Princess Désirée, the last surviving ‘Haga Princess’ and sister to King Carl XVI Gustaf, dies at 87, closing a storied chapter of Sweden’s royal history.
Princess Désirée of Sweden, Baroness Silfverschiöld, passed away peacefully at her ancestral home, Koberg Castle in Västergötland, on January 21, 2026, at the age of 87. The Swedish Royal Court confirmed she died surrounded by family, prompting King Carl XVI Gustaf to order flags at half mast at Drottningholm Palace and Haga Palace in her honor.
“With great sadness, I have today received the news that my sister, Princess Désirée, has passed away,” the King said in an official statement. “Many warm family memories were created in the home of the Silfverschiöld family in Västergötland—a place in Sweden that came to mean a great deal to my sister.”
Who Was Princess Désirée?
Born in 1938 in Stockholm, Princess Désirée was the third daughter of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alongside her three sisters—Princess Margaretha, Princess Birgitta, and Princess Christina—she was affectionately dubbed one of the “Haga princesses,” after the royal residence where they grew up.
Named after Desideria, a 19th-century Queen Consort of Sweden and Norway, Désirée represented a bridge between Sweden’s Victorian-era royal connections and its modern monarchy. Through her descent from Queen Victoria via Princess Margaret of Connaught, she was also technically in the British Line of Succession.
A Royal Marriage That Changed Her Status
In 1964, Désirée married Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, a Swedish Army captain, in a grand ceremony at Stockholm Cathedral. Because her husband was not of royal rank, she forfeited her title of Royal Highness and her position as a Princess of Sweden under the laws of the time. Women—and their descendants—were then excluded from the Swedish Line of Succession.
From that point forward, she was styled as Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, carving out a life of quiet dignity while remaining closely connected to the royal family. She became a beloved godmother to her niece, Crown Princess Victoria, and maintained a visible presence at major royal milestones.
Legacy: The Last of the ‘Haga Princesses’
Princess Désirée and the Baron raised three children—Baron Carl Otto Edmund, Baroness Christina Louise Ewa Madeleine, and Baroness Hélène Ingeborg Sibylla—primarily at Koberg Castle and Gåsevadholm Castle in Halland. After her husband’s death in 2017, she became the last surviving member of the iconic quartet of sisters.
Her passing follows the 2024 death of her younger sister, Princess Birgitta, also at age 87. Today, only the eldest sibling, Princess Margaretha, 91, remains, living privately in Oxfordshire, England. With Désirée’s death, Sweden bids farewell to a generation of princesses who once captivated the nation and helped usher the monarchy into the modern age.
Funeral arrangements will be announced by the Royal Court at a later date.
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