Since she sadly died on Sunday, I just had to sudden idea to write about her life. Which would be a good idea. So here is her life:
Lilian was born as Lillian May Davies on August 30, 1915 in Swansea, South Wales. She was the daught of Wiliam Davies and his wife, Gladys Mary. Her parents seperated in the 1920's but didn't divorce until 1939, when Lilian was 24.
Lilian became a model and she dropped one of the l's from her name, becoming "Lilian". She modeled from magazines such as Vogue.
Lilian married a Scottish man, Ivan Craig (1912-1998) in 1940. Soon after their wedding, Ivan joined the British Army and left for Africa to fight in World War II. While he was gone, Lilian worked at a factory that made radios for the Royal Navy. She also worked at a hospital for wounded soldiers.
In 1943, Lilian met the young Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland in London, supposedly for a cocktail party for her 28th birthday. A bit after she met Bertil, they became lovers. Keep in mind that she was still married to her husband, who was still fighting in Africa.
When her husband did come back, Ivan expressed his wish to marry another woman. They seperated in 1945 and they divorced in 1947.
Bertil's older brother, Prince Gustaf Adolf, was second-in-line to the Swedish throne. In 1947, he died in a plane crash. His son, Carl XVI Gustaf (the current King) was next in line and he was not even a year old.
Carl does have four older sisters, but back in the days, the women couldn't succed to the throne, that has changed because the heir apperant is a girl. So... things have clearly changed.
Back to the story, Royals couldn't marry commenors in Sweden, and when they did they would lose their line in the throne. Bertil wasn't going to let his country be run by a child that wasn't even a year old. So, Bertil and Lilian waited.
Lilian moved to Sweden and lived with Bertil. Lilian won the affection of the Swedish Royal Family. Carl Gustaf became King in 1973. He married Queen Silvia in 1976. When King Carl Gustaf found out that his wife was pregnant with their first child, he gave Bertil his full consent to marry Lilian.
So they married in December later that year. He was 64 and she was 61. Lilian wore a ice blue silk shantung coat dress with bell sleeves. She accessorized her outfit with blue feathers in her hair, pearl and diamond jewelry, and a bouquet of lilies of the valley.
Bertil died in 1997. Lilian continued Royal duties. She attended the Nobel Prize ceremonies from 1976-2005 until she decided she was too old. Lilian fell and broke her femur in August of 2008. In February of 2009 she again fell. It was announced on June 3, 2010 that she had Alzheimer's desease and couldn't appear in public, which was a few days before Crown Princess Victoria's Wedding.
Then, sadly on March 10 at the age of 97 in Stockholm. They Royal Palace didn't give a reason for the cause of death, she has been in poor health for the past years.
Her funeral was today, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Sofia Hellqvist, Princess Madeleine, Christopher O'Neill, Princess Margaretha, Princess Birgitta, Princess Desiree, Princess Christina, Queen Margrethe of Denmark and other royals were in attendance.
Photo: Google Images (Key Words: "Princess Lilian of Sweden")
Information: Wikipedia, The Royal Order of Satrorial Splendor
