The Crown Prince of Sweden who lost not only the throne, but his £4m inheritance – Royal Central
Sara Friberg, Royal Court
In a new SVT documentary, the order of succession to the Swedish royal house became a topic, because when Prince Carl Philip was born, he would become Swedish king. However, a constitutional amendment six months later put Crown Princess Victoria first in the line of succession. The new law ensured that the first-born child, regardless of gender, would inherit the throne. The Swedish king caused a stir when he described this negatively.
Prince Carl Philip didn’t just lose the throne. The new inheritance arrangement also cost him at least 50 million Swedish kronor in lost inheritance, which corresponds to just under 4,000,000 British pounds. The money is in the form of shares in the family foundation Gallierafonden and is an inheritance based on a gift from Emperor Napoleon.
You have to go all the way back to 1813 to find the origin of the fund. Then Emperor Napoleon is said to have given a large sum of money to the Duchy of Galliera in Italy and his stepson’s daughter, Princess Josefina of Leuchtenburg.
Princess Josefina of Leuchtenburg later became Queen of Sweden and was married to King Oscar I. She is said to have passed on Napoleon’s will in the form of a conditional will where the first-born son in descending order would receive the inheritance. Therefore, it is now King Carl Gustaf who holds the inheritance, which is placed in the family fund.
In 2012, however, the king requested that the charter be changed so that Crown Princess Victoria would receive the fortune instead of Prince Carl Philip. According to the will, the money and a unique collection of 60 paintings from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries were to be inherited to the first-born son in direct descent. Prince Carl Philip confirmed in a letter that he was willing to renounce his inheritance and on 25 April 2013 the government decided to approve the king’s application.
Today, the foundation has at least 50 million Swedish kronor, approximately 5 million US dollars, invested in shares. Between 1992 and 2010, the foundation reported profits totaling almost 70 million kroner, approximately 7 million US dollars. The largest profit in a single year was made in 2000, when the foundation reported a surplus of SEK 12 million. If the Crown Princess chooses to withdraw money from the foundation, she will be obliged to pay tax.