documented and written by a respected British biographer. Confirms many of the rumors about his and Margaret's relationship. He is bisexual, but mostly oriented towards women. He was unfaithful to her almost from the honeymoon and she eventually began giving him a "taste of his own medicine" so to speak. That went on for years.

He was blatently and often unwisely promiscuous, to the point of conducting an affair with a neighbor's teenage daughter. She had a years long dalliance with a guy almost 20 years her junior. Known about by everyone, including her husband. It was not until paparazzi captured a photo of Margaret topless on a beach with her younger lover that it "became a problem".

Highly recommended reading if you are into that subject.