#Prince Carl Johan

[andiatas]

Maybe I need to learn Swedish and immerse myself in all things SRF. Are they generally messy or boring?

Depends on how you define things. I would say they're boring 95% of the time, but then when there's a scandal, it's a scandal

Here are a few highlights:

In 1914, Gustaf V gave a speech to the people in which he opposed the government's politics & called for stronger Armed Forces (side note but it's a well-known fact that Gustaf was very worried about the growing tensions "on the continent" & I mean, the dude was right to be concerned). This led to a political crisis & the last political influence the monarch had was stripped. It's unclear who actually wrote the speech; some speculate it was Victoria since it was very well known that she was unhappy about the fact that she, as Queen, didn't have any real power.

In 1936, a woman named Anna wanted to file for divorce from her husband, Kurt. The reason? Her motivation was that her husband had cheated on her with King Gustaf V. This was during a time when homosexuality was illegal & divorce papers were open to the public, so even the hint that the monarch himself might engage in "homosexual acts"? Unthinkable! Long story short, the Court tried to come to an agreement with Anna & Kurt, but the couple continued to blackmail the Court for more & more money. In 1947, Kurt published a book about the "injustices" he had faced, but the majority of the copies of the book were bought by police. In 1951, after Gustaf V had died, Kurt wrote to the Chancellor of Justice to complain, upon which the Chancellor started an investigation. The investigation found that Kurt's "accusations were largely unfounded, but it was also clear that the Royal Court paid out large sums and took other measures with the apparent aim of silencing him." One year later, the Prosecutor-General charged Kurt & he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for extortion of the Royal Court. The whole thing is now nicknamed The Haijby Affair (after Kurt & Anna's last name) & has even been made into a movie.

In 1945, Prince Carl Johan asked for permission to marry the divorced journalist Kerstin Wijkman. They had met in 1939 & the prince fell head-over-heels for Kerstin, who couldn't give a sh*t about him at first. Gustaf V denied his grandson's request & the Royal Court tried to prevent the wedding from taking place by revoking Wijkmark's passport. When that didn't work, they started pressuring the US embassy, which meant that Carl Johan's cousin Folke Bernadotte was dragged into the whole thing. In the end, the two got married in 1946 & that meant that the Prince from then on was known as Carl Johan Bernadotte.

In the late 1950s, Princess Birgitta did something as controversial (for Swedish royal standards) as continuing her education with upper secondary studies. She studied at the School of Sport and Health Sciences for two years, where she met hockey & football player Sven Tumba. They denied it then, but rumours of a romance between the two swirled. However, decades later, they both wrote about the romance (which lasted for about a year) in their memoirs & Princess Birgitta was interviewed in a documentary about Tumba. Among other things, she reminisced about one time when the tabloids rang the doorbell & she had to hide in the wardrobe for about 10 minutes before Tumba had managed to chase them away.

We have Carl Gustaf's younger years... That man loved & still loves to party. This caused concern during his time as Crown Prince & then at the beginning of his time as monarch. He was seen by many as an immature womanizer of a party prince who, therefore, was unfit to rule. The Social Democrat-led government famously threatened with "We're one penstroke away from a Republic!" (which, if you ask me, was more PR than an actual threat, but then again, this was like 10-20 years before I was born, so...)

Speaking of Carl Gustaf, in 1989, he made the Norwegians angry by criticising their PM & the fact that they allowed seal hunting. He commented: "If Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland cannot take care of the seal problem, how will she be able to take care of the Norwegian people?"

Then there was the praising of Sultan Hassanal Bolikiah in 2004 during a state visit to Brunei (which to be fair, he just did his job & repeated what the Foreign Office told him to say).

In 2008, he caused a national outcry because not only did Prince Carl Philip shoot an elk during the annual royal hunt, but the monarch also decided to voice his opinion on the very sensitive topic of wolf hunting (no, seriously, it's an incredibly sensitive topic & not one to bring up during family dinners). Apart from getting in trouble with the public, Carl Gustaf also got in trouble with his patronage, WWF.

Do I even need to bring up 2010 & "Have you ever visited a strip or sex club?" which caused him to hit a record low in popularity. At least it gave us this iconic meme.

Honourary mention goes to when Prince Daniel (then only Daniel Westling) needed kidney surgery, so Crown Princess Victoria called her "brothers", Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Prince Frederik & was like "Hey, can you guys help me with a thing? Oh yeah, nothing big, just tricking all of the Nordic press so my fiancée can get surgery in peace." So, to cause a distraction, the three went on a trip to the Arctic while Daniel was admitted to the hospital. However... he was spotted by someone; a journalist called up the Court & was like, "I know, I will publish this; just give me a comment." Their ruse was up, so instead of pretending everything was fine & distracting the press so they couldn't publish about what was happening in Stockholm, Victoria spoke about how difficult it was & that she (obviously) was worried but that Haakon & Frederik were very supportive of her & a big help during that trip.

In 2013, just like in 2023, he got into trouble for "not wanting Victoria as heir". During an interview, the reporter asked if he was still upset about the constitutional change, to which he answered: "Of course. I think it's simple. A constitutional law that works retrospectively, that's weird."

In 2014, Princess Madeleine's apartment was renovated. What was supposed to cost 2.5 million SEK ended up costing 6.8 million SEK. Then, in 2018-2019 renovation works started again, which ended up costing around 5 million SEK. A wall between Madeleine's apartment & the apartment next door was going to be taken down & the family wanted a walk-in closet, a new bedroom, a bathroom & a wardrobe (different one from the named walk-in closet, so two wardrobes were on the wishlist). This ended up creating an argument between the National Property Board & the Royal Court, where the former thought Madeleine had "too high standards". The Royal Family didn't end up paying from their own pockets & this story has now become known as the time the Swedish taxpayers paid for Madeleine's walk-in closet.

If you're still reading, thank you & I hope you enjoyed all of this tea!

[raincitygirl76]

What a great confession. My hypothesis is that Kristina’s youthful “unfortunate romance” was with Carl Johan Horn. And her father nixed it because marrying their first cousins was something royalty did back in the 19th century. The monarchy has evolved since the days of rampant inbreeding, and the fact that Kristina was in love with Carl Johan didn’t matter to her dad. Just like the fact that Wilhelm is in love with Simon doesn’t matter to Kristina now. Either that or Carl Johan, even in his youth, was already showing signs of addiction issues, and her dad nixed it because he thought his nephew was a bad choice for a son-in-law.

Regardless of the reason, and regardless of who the man was, Kristina was not allowed to marry her first love. He wasn’t suitable, for whatever reason. And eventually she persuaded herself that her parents disregarding her wishes was them demonstrating their love for her rather than them controlling every aspect of her life. And now she’s repeating that cycle on her own child.

My hypothesis is she had to marry someone, and breed within wedlock. It was her duty to the monarchy. So there was probably a shortlist of suitable aristocratic candidates. And Ludvig was the most tolerable guy on the shortlist, so she picked him.

Also, we mostly see Ludvig when he’s being a shitty father and completely zoning out in situations where he should be paying attention. But he is perfectly capable of being charming when he wants to. Look at the dinner scene in 2.06. He’s flirting with Kristina and making her giggle. Kristina, giggling. Not something we’ve seen her do before or since.

So no, I don’t think either Kristina or Ludvig were in love, I think it was a pragmatic match for both of them. But I do think he was the most charming, least boring, suitable aristocratic guy on the shortlist. She probably picked him because at least he can make her laugh. It’s just that twentysomething years of marriage later, Ludvig rarely bothers turning on the charm with her. But when he flirts with her, it still works.

I really hope we get to find out about Kristina's unfortunate romance. I think we will, and it will be a parallel to Wilmon (I am guessing she fell in love with a common boy as well), and some sort of bonding/humanising moment for her. I doubt the writers would have put it in otherwise. But ALSO I wanna find out more about her relationship with Ludvig. They seem so nonchalant (though cordial) towards each other, but are we gonna get some sort of redemptive "I married for politics and I live with Regret" thing for her, and it helps her built a better relationship with her son? *Clings to edge of seat*

[charlotte-of-wales]

Royal Tiaras Highlights: Swedish Six Button Tiara

The buttons used in this tiara were initially attached to the crown worn by King Carl XIV Johan, who was born Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, at his coronation in 1818. He was the first king of the Bernadotte house. The buttons might have been in the family for 200 years, the tiara was created around the time Princess Lilian married Prince Bertil, apparently for her use. The piece was frequently worn by Lilian and nowadays it can be usually seen on Crown Princess Victoria or Princes Christina.

ps: if you look closely you’ll notice the two buttons at the ends are different than the 4 central ones.

[theroyalfanzine]

Royal Godparents to Royal Godchildren

I did this list back in 2012, and got some great responses. I've updated and edited parts of the list. Again, any corrections and/or adds, message me! Thanks in advance!

When choosing godparents for their children, the parents often chose friends or other relatives. Often in royal circles, royals also pick other royals. Here’s a partial list. (Yes, I know some lists are incompelte as some of these royals’s godchildren are not royals themselves.) If you have any additions, please feel free to message me!

Belgium

King Baudouin I

Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium (1951)

King Leopold III

Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands (1938)

Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg (1954)

King Philippe of The Belgians (1960)

Queen Astrid

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

King Albert II

Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium (1956)

Queen Paola

Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (1986)

King Philippe

Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (1986)

Princess Marie Gabrielle de Nassau (1986)

Queen Matilde

Princess Alexia of The Netherlands (2005)

 Princess Isabella of Denmark (2007)

Princess Astrid, Archduchess of Austria-Este

Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (1992)

Prince Amedeo, Archduke of Austria-Este

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, The Duchess of Brabant (2001)

Princess Claire

Princess Eléonore of Belgium(2008)

Prince Lorentz, The Archduke of Austria-Este

Prince Carl-Johan de Nassau (1992)

Bulgaria

Queen Margarita

Prince Umberto of Bulgaria (1999)

Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin, Duke of Saxony

   Infanta Sofia of Spain (2007)

Princess Rosrio

Doña Irene de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (2005)

Denmark

Queen Ingrid

 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon  (1930)

King Carl XVI of Sweden (1946)

King Christian X

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

Queen Alexandrine

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

Princess Dagmar

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

Princess Thyra

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

King Fredrick IX

King Carl XVI of Sweden (1946)

Queen Margarethe II

King Williem-Alexander of The Netherlands (1967)

Crown Prince Hakon of Norway (1973)

Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden (1979)

Crown Prince Fredrick of Denmark

 Count Nikolai af Monzepat (1999)

Countess Ingrid Alexandra Irma Astrid Benedikte von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (2003)

 Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004)

Prince Oscar Carl Olof of Sweden, Duke of Skane (2016)

Crown Princess Mary

Count Henrik af Monzepat (2009)

Konstantin Gustav Heinrich Richard Johannsmann (2010)

Princess Estelle of Sweden (2012) 

Prince Christian

Prince Gustav Alberct of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleberg (2023)

Princess Marie

Princess Josephine of Denmark (2011)

Princess Caroline-Mathilde

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

Princess Elisabeth

Theodor Christian Emmanuel Rosanes af Rosenborg (2009)

Princely Family of Lieiningen

Princess Alexandra

Princess Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virgina of Hanover (1999)

Princely Family of Hanover

Princess Sophie of Hanover

Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh (1964)

Princely Family of Hesse

Prince Philipp

Count Friedrich Richard Oscar Jefferson  von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (1999)

Princely Family of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Princess Elisabeth

Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands (1938)

Princely Family of Liechtenstein

Prince Constantin

Prince Georg Antonius of Liechtenstein (1999)

Princess Margaretha

Archduke Imre of Austria (1985)

Princess Louise of Belgium (2004)

Princely Family of Monaco

Prince Albert

Baron Jean-Leonard Taubert-Natta (1974)

Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi (1987)

Louis Robert Paul Ducruet (1992)

Pauline Grace Maguy Ducruet (1994)

Raphaël Casiraghi Elmaleh (2013)

Princess Charlene

Raphaël Casiraghi Elmaleh (2013)

Princess Caroline of Hanover

Louis Robert Paul Ducruet (1992)

Pauline Grace Maguy Ducruet (1994)

Princess Stephanie

Andrea Albert Pierre Casiraghi (1984)

Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi

Princess Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virgina of Hanover (1999)

Baroness Elisabeth Anne de Massy

Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Countess of Polinac (1965)

The Netherlands

Queen Juliana

King Carl XVI of Sweden (1946)

Queen Anne-Marie of Denmark (1946)

King Williem-Alexander

Count Claus-Casmir van Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (2004)

Countess Zaria of Oranje-Nassau (2006)

Princess Estelle of Sweden (2012)

 Prince Constantijn

Princess Catharina-Amalia of The Netherlands, The Princess of Orange (2003)

Countess Luana of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg (2005)

Prince Friso

Countess Eloise van Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg (2002)

Princess Alexia of the Netherlands (2005)

 Norway

King Haakon VII

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

Queen Maud

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner(1932)

King Olav V

Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (1943)

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (1946)

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (1971)

Crown Princess Martha

Crown Princess Martha

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

King Harald

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (1977)

Maud Angelica Behn (2003)

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004)

Queen Sonja

Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway (2005)

Crown Prince Hakkon

Maud Angelica Behn (2003)

Prince Christian of Denmark (2005)

Princess Estelle of Sweden(2012) 

Crown Princess Mette-Mairt

  Prince Christian of Denmark (2005)

  Emma Tallulah Behn (2008)

Princess Märtha Louise

Count Friedrich Richard Oscar Jefferson  von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (1999)

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004)

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (1971) 

Spain

Queen Victoria Eugenia

Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (1913)

Doña María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba de Tormes, Grandee of Spain (1926)

Queen Fabiola of Belgium (1928)

Prince Albert of Monaco (1957)

Felipe, Prince of Austrias (1968)

King Juan Carlos

Don Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y Borbón (1998)

Leonor, The Princess of Asturias (2005

Queen Sofia

Leonor, The Princess of Asturias (2005)

King Felipe VI

Princess Sofia Vidinska of Bulgaria (1999)

Doña Victoria Federica de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y de Borbón (2000) 

Prince Vincent of Denmark (2011)

Infanta Elena

Don Juan Valentín de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (1999)

Prince Achileas-Andreas of Greece (2000)

Infanta Christina

Don Miguel de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (2002)

Iñaki, the former Duke of Palma de Mallorca

Don Miguel de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (2002)

Infanta Maria Cristina

Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium (1951)

Infanta Cristina, Duchess of  Palma de Mallorca (1965)

Princely Family of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Gustav, 7th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Count Friedrich Richard Oscar Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (1999)

Konstantin Gustav Heinrich Richard Johannsmann (2010)

Prince Vincent of Denmark (2011)

Carina, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleberg

Countess Athena af Monzepat

Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Witentein-Berleburg

Countess Ingrid Alexandra Irma Astrid Benedikte von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (2003)

Princess Benedikte

Prince Joachim of Denmark (1969)

Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of  Hälsingland and Gästrikland (1981)

Royal Family of Italy

Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro

Princess Joesphine of Denmark (2011)

Greece

Queen Olga

Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921)

Prince George

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

King Constantine II

Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands (1969)

Prince William of Wales (1982)

Crown Prince Pavlos

Prince Christian of Denmark (2005)

Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway (2005)

Princess Alexia

Don Pablo Nicolás Sebastián de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (2000)

Countess Ingrid Alexandra Irma Astrid Benedikte von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (2003)

Princess Isabella of Denmark (2007)

Emma Tallulah Behn (2008)

Prince Nikolas

Count Friedrich Richard Oscar Jefferson  von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (1999)

Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg

Grand Duchess Charlotte

Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg (1954)

Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte (1927-2005)

Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (1962)

Prince Felix (1893-1970)

Prince Albert of Belgium (1934)

Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg (1957)

Prince Jean of Luxembourg (1957)

Princess Marie-Gabrielle (1925)

Grand Duke Henri (1955)

Prince Jean (1957-)

Prince Félix of Luxembourg (1984)

Grand Duchess Joesphine-Charlotte

Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium (1956)

Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (1962)

Grand Duke Henri

King Albert II of Belgium (1934)

Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Luxembourg (1986)

Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke

Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (1992)

Prince Paul-Louis of Luxembourg (1998)

Prince Noah of Nassu (2007)

Princess Ariane of the Netherlands (2007)

Princess Alexandra

Prince Gabriel de Nassau  (2006)

Prince  François Henri Louis Marie Guillaume of Luxembourg (2023)

Prince Louis

Prince Charles Jean Philippe Joseph Marie Guillaume of Luxemborug (2020)

 Princely Family of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein

Prince Georg of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein

Countess Ingrid Alexandra Irma Astrid Benedikte von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth (2003)

Sweden

King Gustaf V

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (1946)

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

Prince Carl of Sweden & Norway (1861-1951)

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

Prince Eugen of Sweden & Norway (1865-1947)

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

Princess Ingeborg of Sweden & Norway (1878-1958)

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

Princess Margaretha of Sweden & Norway

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg (1957)

Princess Margaretha (1899-1977)

Prince Jean of Luxembourg(1957)

Princess Ingeborg

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

King Carl XVI Gustav

Hakon, Crown Prince of Norway (1973)

Crown Princess Victoria

 Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece & Denmark (1998)

 Baroness Madeleine von Dincklage (1999)

 Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands (2003)

 Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004)

 Prince Christian of Denmark (2005)

 Princess Eléonore of Belgium (2008)

Princess Leonore Lilian Maria of Sweden, The Duchess of Gotland (2014)

Prince Alexander Erik Hubertus Bertil of Sweden, The Duke of Södermanland (2016)

Prince Carl Phillip

Princess Estelle of Sweden, The Duchess of Ostergotland  (2012) 

Prince Nicolas of Sweden, Duke of Ångermanland (2015)

Princess Madeleine

Prince Oscar Carl Olof of Sweden, The Duke of Skane (2016)

 Prince Gabriel Carl Walter of Sweden, The Duke of Dalarna (2017)

Princess Christina

 Prince Joachim of Denmark (1969)

Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (1977)

Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden (1979)

Princess Birgitta

Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden (1979)

Princess Margaretha

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (1973)

Mr. Gustaf Magnusson

Prince Nicolas Paul Gustaf of Sweden, The Duke of Angermanland (2015)

Mr. Victor Magnusson

Prince Alexander Erik Hubertus Bertil of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland (2016)

United Kingdom

Queen Victoria

Prince Albert Edward Kamehameha of Hawaiʻi (1858–1862)

Prince Alfred Alexander William Ernest Albert of Edinburgh, later Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1874–1899)

Princess Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline of Albany (1883–1981)

Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David of York, later Edward VIII (1894–1972)

Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George of York, later George VI (1895–1952)

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (1895–1918)

Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary of York (1897–1965)

Prince Louis Francis of Battenberg, later 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)

King George V

Queen Elizabeth II (1926) 

Queen Mary

Queen Elizabeth II (1926)  

Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (1943)

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946)

Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York, later Elizabeth II (1926)

Prince Edward George Nicholas Patrick Paul, The Duke of Kent (1935)

Prince George, The Duke of Kent

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (1932)

King Edward VIII

 Princess Margaret of York  (1930)

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone

Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands (1938)

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught

Princess Elizabeth of York (1926)  

Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles

Princess Elizabeth of York (1926)  

The Princess Victoria

 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon  (1930)

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

King George VI

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930)

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother

Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1924)

Gerald David Lascelles Esq (1924–1998)

Princess Astrid of Norway (1932)

Princess Alexandra of Kent (1936)

Princess Sofia of Greece, later Queen of Spain (1938)

Princess Irene of the Netherlands (born 1940)

Prince William Henry Andrew Frederick of Gloucester (1941–1972)

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1944)

Prince Richard of Gloucester, later Duke of Gloucester (1944)

Princess Anne of Edinburgh (1950)

The Hon (Robert) Jeremy Lascelles (1955)

Queen Elizabeth II

David Henry George Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood (1950)

Princess Fredrike of Hanover (1954) 

David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (1961)

Edwina Victoria Louise Brudenell (1961)

James Robert Bruce Ogilvy (1964)

Princess Theodora of Greece & Denmark (1983)

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

King Charles III (1948)

Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh

Crown Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania (1948)

Norton Louis Philip Knatchbull, 8th Baron Brabourne (1947)

Princess Maria Tatiana of Yugoslavia (1957)

Prince Christopher of Yugoslavia (1960)

 George Windsor, Earl of St. Andrews (1962)

 Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark (1986)

King Charles III

The Hon. Nicholas Knatchbull (1964-1979)

The Hon.  Timothy Knatchbull (1964)

Marina Victoria Alexandra Ogilvy (1966)

 Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece (1967)

 India Amanda Caroline Hicks (1967)

 Lord Nicholas Windsor (1970)

 Alexander Patrick Gregers Richard Windsor, Earl of Ulster (1970)

The Hon. Edward John Hugo Tollemache (1975) 

Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (1977)

 The Hon. Nicholas Louis Charles Norton Knatchbull (1981)

Hugh Grosvenor, The Duke of Westminster (1991)

Lord Frederick Charles Wellesley(1992)

 Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece & Denmark (1996)

Samuel David Benidict Chatto (1996)

 Kumar Padmanabh Singh, Crown Prince of Jaipur (1998)

Diana, Princess of Wales

The Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (1981)

Alexandra Victoria Edwina Diana Knatchbull (1982)

Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark (1986)

Jakie James Warren (1986)

The Lady Mary Luise Wellesley (1986)

Edward Edmund Maximilian George Windsor, Lord Downpatrick (1988)

Jack William Bartholomew (1989)

Benjamin Peter Marcus Samuel (1989)

Domenica Marianna Tertia Lawson (1995)

The Prince William, The Prince of Wales

Prince Constantine-Alexios of Greece & Denmark (1998)

Mia Grace Tindall (2014)

The Prince Andrew, The Duke of York

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips Tindall (1981)

Prince Henry, The Duke of Sussex (Prince Harry, 1984)

The Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh

The Lady Rose Gilman (1980)

Lady Ella Mountbatten (1996)

Count Nikolai af Monzepat (1999)

Sophie, The Duchesss of Edinburgh, The Countess of Wessex

Lady Alexandra Mountbatten (1998)

Anne, The Princess Royal

 Philip, Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1970)

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (1973)

Prince Peter of Yugoslavia (1980)

Princess Eugenie, Mrs. Jack Brooksbank

Maud Daphne Marina Windsor (2013)

Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall

Prince George Alexander Louis of Wales (2013)

David Armstrong-Jones, The 2nd Earl Snowdon

Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary, Mrs. Edoardo Mapelli (1988)

The Lady Sarah Chatto

The Lady Rose Gilman (1980)

Prince Henry of Wales (1984)

Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor (2003)

Princess Michael of Kent

Princess Maria Chiara Amalia Carola Louise Carmen of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (2005)

Katharine, Duchess of Kent

Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh (1964)

Princess Alexandra of Kent, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy

George Windsor, The Earl of St Andrews (1962)

The Prince William of Wales (1982)

James Robert Bruce Ogilvy

Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena, Mrs. Jack Brooksbank (1990)

[raincitygirl76]

I think it’s interesting that this one solitary moment of August being his authentic, vulnerable self around Wilhelm happened when they were both high as a kite, and drunk to boot.

There was an opportunity there for them to forge a meaningful connection. Assuming they were both sober enough to remember the conversation in the morning. Shared grief for Erik, plus the experience of losing an immediate family member (in August’s case, his dad, in Wilhelm’s case his brother) in a sudden, senseless tragedy that left them both with survivors guilt.

And then at the end of the episode, August had to August and film that creepy video. And his gay panic over a female-coded man becoming king of Sweden someday took precedence over whatever connection they’d briefly established earlier in 1.04.

What I mean by female-coded is linked below. I know it’s tacky to reblog your own posts. But August is very stuck on traditional gender roles and traditional, heteronormative ways to be masculine. And I have a post where I talk about how what the video August took shows the worst possible outcome, from the point of view of conventional masculinity. And I think that’s partly why August seemed fascinated yet repulsed, and watched the video several times in 1.05.

The only time August seemed truly sincere was during this moment. Despite of our inability to witness a flashback of August life during and after his dad's death, his pain of losing his dad was visible as he reflect from Wilhelm's pain of losing a brother.

Did he ever blamed himself of his dad's death? Like Wilhelm, even if it has nothing to do with him. August obviously didn't had a lot of support from his mom that it must've been really hard to go on without anyone by his side. If he ever blamed himself, it must've been heartbreaking that no one was there to comfort him.

Although it was only momentary, those screams must've comforted Wilhelm, even a little.

[world-of-wales]

Happy 40th Birthday to Princess Madeleine of Sweden!

Born on 10 June 1982, Princess Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine is the third and youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Currently Madde is eighth in line to the succession to the Swedish throne.

Madeleine was given the title of Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland. It was the first time since the early 17th century that a Swedish ducal title included more than one province.

She was christened at the Royal Palace church on 31 August 1982. Her godparents being Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Prince Andreas of Sachsen Coburg and Gotha, Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson and Mr Walter L. Sommerlath. She was confirmed at Vadstena Abbey in August 1997.

She graduated from Enskilda in 2001 and then went on to graduate from Stockholm University with a Bachelor of Arts in art history, ethnology and modern history. She continued her master's studies at the School of Social Work completed a university course in child psychology in the autumn.

On 8 June 2013, Princess Madeleine married Mr Christopher O'Neill at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace. Madde and Chris have three children - Princess Leonore (b. 2014), Prince Nicolas (b. 2015) and Princess Adrienne (b. 2018)

Princess Madeleine is a patron of the organisation Min Stora Dag and also works with Europa Nostra, Carl Johan-League and the Royal Motorboat Club.

Her work heavily revolves around working with children, she interned for UNICEF for six months in New York City and worked for the division of Child Protective Services. In 2015, she initiated the #EyesWideOpen campaign to increase the awareness about the sexual abuse of children. Madeleine works closely with the World Childhood Foundation and became its Honorary Vice Chair in December 2021. She also released her first book titled Stella och hemligheten (Stella and the Secret) in support of the Foundation in 2019.

Currently Princess Madeleine and her family reside in Florida. However, In March 2023, it was announced that they would move back to Sweden in August 2023.

[frogprincesnowglobe]

Ultimate Young Royals Character Tournament

Sara Eriksson VS August Horn of of Årnäs

Sara Eriksson: First year student in Manor house at Hillerska boarding school. Loves horses. Really loves horses. Simon's sister. They were close. Real close. But she has her eye on the prize and that prize is climbing a few rungs higher on the social ladder. Loves Horses. Did I mention she loves horses? Loves Rousseau (he's a horse). Friends with Felice. Once betrayed her brother by not telling him she knew who took and leaked the explicit video of him that was taken through a window without his knowledge. Once betrayed him worse by sleeping with the guy who took leaked the explicit video of him that was taken through a window without his knowledge.

August Horn of Årnäs: Third year student in Forest Ridge house at Hillerska boarding school. Second cousin to Wille and Erik. His dad Carl Johan Horn of Årnas was Queen Kristina's cousin. Very high strung. Grieving. Looks good in turtlenecks. Addicted to ADHD meds. Anxious. Exercises too much. Once ate a whole leaf of kale. He has his eye on the prize and that prize is climbing many rungs higher on the social ladder. Currently backup to Crown Prince Wilhelm. Was prefect but isn't now. Was Captain of the rowing team, also isn't now. Currently avoiding Crown Prince Wilhelm. Gets soft around Sara. Once patted a horse's nose. Once promised his loyalty to the crown and then took and leaked an explicit video of the Crown Prince and his boyfriend that he took through a window without their knowledge.

[andiatas]

swedish royal (nick)names pt. 1

King Oscar II with family. Unknown painter, 1905.

I was talking with @foreverinthepagesofhistoryy the other day & we ended up on the topic of royal names & nicknames. Specifically how the Swedish Royal Family loves to Swedify names & how it can be difficult to differentiate who is who in the Bernadotte dynasty because everyone is called Karl/Carl or Gustaf/Gustav. This inspired me to make this series of what the royals' official names were vs. what they were actually called day-to-day. Plus other fun facts surrounding their names.

As you will notice when scrolling through this post, I've settled on a structure of: [if applicable, the name they were born with] / [the Swedish name] / [if applicable, the English name]

First generation

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte / Karl XIV Johan / Charles XIV John

When Karl Johan was part of the French military, he was allegedly nicknamed Belle-Jambe. This is said to have been a nod towards his *cough* talent to charm women...

Then later when he became chosen as the Swedish Crown Prince, his name was Swedified. Jean became Johan & he adopted Karl as a nod towards his "adoptive father". His official name went down in history as Karl Johan but sometimes you see the spelling Carl Johan & Jean-Baptiste sometimes signed his new Swedish name as Charles-Jean (maybe because he never learned Swedish, who knows).

Désirée Clary / Desideria

While her given name was Désirée, all her friends & family seem to have been referring to her by one of her middle names: Eugénie.

It's said that Karl Johan's nickname for Desideria was Bonette, however, I've so far never been able to find a reliable source for this claim.

After her husband was named heir to the Swedish throne, she stayed in Paris "incognito" under the name Grevinnan av Gotland (Countess of Gotland).

Second generation

Oscar I / Oskar I

Here we see a classic case of Swedification. The man himself & his contemporaries wrote his name as Oscar. However, the Swedish Royal Court today has gone with the Swedish version of Oskar.

Joséphine de Beauharnais / Josefina / Josephine of Leuchtenberg

While her official name has gone down in history as Josefina, contemporary accounts referred to her as Josefine - a name that is still popular today.

Just like her mother-in-law, Josefina travelled incognito via an alias. Hers was Grevinnan av Tullgarn (Countess of Tullgarn).

One of her philanthropic legacies is Josephinahemmet, an elderly home for Catholics. So as you guys can see, people have never been able to agree on how this woman's name should be spelled.

Third generation

Karl XV / Charles XV

Commonly referred to as the most popular monarch of all times, Karl was apparently so beloved by the people that he got the nickname Kron-Kalle (Crown-Charlie).

However, while he is remembered as Karl, he himself spelt it as Carl.

Louise van Oranje-Nassau / Lovisa / Louise of the Netherlands

Born as Louise, she got the official name of Lovisa upon arriving in Sweden. However, it seems like she continued using her childhood name & just like with her mother-in-law, some contemporaries settled on a compromise by referring to her as Louisa (see for example Eugenia).

Gustaf

Gustaf has gone down in history as Sångarprinsen (the Singer Prince), however, his pseudonym as a composer was G*****.

Oscar II / Oskar II

Just like his father, people haven't been able to agree on how to spell his name. He himself & his contemporaries used Oscar but it's common to see the Swedified version of Oskar.

Oscar loved to participate in the political debate & did so "anonymously" under the pseudonyms O**** & Oscar Fredrik.

Sophia von Nassau / Sofia

While she was born as Sophia & then was given the Swedified version Sofia as her official name, she herself used the name Sophie throughout her entire life & was lovingly called Tante Sophie by the entire Royal Family.

It's said that her brothers jokingly called her "unsere demokratische schwester" (our democratic sister).

Two of her philanthropic legacies are Sophiahemmet (which today, another Sofia is patron of) in Stockholm & Sophies minde in Oslo.

Eugénie / Eugenia

This woman is interesting because her official & given name is Eugenia but both she & her contemporaries seem to have used Eugénie. On the Swedish Royal Court's website, she is referred to by both versions of her name & I've noticed a trend over the last few years that more & more she's mentioned as Eugénie rather than Eugenia.

Just like her older brother Gustaf, Eugenia was a composer & used the pseudonym E******. While not as well-known as her brother, she did write, for example, two pieces in the 1850s named "Drottning Josephinas polonaise" & "Louisa Wals", in 1860s she & her mother wrote the piece "Ach, wie schön die Glocken klingen" together (music by Eugenia & text by Josefina), then in 1871 she composed as piece in remembrance of "Louisa".

August

Finally, someone whose name everyone can agree on! I also can't find any mention of him ever earning a nickname...

Thérèse von Sachsen-Altenburg / Teresia

While her official name is Teresia, she was born Thérèse & it seems like friends & family continued to call her that even after she moved to Sweden.

Teresia most likely suffered from some type of mental illness, but back then she was just described as "unbalanced" & "stupid". This caused her to mockingly get called "Lilla hoppitossan" (little Hopsy-Totsie) by everyone, including her husband, at the Royal Court.

From the 1890s onwards, things seemed to get better for Teresia & she moved into Haga Palace, thus earning her the nickname Hagahertiginnan (the Haga Duchess).

Part 2 with the fourth, fifth & sixth generation will be published soon!

[hoppityhopster23]

On Frederick VI's Childhood.

(I will start with a quick note that I'm writing about him before his regency began in 1784.)

The start of Fredericks's Life was rough, and for at least two years of his life, he was raised in a method that in the 21st century would be considered neglect, if not child abuse. However, it's also believed to have created his notable gruff, hardened, and stubborn personality.

He was born to King Christian VII and Queen Caroline Mathilde in 1768. Both were under 20 years old at the time, being 19 and 16 respectively. Christian VII was so uninterested in his queen that his aides had to step in in order for there to be an heir. That being said, before her affair, she was a relatively doting mother to the then Crown Prince Frederick.

Things did change when he was about 2 years old. Struensee, Physician to the mentally ill king and the lover of the queen (possible father of the Crown Prince's sister) rose to power and became the de facto ruler of the country from the years 1770 to 1772, when Frederick was 2-4 years old.

Both Struensee and the Queen believed Frederick to be weak, so his "education" was relatively harsh. He was raised in Hirschholm Palace, and the way he was brought up, based on Rosseau's work, Émile, ou De l’éducation, was neglectful and abusive for him and his companion, a commoner boy named Carl. The boys were treated equally and left to their own devices, and servants were not allowed to help or even speak to them. This meant that they had to deal with disputes on their own. It was to the point where the boys had to help each other dress and undress.

The crown prince could only bathe in Ice baths, and eat cold fruit, bread, milk, rice, and potatoes. They weren't given candles, even in the short winters, and their rooms were left unheated. They were also forced to go barefoot and wear thin clothing; They were also given thin blankets, year around. It has been said that the Crown Prince was cold to the point where he had chill blains.

This isn't even the worst of it. Both boys never knew when they were going to eat, and the Crown prince, who had difficulties walking up staircases, was forced to practice by having a set of stairs built in the boys' room, where they would put his food atop it, and he had to climb up them to eat. He was not helped when he fell down said stairs.

This child-rearing method likely gave him rickets, stunted his growth, and made it so could not speak properly for his age. But it was effective. Struensee and the Queen wanted a tougher crown prince, and they got it; the treatment made the 4-year-old crown prince a hard and merciless child. (I will say this does calm a little later in life, as he was kind to his people and family.)

Fortunately, in 1772, Struensee was accused of an assortment of crimes and beheaded. The Queen was not safe either, being exiled to the city of Celle. The dowager queen, Frederick's step-grandmother took over with her son (Frederick's half-uncle) and replaced Struensee. This led to yet another life change for the young crown prince. Despite having a terrible relationship with the dowager queen, who wanted her biological son on the throne, he was still treated much better than before.

For about a year and a half, Frederick had a nanny named Margrethe Numsen, who cared for him. He was greatly fond of her, going so far as to call her Mutter. I've found multiple reasons for her quick departure from Fredericks's life; It varies from her losing the favor of the dowager queen to those in charge believing the crown prince is best taught by men.

This then led to the boy being put under the care of a handful of men, the most notable being his Chamberlain, Johan Bülow. Bülow not only took care of him but even went so far as to secretly teach him foreign languages. He also slept next to the prince to watch over him and often saw his frequent nightmares and nightly anxiety attacks. He also established a small vegetable garden at Fredensborg that he and Frederick took care of.

Generally speaking, it is said that he was still clumsy with the stairs, and often got into fights with playmates, which led to him being isolated from people his age. He had a preference for war toys and disliked reading, only ever doing so when he was forced to. It is also said that the Crown prince was not intellectually gifted, but spoke like a grown man before he was of confirmation age.

Sources:

Margrethe Marie Thomasine Numsen

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

Frederick VI of Denmark

Frederik VI by Jens Gunni Busck

[lucidpantone]

Another plotline that don’t make a whole lot of sense is how August went being a distant relative of the royal family in s1 to suddenly being Willes backup in s2? If Erik and Wille were the only ones in line of succession, they’ve should’ve established the fact after Eriks death in s1.

I know someone on here explained how only the children and grandchildren of the current monarch are in the line of succession. But why did they choose August as the backup? They could’ve gone with another first or second cousin who hasn’t posted revenge porn? What about uncles or aunts? What I don’t understand is, how is August the only remaining hope???

Exactly this is where we get into fanfic territory. Its just not very logical thinking. Like oh august would give up his entire entity at school and not sell any items from his fathers estate but then all of sudden he is selling a painting to buy a horse. The line of succession also makes no sense and I know it was an afterthought by the writers. I know this because if it wasnt an after thought they would have thrown in a couple of more clues about Carl Johan. My understanding is monarchs have very defined lines of succession set for all types of scenarios. Like lets say that Kristina cousins Carl Johan was in line to the throne when he was alive and he was Kristina first cousin once removed (so the son of her father's sibling). Meaning for one Kristina is an only child and her Father had a brother or sister and Carl was their 1st child. Then that means Carl would be 2nd in line in succession because Kristina was an only child. This is all possible but then that means going into s1 August was always like 3rd in line to the throne. That a HUGE narrative plot device that is never mentioned in all of s1 even when the crown prince dies??? like come on..... its clear originally August is scoped as like a distant cousins versus the literal 3rd in line to the throne. Also it wouldn't make sense why Wilhelm knows so little about August at the beginning of s1. Like he didnt even know Carl killed himself. If Carl was basically 2nd in line at one point and then 4th when the boys were born someone so close to the line succession killing themselve would be a HUGE deal and not something wilhelm wouldn't know. So its stuff like that.

Like how does Wilhelm who is 3rd in line to the throne not know that the person 4th in line didn't kill himself and his son inherited the lineage. Like i said these are the holes that erk me.

[ifreakingloveroyals]

14 May 2012 | Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Prince Henrik of Denmark attend the funeral of Count Carl Johan Bernadotte at Bastad Church in Bastad, Sweden. (c) Ragnar Singsaas/Getty Images

[raincitygirl76]

Two different reasons:

So Kristina choosing August over Wilhelm in 1.06 would hurt more, and be more obviously about protecting the image of the monarchy. If August is Kristina's nephew, it's more understandable that she might protect him for sentimental reasons. Him only being her first cousin once removed makes it utterly clear she chose the image of the monarchy over her only surviving child.

Because if August was Erik and Wilhelm's first cousin, he wouldn't have all those daddy issues. Carl Johan Horn af Arnas would still be his father, but Carl Johan wouldn't matter to him in the same way he does in canon. 

So, #1:

if August were Kristina’s nephew, her actions to conceal his criminal acts in 1.06 would be less shocking. In canon, Kristina doesn’t cover for August because she loves him. It’s entirely to protect the monarchy as an institution. Because Kristina’s only surviving child being publicly perceived as straight is SO important, she MUST convince him to go back on the closet. In canon, Kristina doesn’t protect August out of any sense of personal loyalty to him as an individual.

If it gets out that August is the perpetrator, Wilhelm will be MUCH less likely to deny being in the video. Also, the media and the public will be much less likely to believe Wilhelm’s denial, if they know August leaked the video. August has no motive to leak a video of two random first years having sex. He has plenty of motive to leak a video of his second cousin with whom he is often on bad terms. Kristina protects August in 1.06 out of expediency. Because protecting the image of the monarchy is so important to her she will cover up that a distant relative of hers committed a sex crime against her child. 

If August were Kristina’s nephew, her motives for covering up his crime would be much less clear cut. She wouldn’t want her little sister’s only child to risk public disgrace and maybe even prison. Wilhelm would still feel rightfully betrayed that his mother chose August over him. But the fact that August was Kristina’s nephew would muddy the waters. Wilhelm wouldn’t know how much of her decision was about the image of the monarchy and how much was loyalty to her only sister’s only child. 

August only being Kristina’s first cousin once removed and not someone she’s close to makes it crystal clear that when push came to shove, she put the image of the monarchy above her son’s welfare. Personal affection for August played no role in her decision to protect him and betray Wilhelm. Which makes it all the more devastating for Wilhelm.

On to Reason #2:

I think they made August a second cousin because of Arnas. Kristina is old enough that she would’ve only become queen due to male preference primogeniture. Kristina became queen when her father died because she had no younger brothers to take precedence over her in the succession. Kristina could still succeed if she had a younger sister (ex: Queen Elizabeth II of the UK had a younger sister, Princess Margaret). 

But that would mean August’s mother (a princess, sister to the Queen) would be by far his most noteworthy relative. Whoever Kristina’s sister married would have less status than she did. August’s prestige and his connection to the monarchy would be through his mom. Kristina’s younger sister might have married Carl Johan Horn af Arnas, and August would still inherit Arnas from Carl Johan after his suicide. 

But realistically, if August’s mother was a princess of Sweden, his father being an impoverished nobleman would be much less important to August. He wouldn’t be so desperate to hang into Arnas, because his mom the princess would be the important parent from whom August would derive his status. He also wouldn’t be in deep financial shit, because his mom (assuming she was still alive) would have an income from the state as a working royal. 

And if his mother was dead, August would probably have an income from the state, as the grandson of the late king and the nephew of the reigning queen. Plus, if both August’s parents were dead, Kristina and Ludvig would have been the obvious choice for the orphan’s legal guardians, and would have brought him to Drottningholm to be raised with their sons. 

Canon August has a boatload of daddy issues, thanks to Carl Johan’s suicide. And also because August inherited his status and Arnas from Carl Johan. August is awash in toxic masculinity because he idolizes his father. 

If August’s mother was a princess, maybe she’d be the one who had substance abuse issues and committed suicide. But then August would have mommy issues, not daddy issues. And if his mother the princess were still alive, August wouldn’t be as affected by Carl Johan’s suicide. He’d probably still have daddy issues, but Carl Johan wouldnt have been the source of his high status. Also, August’s mother would be next in line after Wilhelm, not August himself. 

The late Carl Johan was not only an aristocrat, he was the son of a princess (August’s grandmother). In canon, the late Carl Johan is August’s connection to the monarchy. August idolizes him not only because he inherited Arnas when Carl Johan died, but because Carl Johan was royalty-adjacent, as the son of a princess and the first cousin of the reigning queen. Carl Johan is the source of August’s rather tenuous semi-royal status. 

If August were first cousin to Erik and Wilhelm, his semi-royal status would be much less tenuous. It would seem much more natural for August to take over if Wilhelm never married a woman and had children. As a second cousin, yeah, August is next in the bloodline after Wilhelm, but it’s a much more fragile royal connection. 

If Kristina had a younger sister and August was her sister’s son, that would be a much closer dynamic. Aunt and nephew rather than first cousin once removed. Kristina would probably have much warmer feelings for her nephew than for the son of her dead first cousin, Carl Johan Horn af Arnas. Carl Johan, with his addiction issues and suicide, was probably an embarrassment, as cousins go. If Kristina’s only sister (or sister’s husband) had struggled with addiction and died by suicide, Kristina would’ve had a much stronger, more protective reaction to the child left behind. 

Because the aunt/nephew connection is a lot stronger than the first cousin once removed connection. If you really ADORED your dead first cousin, you might go to special effort and treat their son as if he were your nephew. But it doesn’t sound like Kristina adored her cousin Carl Johan. It sounds like he was an embarrassment when he was still alive. Thus, she’s courteous to his only child August, she invites him to extended family functions. But she doesn’t actually CARE about him very much. She’s just being polite to a distant relative. 

Also, August inherited Arnas from Carl Johan, as the oldest (actually only) son. He’s obsessed with Arnas, which has been passed down in an unbroken line from father to son since the eighteenth century. But for August to have daddy issues and cling to his noble father’s title and estate, Carl Johan could ONLY be Kristina’s cousin. 

If Carl Johan were Kristina’s brother, rather than cousin, he would’ve been ahead of Kristina in the succession. Assuming Carl Johan had still committed suicide, August would already be king (likely with his aunt Princess Kristina acting as his regent when he was underage). Kristina would be first in line, then Erik, then Wilhelm. 

So if August were Wilhelm and Erik’s first cousin, and Kristina were still queen, it would have to be through the maternal line. Kristina had a younger sister but no brothers, and that sister would be August’s mom, a princess. There go most of August’s canonical daddy issues. 

Also, if August were Erik and Wilhelm’s first cousin, that would make it all the more obvious that August would be next in line after Wilhelm. He might be already in the official line of succession, after his mother, Wilhelm’s aunt. For August to be a second cousin means, yeah, he’s still next in the bloodline, but he’s definitely not a close enough relative to be in the official succession yet. It’s a much more tenuous dynastic connection to Kristina and her sons. 

Once you get beyond the first cousin stage, people are usually only close with their distant cousins if they actually like them as people. Erik and August are only second cousins, but they like each other a lot, and have chosen to be close to each other. Wilhelm and August are also second cousins, but they have very little in common and seem to find each other annoying right from 1.01. 

If they were first cousins, their lack of closeness might be noteworthy. August being the only child of Wilhelm’s aunt. Because August is instead the only child of Wilhelm’s mother’s first cousin, it’s not all that surprising they’re not close. August, as a first cousin once removed to the queen, and second cousin to the Crown Prince, is royalty-adjacent without being CLOSE family. 

August takes great pride in being second cousin to Erik and Wilhelm, but it’s kind of a pathetic thing to take pride in, as @nothisagain alludes to. Most people wouldn’t be as hung up as August is on the fact that their first cousin once removed is the queen and their second cousins are the Crown Prince and the second in line. 

To August, being second cousin to Crown Prince Erik, Prince Wilhelm, and first cousin once removed to Queen Kristina is a key part of his identity. That distant blood connection is pivotal to August’s sense of himself as someone who’s important. He’s part of a royal dynasty! He’s special!

There are bonds of affection between Erik and August, but that’s more about their friendship than their tenuous blood connection. Wilhelm finds August annoying. Kristina pays August’s school fees when she finds out her late cousin’s son is broke. But she only finds out by accident, because Wilhelm has the royal court looking into August’s finances. 

That suggests Kristina invites August to extended family functions out of respect for her late cousin, August’s father, and her late aunt, August’s grandmother. But Kristina doesn’t take any personal interest in him until his financial problems are brought to her attention by a courtier. 

If August were Kristina’s nephew, she would already KNOW about his financial problems. It didn’t occur to August or his mother to approach Kristina and ask for financial help, which suggests they weren’t very close to her. Kristina found out by accident and decided to be generous. But it doesn’t sound like her financial assistance was a sure thing. 

Also, in 2.05, Kristina uses the threat of August taking over as a mechanical rabbit to convince Wilhelm to embrace his role as Crown Prince. Kristina doesn’t actually like August, she just sees him as a useful way to get her son back in line. If August were her nephew rather than her first cousin once removed, it would be more likely Kristina would feel genuine affection for August. 

What I still don't understand about Young Royals from a narrative perspective is why they made August a second cousin to Wille instead just making him Wille's first cousin. Before s2 came out the entire fandom was up in arms about whether he was or was not next in line for the throne, so much so that I made an entire post about it.

I can see that maybe it was to have some kind of shock factor when Kristina tells August he's Wille's backup in s2, but that moment fell flat for me. And personally, I think the tension would've still been present with August being a first cousin and having understood that he was probably next in line since s1. in fact, I think that the tension would've been upped with that knowledge. To know that someone that close to the crown committed such a despicable act against the crown, and that they're in the line of succession would've added so much suspense to s1e6.

[bluedalahorse]

What would make August decide to reject the crown prince title?

Well, you know my brand! I actually think it’s possible for August to get to a place where he leaves behind the crown prince role. It’s a bit of a claw machine game, but isn’t that more fun to think about than letting him suffer forever? We love a challenge! We love growth! We like acknowledging the messiness of the character, and not always assuming the worst of every last thing he does! So let’s get into it.

I’m actually not going to talk about Sara much here. A lot of posts that talk about this crown prince situation mention how sad August is to have lost Sara, and while that’s true, I actually think there are other emotional undercurrents at work. Similarly to the way Wille is more than his relationship with Simon and has to leave the monarchy for his own self-actualization, August will leave for reasons that go beyond losing Sara.

I also want to open by agreeing with everything my esteemed colleague @heliza24 says about therapy and time and community in this post over here. What I’m going to say here is going to be long and rambly, but I think it will build on her talking points.

So let’s think about August holistically, in terms of his values. In order to get August out of the monarchy, the first step is understanding (excavating, even, because this shit works in layers) what draws him to it in the first place, and what his emotional needs are. I actually think it’s a common misconception that he’s into the whole thing for the power of it all. I actually think this is more about August’s need for belonging, particularly in terms of his wanting to be part of a family and the way he values traditions that bring people together. Monarchy runs on this idea of a sacred first family that sets the tone for the nation and leads them in following traditions. This ideal family is, in theory, the ultimate exemplar of what August desires in life. And yet the reality of the monarchy is far from the ideal. I think we sometimes assume August has a clear view of what monarchy is like, since he’s related to the royal family and all. But I also think his close proximity clouds his judgment. More details below…

The thing about being in the crown prince position is that at first it would set up opportunities for August to connect with family members, namely Kristina, which initially would meet a family-related need. August seems to hold Kristina in high regard. He’s looking forward to the possibility that she might visit during parents’ weekend in season 1, and he’s pretty afraid of facing her in season 2 when he’s called to the palace. Of course, that is about her position as queen as much as anything, but I can’t help but wondering if it’s also that Kristina was August’s father’s favorite cousin. And isn’t that a fruitful piece of information? There’s so much that can be done with that connection! For instance…

A lot of August’s trauma is rooted in grief. Some of that is complicated grief for Erik, which his reconciliation with Wille (and probably their shared sessions with Boris) has helped him start to feel and unravel. We haven’t really seen August fully grieve his father yet, but I imagine that if there were seasons 4 and 5, this would be the next step in his character arc. Grieving his father is crucial. In season 3, August has (clumsily, in front of Sara when he shouldn’t have said it, but the lines happened and I find them fascinating) just begun to idealize his father less—he says he misses his dad even though his dad was shitty, and that makes me go, okay, what else is behind that line? (A really amazing fanfic by @sflow-er is what.)

Meanwhile Kristina mentions that she and Carl Johan were really close until Carl Johan started to fall into addiction. Lots to peel back there, too! Like, what happened? What was the timeline of all this, and was it a big falling out or a slow breakdown in the relationship? Does Kristina feel any guilt related to August’s father’s suicide, like August himself does? We don’t know how she feels about Louise—is she sympathetic toward her for having to be married to a man who was potentially abusive? Or would Kristina have bought into Carl Johan’s potentially false narrative of Louise, and blamed Louise for her husband’s addiction and mental health crisis?

Whichever direction you take this, I think working with Kristina day to day would bring up opportunities for August to confront his sense of loss. Kristina probably has all kinds of stories about August’s dad, and how they got up to trouble together in their childhood and youth, and which now-deceased family members responded to their antics. August might be able to share a few stories about his dad as well. Sharing memories is an important part of the grieving process, for so many people, and I imagine at first August would feel connected to his father’s side of the family for the first time in a while, and there might be some good things that come of it.

On the other hand… those initial benefits might not last forever. And August would soon discover the fucked up aspects to that side of the family. It’s possible Kristina might try to help August mend his relationship with his mother, but in the scenario I mentioned above (Kristina buys into Carl Johan’s narrative of Louise and blames her for his death) I can see her trying to interfere when August and Louise try to repair their relationship. Wouldn’t that create some fun tension between August and Kristina? I do think August wants to repair his relationship with his mother. As mad as he is with her in season 1, we also see hints in seasons 2 and 3 that he doesn’t actually hate her and wants to feel connected to her. After graduation he goes to find her and Rickard in the graduation line where all the parents are holding photos. I could see a situation where August, a year or two after canon, decides he wants to patch things up with his mom, and keeps running into pushback from Kristina about it. Aren’t there so many ways that tension could escalate? Wouldn’t that be a fun thing to play with in fanfic?

And then there’s Wilhelm. The way I read their reconciliation, it felt like August would try to maintain a good relationship with Wilhelm in the future. What does that become if he ends up in a position where he’s always mediating between Kristina and Wilhelm now that their relationship has fractured? And then we know Kristina tried to turn Wilhelm into Replacement Erik, I can absolutely imagine a situation where she starts thinking of August as Replacement Wilhelm and behaving accordingly, and August grows to resent that. Ultimately I can see August siding with Wilhelm over Kristina in the end and they end up banding together.

All those paragraphs above basically just mean that like… I feel like being in the crown prince role might bring a lot to the surface for August, in terms of how he relates to his family. And once he sees what wounds being crown prince can’t heal, that’s going to shatter his idealism and make him question the monarchy as a representation of the family in general. And that’s an important step out the door.

Now, August also needs to see what alternatives to this “perfect ideal family model” are out there. He also needs to realize that family isn’t just about blood relatives. Which just means he needs honest friendships with people who don’t subscribe to that kind of patriarchal nonsense. I don’t mean August needs patient queer friends who will hold his hand and explain the concept of heterotemporality to him in a soft voice. I just mean that being around more people who break his mental schemas in that regard would be a good thing. Like how does his friendship with Nils develop now that Nils has come out? What if, I dunno, it turns out that Louise and Rickard are both bisexual and poly? And then of course there’s his continued relationship with Wilhelm, which I imagine he’d continue to invest in now that they’ve turned things around at the end of season 3.

Does that wrap up the family stuff for now? Probably. There’s a thousand more things I could talk about but we’ll put it aside for now.

I mentioned August valuing tradition in my opener, so I want to address that too. Surface August—aka the protective suit of armor August has constructed for himself in season 1—seems to value tradition for its own sake, and mostly defines inclusion for some as something that can only exist when there’s exclusion of others. These are all the broken things Surface August has been taught or (we now know) traumatized to believe, and they come out in his behavior, and it sucks.

At the same time, what happens over three seasons is that we see there’s this deeply buried version of August that’s struggling to get out, and in my opinion at least, that deeply buried August actually gives a shit about others feeling a sense of belonging. I feel like this part of August is influenced by his own experiences with isolation and loneliness, and we see glimmers of him from time to time. (Especially when it’s Vincent doing something exclusive and shitty, for whatever reason. See August standing up to Vincent when Vincent is shitty to Simon in 2.3.) I think for August, traditions and rituals and events are something he sees as being deeply important in creating a sense of belonging for people. And he’s not fully wrong. Traditions and events done right are how humans make sacred their bonds with one another… which is why you get a bunch of Wilmon wedding headcanons. Because we love traditions too, you know.

As much as August gets a reputation for being rigid, there are times when we’ve seen him budge from what’s expected of him and change up the rules. I think August is actually more willing to rewrite tradition than fandom gives him credit for. He’s got suggestions for the speech Jan-Olof wants him to recite verbatim. He tells Vincent to rethink the senior superlatives. And he’s one of the third years who makes a pact to remove the really homophobic part of the initiation. 

I say this not to give August undue credit—these are half-steps and there’s clearly more he can do, and some of these traditions should be eliminated, not modified. But I want to point out two things. First, that imperfect half-steps (and some pretty epic backslides) were part of Wilhelm’s journey too before he made his full break with the monarchy. Second, by season 3, we can see that August is actually capable of reflecting about traditions and considering ways they could be rewritten to create more of a sense of belonging for others. 

Again, this is imperfect, and we may want him to do more… and this is another place where he could potentially end up clashing with the royal court in time. One thing that I’ve thought about is that being a prefect at Hillerska is a little different—in theory if not in practice—than being the crown prince of Sweden. As a Hillerska prefect you’re just leading the elite and the few who get into your school, but as crown prince you really are supposed to be there for the nation as a whole (albeit in a “non-divisive” way) and I think August does actually recognize that distinction and would try to approach it differently than being prefect or rowing captain. Except he would continue to be a total overachiever.

Like, look. On some level August would be incredibly earnest about the idea of being the keeper of Sweden’s traditions, and earnestness is not the same as being a rubber stamp or a yes-man. The royal court may think they’ve finally got someone who will carry out whatever monarchical agenda they set without question but like… idk, do they? Do they really??? August is going to want say in the process, and August is going to have so many ideas about how to make traditions better/more awesome, and August is going to annoy the hell out of Jan-Olof and Farima. He is going to be so annoying! He is going to have slides presentations! He is going to crunch the data on how the royal family is getting bad press for their carbon footprint and come up with a plan for renewable fuel on the private jet so now they can totally show people they’re legit! Meanwhile he’s going to be annoyed when his ideas are getting blocked. And I find the slow build in conflict that would arise out of a situation like that pretty entertaining.

Okay, it’s time to wrap up. For real this time. (This would all be better in a fanfic than in an analysis post, really! I should write.) Ultimately I think August would be drawn into the monarchy because he’d see it as a way of living his values of family and tradition and hell, service to the nation and being part of something, but he’d grow frustrated and disillusioned when it didn’t, actually, allow him to do that or give him the space to do it. The answer to Rickard’s question—does the monarchy love you back?—is no. And I don’t know how long post-season-3 August is willing to put up with being unrequited like that. Maybe for a time, but not forever.

You may also wonder why I have faith that he’ll get here. And the simple answer is: after season 3, my faith in August is intertwined with my faith in Wilhelm. Wilhelm breaking with the monarchy at the end of season 3 (especially after some pretty intense backsliding moments.) shows me that it’s possible for August to do it too, someday. That is perhaps a post for another time. For now, let’s just look forward to all the opportunities for a fix-it fic.

[theroyalfanzine]

Queen Victoria's Currently living Eldest Decendants and Eldest Ever Descendants

This list is as of 19 April 2024

CURRENTLY LIVING

The Lady Pamela Hicks (19 April 1929) (95 years, 0 months, 0 days)

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (12 February 1932) (92 years, 2 months, 7 days)

Count Bertram Friedrich zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (12 July 1932) (91 years, 9 months, 7 days)

Mrs. Anne Mary Sibylla Liddell-Grainger (28 July 1932) (91 years,8 months, 22 days)

Princess Caroline Mathilde Adelheid Sibylla Marianne Erika von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (5 April 1933) (91 years, 0 months, 14 days)

Princess Dorothea Charlotte Karin of Hesse (24 July 1934) (89 years, 8 months, 26 days)

Princess Margaretha Désirée Victoria, Mrs. Ambler (Sweden, 31 October 1934) ( 89 years, 5months, 13 days)

Countess Viktoria Adelheid Clementine Louise von Castell-Rüdenhausen-Von Huntington-Whiteley (26 Februrary 1935)(89 years, 1 months, 24 days)

Prince Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick, The Duke of Kent (9 October 1935) (88 years, 6 months, 10 days)

Miss Elizabeth Alice Abel Smith (5 September 1936) (87 years, 7 months, 14 days)

Eldest LIVED Descendants:

On 12 June 2025, Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner will join this list if she is still living.

Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (10 June 1921-9 April 2021) ( 99 years, 10 months, 11 days)

Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone (25/02/1883-03/01/1981) (97 years, 10 months, 10 days)

Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom (21 April 1926-8 September 2022) ( 96 years, 4 months, 18 days)

King Mihai I of Romania (25/10/1921-05/12/2017) ( 96 years, 1 month, 11 days)

Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg (Sweden) (31/10/1916-05/05/2012) (95 years, 6 months, 5 days )

The Lady Pamela Hicks (19 April 1929) (95 years, 0 months, 0 days)

Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg (of Sweden) (07/06/1907-04/02/2002) (94 years, 7 months, 28 days )

Lady Katherine Brandram (Princess of Greece and Denmark) (04/05/1913 02/10/2007) ( 94 years, 4 months, 27 days )

Infanta Dona Beatriz   Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugénie Cristina Maria Teresia Bienvenida Ladislàa   of Spain, The Princess of Civitella-Cesi   (22/06/1909-22/11/2002) (93 years, 5 months, 1 day)

Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten- Knatchbull  , The 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (14/02/1924-13/06/2017) ( 93 years, 4 months)

FACTS:

The Duke of Edinburgh is the husband  and third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, first cousin of Lady Katherine Brandram,  The Countess Mountbatten of Burma & Lady Pamela (Mountbatten) Hicks & uncle to Princess Dorothea Charlotte Karin of Hesse.  He is also a 1st cousin 1x removed of  Queen Sofia of Spain, King Constantine II of the Helenes and Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark and The Duke of Kent (The Duke of Kent’s mother Marina was The Duke of Edinburgh’s first cousin).

Queen Elizabeth II is a 3rd cousin of The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Lady Pamela Mountbatten, The Duke of Edinburgh. She is the wife of The Duke of Edinburgh. Through her marriage, she is an aunt to  Princess Dorothea Charlotte Karin of Hesse. She is a first cousin of The Duke of Kent.

Lady Pamela Hicks is a 3rd cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, a first cousin of  The Duke of Edinburgh, her big sister was The Countess Mountbatten of Burma.

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner is a third cousin of The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II & Lady Pamela Hicks.

The Countess of Althorne was the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria. By her marriage,  The Countess of Althorne was also a great aunt of Queen Elizabeth II-she married QEII’s grandmother’s brother

King Mihai I of Romania was the last monarch of Romania, he was also a great grandchild of Queen Victoria twice-once through his mother (via Victoria, Princess Royal) and once through his father (via Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

Sweden’s Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg & Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg were brothers as well as uncles to King Carl XVI Gustaf, Princess Margareta, Mrs. Ambler, Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern,  Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld,  Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg & Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

Countess Viktoria Adelheid Clementine Louise von Castell-Rüdenhausen-Von Huntington-Whiteley  was a great granddaughter of Prince Leopold, The Duke of Albany, thus a great great granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She is also the younger sister of  Count Bertram Friedrich zu Castell-Rüdenhausen.

[frogprincesnowglobe]

Ultimate Young Royals Character Tournament Bonus Poll

August Horn of Årnäs vs Queen Kristina of Sweden

Poll idea from @atdawnweryd

What if Kristina and August had been paired in the main tournament?

August Horn of Årnäs: Third year student in Forest Ridge house at Hillerska boarding school. Second cousin to Wille and Erik. His dad Carl Johan Horn of Årnas was Queen Kristina's cousin. Very high strung. Grieving. Looks good in turtlenecks. Addicted to ADHD meds. Anxious. Exercises too much. Once ate a whole leaf of kale. He has his eye on the prize and that prize is climbing many rungs higher on the social ladder. Currently backup to Crown Prince Wilhelm. Was prefect but isn't now. Was Captain of the rowing team, also isn't now. Currently avoiding Crown Prince Wilhelm. Gets soft around Sara. Once patted a horse's nose. Once promised his loyalty to the crown and then took and leaked an explicit video of the Crown Prince and his boyfriend that he took through a window without their knowledge.

Queen Kristina of Sweden: Queen Kristina. Wille's Mother. Married to Ludvig. Once had an unfortunate romance. Definitely does not think her son knows what he's doing. She's a Queen, a mother, Kristina. One time her son had this totally awesome thing going with Simon but his second cousin August ruined it in the worst way, and Queen Kristina knew it was August all along and just...casually did not impart this info before encouraging her son to deny it was him in the video. Once had to deal with her Crown Prince son threatening to abdicate because Simon was on a date with another guy. Once had to hear about how Jan Olof won't let Simon sing his song. Also is totally tired of hearing about Simon.

[raincitygirl76]

Reblogging yet again for a VERY on point addition by @retrieve-the-kraken I think they’re right, August told Simon he was broke (granted, he wasn’t thinking clearly at the time). Simon used that information to blackmail him into selling drugs to their classmates. Then when August tried to get Simon expelled (in revenge for Simon having once gotten the better of him), Simon gave that information to Wilhelm. Who used it to humiliate August in front of all the Society boys, seize control of the Society, and protect his boyfriend from expulsion.

August really LIKES Sara, probably even loves her. He doesn’t want to reveal that information to her. What if she thinks he’s emasculated because he can’t handle his financial business, and loses interest in him sexually and romantically? Plus, in 1.06 when Sara first cut a deal with August, she said, “I want to be like you.” She didn’t mean she wanted to be broke, she meant she aspired to have his pedigree, his privilege, his ability to move through the world as a superior being compared to ordinary mortals.

Carl Johan committed SUICIDE because he was faced with the prospect of having to sell Arnas after he’d mismanaged his inheritance and become an addict. Those two things are probably related, by the way. I don’t know whether Carl Johan turned to drugs to escape the pressure of his worsening financial situation, or if drug use contributed to him making bad financial decisions. Doesn’t really matter which came first.

The point is financial failure and the public humiliation of potentially losing Arnas was so INTOLERABLE to Carl Johan, he preferred to die. And in 1.03, when Louise urges her son to sell something to pay his tuition, August himself says, “I’d rather die.” I’m not saying August is necessarily suicidal like his father. But he has totally internalized Carl Johan’s inflexible, unrealistic attitude towards their ancestral home. An attitude which most likely contributed to Carl Johan getting to the point where suicide seemed like a valid way out.

Also, August probably interpreted his father’s suicide as a rejection of him personally. He wasn’t good enough for Carl Johan to choose him over death. Please note, nobody who’s suicidal THINKS of themselves as abandoning or rejecting their loved ones by their actions. I have clinical depression and have been suicidal (though a long time ago). When I attempted suicide, I was convinced I was saving my loved ones from the burden of having to deal with toxic me. But the EFFECT of suicide (or attempted suicide) on someone’s loved ones is they often feel rejected/abandoned.

A few months after Carl Johan’s death, Louise packed her only child off to boarding school. Not long after, she quickly remarried, not to another nobleman, but a mere lawyer. She replaced her husband with an inferior substitute, which probably made August even more determined to be a son Carl Johan would’ve been proud of.

So now August is determined to save Arnas, and to be perfect, or at least to maintain an image of perfection and never let that image drop. The only role model he’ll accept is Carl Johan, who wouldn’t compromise on his obsession with Arnas. Also an addict who committed suicide, thus inadvertently abandoning his wife and child.

Once August got to Hillerska, his cousin Erik was a third year when he was a first year. Erik was kind to August, took him under his wing, realized he was traumatized by his father’s recent suicide. But Erik also overlooked August’s bad qualities, or tried to explain them away as a result of trauma. Which they probably were.

August tried to become a carbon copy of his older cousin. He idolized Erik, made him a role model. In his own third year, he was a prefect and captain of the rowing team, just like Erik had been. But he didn’t copy Erik’s behaviour as a loving big brother, just copied his accomplishments at Hillerska.

When Erik dropped his little brother off at Hillerska in 1.01, he wanted August to look out for Wilhelm the same way Erik had looked out for August when August was also 16 and troubled. But Erik failed to realize (or didn’t want to realize) that August and Wilhelm would never get along. The more August asserted his authority, the more Wilhelm rebelled. And to August’s disgust, Wilhelm took up with the wrong kind of people. Who August inconveniently owed money to.

After Erik died, August and Wilhelm fought even more. Wilhelm had moved past befriending the unsuitable non-resident who knew dirt on August, and was now sleeping with him. When August tried to get Wilhelm’s secret boyfriend expelled, Wilhelm retaliated, as I mentioned above. August was so enraged, he didn’t give a shit that Erik had trusted him to look out for his little brother. August had genuinely grieved Erik, but revenge on Wilhelm was much more important.

Erik had assured Wilhelm that August might be annoying, but he should overlook the annoyance because August was intrinsically trustworthy. August was family, and you could always depend on family. When Erik had asked August to look out for Wihelm at Hillerska, I doubt he ever expected August to put Erik’s 16 year old brother’s naked body all over the internet, and out him and his boyfriend to the entire world.

August’s need to show dominance over Wihelm and Simon after the Society debacle took priority over his supposed role model. What Erik would’ve wanted from the younger cousin he’d mentored and supported when August was vulnerable and grieving didn’t matter. Only revenge mattered, even though August surely knew Erik had loved his little brother and trusted August to protect him. Instead August violated Wilhelm. August’s anger issues led to him betraying his own family, and undermining the monarchy his precious Society had all sworn loyalty to.

But enough about Erik, let’s get back to another dead family member August and Wilhelm had in common. Carl Johan might also have had undiagnosed mental health issues which led to his suicide. I’m sure the drugs and the financial stress were a huge factor, but most addicts aren’t suicidal. If the show had wanted Carl Johan to have died because of his addiction, he could’ve overdosed. Instead, he canonically took his own life.

Wihelm is a blood relative (Carl Johan’s first cousin once removed) and has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. Other mutual relatives we haven’t met yet might also struggle with depression, anxiety, and other issues. Mental health issues often run in families. How much is genetic and how much is the family environment is unclear, but regardless, they run in families. And August (Carl Johan’s only child) not only has an explosive temper, he also very likely has an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. Which are also mental health issues.

And as @retrieve-the-kraken mentioned, August is incapable of backing down. EVER. He incurs a debt to Simon in early S1, Simon isn’t cowed by his position and insists on payment, and it escalates. August MUST retaliate after Simon gains the upper hand. It’s intolerable to be weak, to let someone dominate you and not make them pay for having exposed your weakness. So it continues to escalate.

The ongoing conflict with Simon merges with August’s ongoing conflict with Wilhelm. An attempt at getting rid of Simon backfires, when Wilhelm protects his boyfriend and gets into a power struggle with his cousin as a result. August is exposed to the Society as nearly bankrupt. The same danger that led to his father’s death. August’s precious image of perfection destroyed, at least in front of the Hillerska boys he considers important enough to be his peers. Landed aristocrats like the one August might stop being, if he can’t save Arnas.

August NEEDS revenge on both Wilhelm and Simon for making him look weak. So he leaks the video on the internet, and now he’s a sex offender. If the police ever find out, August risks prison and public disgrace. Not that he realized that at the time, but the thirst to dominate Wilhelm and Simon and make them pay for humiliating him was more important than any rational or family considerations. Like, “maybe I should just delete that video I accidentally took of my 16 year old cousin having sex with another boy, instead of holding onto it for future leverage.”

Wilhelm also has an explosive temper, that also might run in the family. But Wilhelm is capable of backing down. He definitely has major anger issues, but he’s not so consumed by toxic masculinity that he can’t break a destructive cycle when he gets some much-needed perspective. Yeah, he does have toxic masculinity issues, particularly in early S2 when he’s trying to humiliate August and take away the things in life August values. But toxic masculinity doesn’t consume him.

From 2.01 to early 2.04, Wilhelm is consumed by thirst for revenge on August and desperate desire to get Simon back. He never stops holding a grudge against August, but he eventually realizes if he loves Simon, he has to let him go. Simon can’t be happy with him, and it’s better to see Simon happy with someone else than to see Simon miserable. Wilhelm letting him go in 2.04 doesn’t work out at ALL the way he expects, but he makes that decision unselfishly. Wilhelm does plenty of stupid, selfish shit, and he hurts people he cares about. But he has the capacity for self-reflection, and the capacity to prioritize other people’s happiness over his own desires.

Also the capacity to step back and choose not to continue feeding an arms race of tit-for-tat continual escalations. In 2.05, Wilhelm considers giving August his heart’s desire by abdicating his own place in the succession. He doesn’t want to make August happy, but he realizes his life might be better if he could walk away from all the royal bullshit. And he might be able to get Simon back if he weren’t crown Prince.

Kristina only tells Wilhelm August is his backup to try and fuel his anger with August. She expects him to want to hang onto his birthright, to be a more cooperative crown prince so he can ensure August never takes his place. But again, Wilhelm has enough capacity for self-reflection to wonder if staying crown prince and becoming king someday just to spite August is worth it. Will successfully spiting august actually make him happy? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t think that’s what Kristina intended when she told her son! She’s counting on his anger at August prevailing over any other considerations. She underestimates him.

In 2.06, Wilhelm holds August at gunpoint! Their arms race has escalated to the point where it’s potentially fatal. When Sara reveals she’s known it was August who leaked the video all along, Wilhelm is initially even more enraged. His gut reaction when he finds out August has destroyed Simon’s family is to escalate yet again.

But then Simon is distraught by his big sister’s betrayal and runs away. Wilhelm immediately stops dominating August and making him beg for his life. He drops the gun, and chases after Simon to try and comfort him. He fails, but wanting to nurture takes precedence over wanting to punish and destroy. That’s the opposite of toxic masculinity.

August has hurt Simon, but Wille instinctively prioritizes trying to help Simon through this trauma. Getting back at August for hurting Simon would be a nice to have for Wille, but it’s not his top priority. When push comes to shove, Wilhelm chooses supporting someone he loves over getting revenge on someone he hates. He literally walks away from August, who’s on his knees at the shooting range. August just isn’t that important to Wille anymore.

August isn’t capable of that kind of insight. He’s too caught up in toxic masculinity, in maintaining a false image of perfection, in striving for the perfect muscular body via obsessive exercise, in vengeance for past humiliations. The boy Wille loves decides to forgive him his betrayal from 1.06, and agrees to be with him in secret. Simon sees Wilhelm’s capacity for love and is willing to take a leap of faith and trust him again. Also, Simon and Wilhelm both hate August, but they don’t want that hatred to consume them. Finding happiness together is more important.

Wille has plenty of anger issues but he’s capable of self-reflection and prioritizing people he cares about over his own anger. He also has the capacity to back down and change his mind, when he realizes his actions aren’t helping. By contrast, August’s actions result in him losing the girl he loves. Even buying Rousseau for her isn’t enough to win her back. She’s too disgusted with him and with herself. August sold one of Carl Johan’s paintings (something he’d sworn he’d never do) just to make Sara happy. But Sara rejects both August and the expensive gift he sacrificed one of his father’s possessions for.

And she calls the cops to report August’s crime. He’s a legal adult at 18. If he becomes the prime suspect in a case of child pornography, the media can report his name. Even if the case never goes to trial or he has great lawyers and gets acquitted, his reputation would be damaged. Also, even his fellow aristocrats might be appalled by his actions. Not because they necessarily care about child pornography of two queer minors, but because by leaking the video, August damaged the monarchy.

August thought his father’s addiction problems and suicide were bad for the Horn name. August could damage their family name much worse. Because he can’t walk away from a confrontation, it’s intolerable for anyone to dominate him, he MUST retaliate and punish them if they ever got the better of him, even once. His vision of himself as strong, masculine, and capable is incredibly fragile and conditional, so he can never back down. August is soaking in toxic masculinity, and not only is everybody who knows him miserable as a result of his actions, HE’S miserable too. He’s the architect of all his own misfortunes.

Goddamn, this got RIDICULOUSLY long. And rambling. Who would’ve thought there’d be so much stream of consciousness meandering possible over that prick?

I am largely pro-season 2 of Young Royals, and support Lisa’s script decisions. Every once in a while, though, I find myself wishing for a line here or there that could clarify/add to the story. Nothing that would fully take over the plot or extend the length of a scene, but merely something that could function as a clarifier.

Today I’m thinking about how I wish we could have gotten a line in the first half of the second season where August lets slip to Sara that his bank account is empty. I’m assuming this is still the case at the beginning of the season—we see him spending Christmas alone at Hillerska instead of going on a lavish vacation, and when his schoolmates come back from break talking about their trips, Malte’s face acting seems to suggest that August feels shut out by these conversations/is feeling a little disillusioned by them for the first time in his life.

If August mentions to Sara that he’s “broke” (in a casual offhand way that doesn’t get into the footnote about having assets tied up in art, land, etc) that’s another way for Sara to let her guard down and connect with him. She’s been struggling to pay for coffee and feels a little taken aback by the fancy riding pants she received as a gift from her friends; it probably takes pressure away from Sara if she realizes she’s not going to be expected to spend money or have money spent on her. It also makes it a bigger betrayal later on when August buys Sara the horse and mentions offhand that he was able to sell some art his family owns to do it. Like that scene is already devastating, but oof. Imagine the added layers!

A moment like that would be valuable class commentary, too, because while socioeconomic class is certainly about how much money people have, it’s also about where and how that wealth is stored. Rich people can use stocks and luxury items and land to stow their assets away for emergencies and give themselves tax breaks and the laws largely protect them doing so.

I’m not sure whether to end this with a gif of Jenny Joyce from Derry Girls saying she’ll just “dip into her trust fund” or with your standard guillotine meme, so you know, choose whichever one works for you and mentally attach it to the post.