Prince Gustav and Carina Axelsson: – Troubled inheritance dispute
Earlier this month, Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (53) was finally able to cheer loudly. After almost two decades, he finally got married to his American girlfriend, Carina Axelsson (53).
For 19 whole years I have been fighting for love.
May marry after 19 years
It was not a given that the couple should be allowed to get married, because behind the happy wedding there is a long and winding hill to become husband and wife.
Troubled testament
Gustav is a German-Danish prince and the eldest child of Princess Benedict of Denmark and Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. The prince is also a nephew of Danish Queen Margrethe and Greek Queen Anne-Marie.
The problems of marrying the prince wanted, date back to 1939, according to City and Country Magazine.
The detail that went around the world
At the time, Gustav’s grandfather, Prince Gustav Albrecht of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg – a German nobleman who served in the Nazi army – wrote a will in which he set conditions for inheriting the family’s estate, Berleburg Castle.
In the will, he demanded that if the heirs were to inherit the property, they had to marry an “Aryan, noble and Protestant” woman.
Should give up
In 1968, his son, Prince Richard, married Princess Benedict of Denmark – Queen Margrethe’s little sister. Princess Benedict met Gustav Albrecht’s demands, and Richard inherited Berleburg Castle.
Initially, it also seemed that Prince Gustav would follow his grandfather’s strict requirements. In 2000, he announced his engagement to Elvire Pasté de Rochefort – daughter of a French aristocrat.
Killed the family in royal massacre
The wedding was to take place in Paris in May of the following year, but only two months before the ceremony, the wedding was postponed and later canceled.
However, when Princess Benedict of Denmark and Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg’s son, Prince Gustav, wanted to marry Carina Axelsson, they were given “no”.
Axelsson, an American-born author with roots in Sweden and Mexico, did not meet the requirements. She has also previously worked as a model, and comes according Picturemagazine from a “fairly ordinary” family.
Legal challenges
In 2003, after Prince Richard had been diagnosed with cancer, Gustav contributed more and more to his role at Berleburg Castle. Eventually, Carina Axelsson also moved into Schloss Berleburg.
“She often showed up with a glittering ruby and diamond ring on her left ring finger. But marriage, it seemed, remained out of the question. If Gustav married Carina before his father’s death, it would open up for legal challenges from various cousins in the hope of claiming the property, which is one of the largest noble properties in Germany today “, it says on the royal blog The court jeweler.
Is she giving up life with Chris?
When Prince Richard passed away as a result of the cancer diagnosis in 2017, the legal challenges exploded.
Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand, Gustav’s great-uncle, claimed that he was the rightful heir of Berleburg – because Gustav was in a relationship with non-royal Carina – and filed a lawsuit.
Final gift
As a result of the lawsuit, Carina Axelsson stopped appearing in public with the chosen prince.
Three years later, in 2020, however, the German court found that Gustav fulfilled the terms of the will, which meant that the 53-year-old inherited both Berbeburg Castle and the associated assets.
Reveal the wedding rule
This year it was also the nail in the coffin for the bitter inheritance dispute. In April, it became known through the Danish royal family that Prince Gustav would finally get his Carina.
– We are both happy to have only our closest friends and family to celebrate our wedding. We always said we did not want a big party, after all we have experienced, Prince Gustav told Billed Bladet before the wedding.
Last weekend, they became husband and wife at Berleburg Castle Chapel, after a 19-year battle for love.
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