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International royalsSweden

Princess Birgitta of Sweden’s husband dies at the age of 83

Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern, the husband of Princess Birgitta of Sweden has died at the of 83, the Swedish Royal Court has announced. He died in his sleep after a brief illness in a hospital in Munich, Germany. King Carl XVI Gustaf released the following statement:

‘I and my family received the news with great sadness that Princess Birgitta’s husband Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern died. Our thoughts are with Princess Birgitta and family.’ 

Prince Johann Georg was born in 1932 as the sixth child of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern and his wife Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony. He was known as ‘Hansi’ by his family.  He met Princess Birgitta of Sweden, who is the sister of the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustav, in 1959 at a cocktail party in Germany. Their engagement was announced by the Royal Court on 15 December 1960. Their civil ceremony took place at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 25 May 1961 and their religious ceremony took place in the Sankt Johann Church in Sigmaringen later that year. Princess Birgitta was the only one of her four sisters to make a royal marriage and thus retained the style ‘Her Royal Highness’.  The marriage produced two sons and a daughter. Sadly the couple separated in 1990, but they remained legally married and still attended family events together, such as the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel in 2010. They celebrated their golden wedding in 2011.

Prince Johann Georg lived in Munich and was a fine arts expert. He served as Director General of the Bavarian State Picture Collection between 1992 and 1998 and he was also the director of the Hypo-Kunsthalle of the Hype Cultural Foundation. He served as a member of the Advisory Board at Christie’s. As such a patron of the arts, his 75th birthday was celebrated in style with a special concert in Munich.

He was also in line for the defunct Romanian throne. No funeral arrangements have been announced as of yet.