| Biography | Princess Margaret of Connaught (Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah; later Crown Princess of Sweden; 15 January 1882 1 May 1920) was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria, and his wife, Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia. A Princess of the United Kingdom, she was nicknamed Daisy and in Sweden was known as Margareta.
The Princess was born at Bagshot Park and baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 11 March 1882 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Tait, and her godparents were: Queen Victoria (her paternal grandmother); Wilhelm I, German Emperor (her maternal great-granduncle, who was represented by the German Ambassador Count Münster); the German Crown Princess (her paternal aunt, who was represented by her own sister Princess Christian); Prince and Princess Friedrich Karl of Prussia (her maternal grandparents, for whom her paternal uncle the Duke of Edinburgh and aunt Princess Beatrice stood proxy) and the Prince of Wales (her paternal uncle).[2]
She was confirmed in the same chapel in March 1898, aged 16. Confirmation traditionally marked the end of childhood, after which a girl would 'come out' and be considered for marriage.
Princess Margaret grew up as a close member of the Royal Family, taking part in family holidays and weddings. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York (future George V and Queen Mary) on 6 July 1893.
When Princess Margaret of Connaught was 23 and her younger sister Princess Patricia of Connaught was 18, both girls were among the most beautiful and eligible princesses in Europe. Their uncle, King Edward VII, wanted his nieces to marry a European king or crown prince. In January 1905, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught visited Portugal where they were received by King Carlos and his queen, Amélie of Orléans, whose sons Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza, and Prince Manuel entertained the young British princesses. The Portuguese expected one of the Connaught princesses would become the future Queen of Portugal. Then the Connaughts visited Spain, where Patricia was expected to be King Alfonso XIII's future wife (later, Alfonso married another granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg). But neither of these expectations would become true; Margaret and Patricia had other destinies.
The Connaughts continued their trip to Egypt and Sudan. In Cairo they met Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, the future Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, grandson of the Swedish King Oscar II. Originally, it was Margaret's sister Patricia who had been considered a suitable match for Gustaf, when he was, as it is believed, arranged without his knowledge to meet the two sisters. Gustaf and Margaret fell in love at first sight. Prince Gustaf proposed at a dinner held by Lord Cromer at the British Consulate in Egypt, and was accepted. Margaret had certainly fallen completely in love with Gustaf. Her parents were very happy with the match even though the Prince was ten months younger than his bride. Prince Gustaf was short of sight and used spectacles; he was "tall, dark, well informed, fond of music, an excellent shot and a good dancer". Gustaf and Margaret married on 15 June 1905 in St. George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle. The couple spent their honeymoon in Ireland, and arrived in Sweden the 8 July 1905.
One of Margaret's wedding presents was the Connaught tiara, which remains in the Swedish royal jewelry collection today.
She became the first wife of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and his Duchess of Scania on 15 June 1905. When Gustaf Adolf's father, Crown Prince Gustaf, acceeded to the throne as King Gustaf V in 1907, the couple became Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden |