How a coal miner’s daughter from a terraced house in a Swansea slum became a PRINCESS OF SWEDEN… after decades of hiding relationship with a handsome royal lover
- Born Lillian Davies, Princess Lilian had a true fairy-tale romance
- The miner’s daughter became a much-loved member of Swedish royalty
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‘It’s a real rags to riches story – a fairy tale, just like Cinderella’, as one observer put it.
And who could doubt the truth of that in the case of Princess Lilian, who went from the slums of Swansea to membership of the Swedish royal family?
But if it’s a story that is new to you, one very good reason is the effort to which Lillian Davies went to keep her fairy tale relationship away from the public gaze.
Princess Lilian, as she was later known with just two ls, was born on August 30 1915, to William Davies, a miner turned market stall holder, and a shop assistant, Gladys Mary Curran.
Lilian spent her childhood growing up in a terraced house in a slum district of the city, later demolished in the 1930s
Welsh model Lilian met Swedish Prince Bertil at a London cocktail party in 1943. Although madly in love, they were not allowed to wed for 33 years, because Lilian, a miner’s daughter, was considered a commoner and had been married before
Princess Lilian is seen arriving at the Royal Palace in 2006. When they could finally marry in 1976, Lilian became a Princess and pursued an active role within Sweden’s royal family
Lilian was born on August 30 1915, to miner William Davies and a shop assistant, Gladys. The family lived in a Swansea slum, later demolished. She removed an ‘l’ from her name and became Lilian when she moved to London. Pictured: Swansea in the early 1900s
For years, the couple kept their love a secret from the public. The Swedish royal family made a pact with the press not to report on the relationship. Pictured: Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil at their Cote d’Azur home in 1988
As a child, she would help her father with his stall and worked at a launderette to earn extra money for her family.
When she was 16, Lilian moved to London to work as a model and actress before the Second World War began.
That’s when the Welsh beauty removed the second ‘l’ from her name in a bid to appear more glamorous.
She began working as a maid to save up money for elegant outfits. This soon led to her being featured in adverts and even fashion magazines including Vogue.
Lilian had a number of minor film roles, which is how she met her first husband, the Scottish actor Ian Craig, whom she married at the height of the blitz in 1940.
But shortly after their wedding he was called into the military. Back home Lilian also helped with the war effort, working at a factory making radios for the marines, and later at a hospital for injured soldiers in the capital.
Just before she turned 28, Lilian’s life changed course. It was 1943 and she had been hosting a cocktail party to celebrate her birthday.
One of the guests was a handsome Swedish naval attaché working at the Swedish embassy in London, who happened to be the third son of the King of Sweden, Gustaf VI Adolph.
There was an immediate spark between the pair, but as Lilian was already married, nothing could be done.
Recalling their first meeting in her memoir she wrote: ‘He was so handsome, my prince. Especially in uniform. So charming and thoughtful. And so funny.’
When her husband finally returned from service in 1945, he declared he was in love with an Italian woman. Ian and Lilian made the decision to divorce amicably.
Not long afterwards, she moved to Sweden to be reunited with her true love, Prince Bertil.
But the pair were not allowed to marry for more than three decades, until 1976 when Lilian was 61 and Prince Bertil 64.
Lilian, right, leaves hospital after visiting ailing King Gustaf VI Adolf in August 1973. Finally acknowledged as a member of the royal family in 1976, she was loved by the Swedish public
Lilian and Bertil on their wedding day in December 1976
Princess Lilian continued with her royal duties even after the death of her husband
A state funeral was held for Lilian when she died in 2013, aged 97. The King of Sweden described her as ‘a true bringer of happiness’. Pictured: Lilian at an event in Stockholm in 1972
This was because in 1947, two years after Lilian had arrived in Stockholm, Bertil’s brother Gustav Adolf, the heir to the throne – died in a plane crash .
As a result, his infant son, Crown Prince Carl Gustaf, who was less than a year old, was suddenly next in line.
Bertil’s second elder brother, Sigvard Bernadotte, had already given up his succession to the throne after he divorced his first wife and married a commoner, leaving the country with an ageing monarch and baby heir.
The possibility of Bertil himself becoming King of Sweden was suddenly very real – and he was told that marrying someone who was both a commoner and a divorcee would result in him waiving his right to the throne.
His father, King Gustav VI, refused to give his blessing to a marriage with Lilian, worrying it would jeopardise the future of the Swedish monarchy.
Escaping the controversy, Lilian and Bertil moved to Sainte-Maxime in the south of France, returning to Sweden in 1957.
For the next 33 years, Lilian lived away from the royal spotlight with very few members of the public even knowing she existed.
The Swedish royal family made a deal with the press to ensure they would not mention her name.
Lilian was never allowed to accompany Prince Bertil on any official duties even though he never became King.
Bertil’s father Gustaf VI Adolf died in 1973 and King Carl XVI Gustaf, who still reigns, ascended the throne.
1976 brought a surprise turn of events. the King himself decided to marry a commoner, Silvia Sommerlath.
In an interview in 1995 to celebrate her 80th birthday, the Princess said: ‘If I were to sum up my life, everything has been about my love’
Princess Lilian stands with Princess Madeleine, Crown Princess Victoria, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia – all in historical clothes – while welcoming the guests for a gala dinner at the Castle of Gripsholm in June 2001
Times had changed, of course. And this made way for Lilian and Bertil to officially become a couple.
Just months after the King’s wedding, the star-crossed lovers, too, finally married in December 1976.
Prince Bertil kept his title and the miner’s daughter became Princess Lilian.
Speaking at their wedding, the Prince said: ‘We only regret one thing. And that is that were not able to get married sooner and have children.’
While they had no children on their own, Lilian was very close to children in the royal family. Prince Carl Philip, now 43, was her godson.
Princess Lilian became a very active and ‘much loved’ member of the Swedish royal family, even after the sad death of her husband.
He died aged 84 in 1997 with Lilian by his side.
In an interview in 1995, to celebrate her 80th birthday, she said: ‘If I were to sum up my life, everything has been about my love.’
The Princess went on to live 16 years without her husband, continuing royal duties until 2010, when Alzheimer’s began to take hold.
When she died in 2013, a state funeral was held. The King said at the time: ‘She was a true bringer of happiness and had the ability always to create around her a warm and kind atmosphere.
‘The family’s children always appreciated her jokes and humorous ways.’
Swedish writer Kerstin Nilsson said: ‘She was as loved by the Swedish people as her husband. Today we are many who mourn “Auntie Lilian”.’
Princess Lilian alongside with King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia at the 2013 Nobel Prize giving
The princess was given a Swedish state funeral in 2013
Lilian pictured in 1988. Speaking at their wedding, her husband had said: ‘We only regret one thing. And that is that were not able to get married sooner and have children’
She is not forgotten back home in Swansea, either. Long-serving MP for Swansea, Donald Anderson – now Lord Anderson – said: ‘It is a real rags to riches story – a fairy tale, just like Cinderella.
‘She came from a tough part of Swansea, an area which is no longer there after a slum clearance.
‘But she went from being known as Lil to becoming a royal princess.
‘She was extremely popular in Sweden – she was very down to earth.’
Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil now lie next to each at the Royal Cemetery in Haga, Stockholm.
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