Astrid of Sweden

Astrid of Sweden (17 November 1905 – 29 August 1935) was a member of the Swedish House of Bernadotte and later became Queen of the Belgians as the first wife of King Leopold III.

Princess Astrid was born on 17 November 1905 at her parents’ then-residence, the Arvfurstens Palats at Gustav Adolfs Torg in central Stockholm.

She was the third child and youngest daughter of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark.

Her father was the third son of Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway, by his wife, Sophia of Nassau, and was a younger brother of King Gustav V of Sweden.

Astrid’s mother was a daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark by his wife, Louise of Sweden, and the younger sister of kings Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway.

Astrid had two elder sisters, Margaretha, Princess Axel of Denmark, and Märtha, Crown Princess of Norway, as well as a younger brother, Prince Carl Bernadotte (prev. Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Östergötland).

From 1909, holidays were spent at the family's summer residence Villa Fridhem' by Bråviken, a bay of the Baltic Sea near Norrköping.

Astrid was raised with a strict education and little luxury.

She attended the Sint Botvid boarding school, where lessons were taught in French, then went on to the Akerstrom-Soderstrom finishing school, where she studied sewing, piano, ballet and childcare.

After she finished school, Astrid worked at a Stockholm orphanage where she cared for children.

Due to her royal status, Astrid was named as a potential bride for a number of princes, including the future Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the future Olav V of Norway.

Astrid grew up with her sisters and younger brother at Byström's Villa (also known as Prince Carl's Palace) on the island Djurgården in central Stockholm until 1923, when the family had to leave the house for financial reasons.

Following her marriage to Leopold in November 1926, she assumed the title of Duchess of Brabant.

In September 1926, her engagement with Prince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant was announced.

The King said: "The Queen and I would like to announce to you the impending marriage between Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, and Princess Astrid of Sweden. We are convinced that the princess will bring joy and happiness to our son. Leopold and Astrid have decided to join their lives without any pressures or reasons of state. Theirs is a true union among people with the same inclinations."

Queen Elizabeth said: "It is a marriage of love... tell it to our people. Nothing was arranged. Not a single political consideration prevailed in our son's decision."

Princess Astrid entered into a civil marriage with Prince Leopold in Stockholm on 4 November 1926, and the pair were married religiously in Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, Brussels on 10 November.

The couple travelled separately to Antwerp after their civil marriage, to be reunited in Belgium.

The religious marriage was attended by a large wedding party of young friends and relatives: Princess Feodora of Denmark, Princess Marie-José of Belgium, Princess Märtha of Sweden, Princess Ingrid of Sweden, Alfhild Ekelund, Prince Carl of Sweden, Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden, Crown Prince Olav of Norway, Margareta Stähl, Count Claes Sparre, Anna Adelswärd, Prince Charles of Belgium, Count Folke Bernadotte, Baron Sigvard Beck-Friis, Anne Marie von Essen, and Baron Carl Strömfelt.

Princess Astrid was given a tiara created by Belgian jeweler Van Bever as a wedding gift from the Belgian government.

The original version of the diadem is a flexible diamond bandeau in a stylized Greek key motif topped with 11 large diamonds on spikes.

These large stones, totaling around 100 carats on their own, symbolized the nine provinces of Belgium and the now former Belgian colony of the Congo.

She later added a set of diamond arches to enclose each of the 11 independent stones.

After Astrid's death, the tiara was in the possession of King Leopold, and his second wife Lilian, Princess of Réthy wore parts of the tiara but not the full set of gems, as Lilian never held the title of Queen.

Leopold abdicated the throne in favor of his son Baudouin; when Baudouin married, Leopold gave the tiara to the new queen, Fabiola, who wore it on her wedding day.

She handed the jewel over after Baudouin's death to be worn by Queen Paola who, after the abdication of her husband Albert, gave it to Mathilde, the new Queen of the Belgians.

The Duke and Duchess of Brabant spent their honeymoon in the south of France before moving into a wing of the Royal Palace of Brussels.

After the honeymoon period, Princess Astrid began learning French and Dutch.

Astrid was enthusiastically adopted by the Belgians for her beauty, charm and simplicity.

As the Duchess of Brabant, she worked to alleviate various forms of adversity.

In October 1927, Leopold and Astrid had a daughter, Princess Joséphine-Charlotte, later Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and mother of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

The birth of Joséphine-Charlotte was a difficult period for Astrid, as women were barred from the line of succession to the throne.

One year later, she and her husband visited the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia.

They arrived on the ship Insulinde.

When the couple visited Surakarta, Astrid and her husband received a box with a golden kris inside as a present from the Dutch East Indies government.

Astrid held the position of Queen of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until her death in 1935.

Known for her charitable efforts, she focused particularly on causes related to women and children.

Astrid and Leopold had three children.

Their daughter, Joséphine-Charlotte, later became the Grand Duchess Consort of Luxembourg, while their sons both ascended the throne as King of the Belgians.

Astrid was the sister of Crown Princess Märtha of Norway (the wife of the future King Olav V) and a maternal aunt of King Harald V of Norway.