Carl Wilhelm Ludvig

Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Norway, Carl Wilhelm Ludvig (17 June 1884 – 5 June 1965), Duke of Södermanland, was the second son of King Gustav V of Sweden and his Queen consort Victoria of Baden and authored a large number of books (primarily in Swedish) as Prins Wilhelm.

Personal life

Wilhelm was born at Tullgarn Palace.

On 3 May 1908, in Tsarskoye Selo Wilhelm married Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. She was a daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and Princess Alexandra of Greece, and was a cousin of the reigning Russian tsar, Nicholas II.

Wilhelm and Maria had only one son Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland and later Count Bernadotte af Wisborg (1909–2004).

In his autobiography, Lennart tells of how his grandfather, the King, insisted that the servants call Maria by her correct style Your Imperial and Royal Highness, to some dismay of her husband, who was merely a Royal Highness. The marriage was unhappy. Maria later told people that her husband was a homosexual (though that is not known to be true), or at least sexually inadequate. The couple divorced in 1914 because of what Maria described as the horror she then felt toward the Swedish royal family, due to their unlimited support of Doctor Axel Munthe who had accosted her sexually.

Wilhelm had a relationship, which was not publicly known, with Jeanne de Tramcourt from that year until 1952. They lived together for more than 30 years on the estate Stenhammar near Flen. This was at a time when cohabitation was very unusual and not officially allowed to occur among royalty. Jeanne de Tramcourt was therefore called his "hostess" at Stenhammar. On January 2, 1952, she died in a car accident in a snowstorm near Stjärnhov in Södermanland, when they were on their way to Stenhammar after visiting Wilhelm's son Lennart. Wilhelm was driving when the accident took place. After this tragedy, he is said never to have recovered.

As Prins Wilhelm he was a noted photographer and the author of several books.

Following the murder of Kaj Munk on 4 January 1944 the Danish resistance newspaper De frie Danske brought condemning reactions from influential Scandinavians, including Wilhelm.

He died in Stockholm, aged 80.