Why Princess Birgitta was an HRH and her sisters were not

The late Princess Birgitta of Sweden was the only one of her sisters who held the style of Royal Highness, and the reason is quite simple.

The reason Princess Birgitta retained her royal style, and her sisters lost theirs, goes back to now-defunct Swedish royal rules regarding marriages. The Swedish constitution at the time stated that Swedish princesses had to marry a man of equal rank. If they did not, they lost their royal style of Royal Highness.

Princesses Margaretha, Désirée and Christina married commoners and lost their royal styles. However, they did not lose their titles of princess as the monarchs at the time of their marriages (King Gustaf VI Adolf and King Carl XVI Gustaf) gave them courtesy titles just without the style of Royal Highness.

Margaretha’s courtesy title is Princess Margaretha, Mrs Ambler and Désirée’s is Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld. Christina holds the title of Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson.

Princess Birgitta married a man of equal rank (a fellow royal): Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern. This means that the Princess was able to retain the style of Royal Highness, making her title from her marriage until her death – Her Royal Highness Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Hohenzollern.

Birgitta’s husband and his family held the styles of Serene Highness, but since Royal Highness is ranked higher, the Princess was able to retain her birth royal styling.

One thing all three Haga Princesses (a nickname they were given as children) have in common is their place in the line of succession. None of the sisters of King Carl Gustaf are in the line of succession; likewise, their children are not in the line of succession. Before King Carl Gustaf ascended the throne and the change in succession laws in 1980, women were not allowed to inherit the throne nor were any of their children.

Since the births and marriages of the Haga Princesses, the laws in Sweden have changed to allow women in the line of succession and to marry who they want.

For example, Crown Princess Victoria married a commoner, Daniel Westling, in 2010. She did not lose her royal style or her place in the line of succession. Victoria remained the heir to the throne, and her husband was granted a princely title. He is now known as Prince Daniel. Together, they will one day be the Queen of Sweden and Prince Consort.

In fact, with the change in succession laws, the first two people in the Swedish line of succession are women – Crown Princess Victoria and her daughter, Princess Estelle, who will also one day reign as monarch.