Margaret

Death of Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden

Born a British princess (and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria), Princess Margaret was the wife of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden.

She was known as "Daisy".

She had married into the Swedish royal family in 1905. The couple met at a consulate dinner in Cairo, Egypt, and it was love at first sight. The marriage was also considered a triumph for diplomacy, strengthening the links between Britain and Sweden.

Daisy and Gustaf Adolf had five children: Gustaf Adolf, Sigvard, Ingrid, Bertil and Carl Johan. She was a devoted mother to her children, and was determined to raise them by herself and without the aid of nannies and governesses.

The family had a loving and warm household, and Daisy fell in love not just with her new husband but also her new country. She quickly learned Swedish, adopted the Swedish spelling of her name (Margareta), and often took personal trips around the country to take it all in. She was well-liked in Sweden, and was referred to as a "Ray of Sunshine".

During the First World War, she aided the war effort in various ways, including helping make good-quality underwear for the soldiers and supporting a scheme which trained women on how to do land work whilst the men were away.

In late April 1920, an 8-months pregnant Daisy came down with a bout of measles, and despite efforts to recover, her condition worsened. She began to show symptoms of erysipelas (bacterial skin infection) and eventually, she was succumbing to sepsis.

She died in the early hours of May 1, 1920, her father's 70th Birthday. Her baby was also lost. She was 38 years old.

She was buried wearing her wedding dress, as per her instructions she had written a few years earlier. She rests at the Royal Cemetery in Solna.

Her husband was devastated by her passing, and was left rudderless with five young children. He remarried in 1923 to Lady Louise Mountbatten, Daisy's cousin. Gustaf Adolf and Louise became King and Queen of Sweden in 1950. When they died in 1965 and 1973, respectively, they were buried beside Daisy.

Her daughter Ingrid went on to be Queen consort of Denmark, and her grandchildren are current sitting monarchs King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.