Author Topic: Oak Hill  (Read 17267 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Jmentanko

  • Guest
Oak Hill
« on: May 09, 2004, 03:43:36 PM »
What happend to the palace Marie Pavlovna (the younger) built in Sweden during her marriage to Prince William? What did it look like and what is it used for now?

Petri

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2004, 06:24:36 AM »
A charming palace! It is today the Italian Embassy. The exterior is untouched. I don´t know about the interior, but most of it is propably preserved. I´ll have to do some research and return with an image or two!

By the way - this weekend Lennart Bernadotte, the son of Maria Pavlovna and Prince Wilhelm celebrated his 95th birthday at his home in Mainau!

Jmentanko

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2004, 04:57:38 PM »
Thanks so much for the information Petri. Would you mind describing the exterior?

Ninety- five, what a milestone. I always wondered what he though of his mother.

Petri

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2004, 04:03:28 AM »
That´s the place! I had to refresh my memory and consult my litterature...
Prince Wilhelm (brother to Gustav Adolf, king 1950-73, who was married to 1. Margaret of Connaught and 2. Louise Mountbatten) was more or less forced into marriage with Maria Pavlovna in 1908. First they lived at the somewhat gloomy Royal Palace in Stockholm, but a considerable gift from aunt Ella made it possible for the young couple to build their own home on a rocky piece of land on the Royal Djurgarden, a picturesque city centre island used for recreation, museums and elegant villas. The architect of the day, Ferdinand Boberg designed a large stuccoed villa in his characteristic style - mediterranenan elegance combined with art nouveau ornaments. Father Peter Rumjantsev, head of the Orthodox church in Stockholm, held an opening ceremony on April 1, 1910.
Maria Pavlovna used to slide down the stairs on a silver tray, which chocked the stuffy old courtiers, but they let "the dear little child" do it anyway... The marriage was never happy, and in 1914 W and MP were divorced. Oakhill was sublet to the US consul in the 1920´s, and around 1930 (forgot the exact year) Wilhelm sold it to the Italian government.

Jmentanko

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2004, 04:50:46 PM »
Wonderful information. Thank you so much Petri!

Maybe it's just me, but isn't it a little unfair that the Swedish government sold the palace. I wonder if Maria got any of the money? Furnishings?

Robert_Hall

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2004, 06:17:24 PM »
MO gave up all claims in the divorce settlement. Even to her son.  I imagine she left with a substantial financial settlement and her {Romanov] jewels though.
When the house was sold, it was by her former husband, not the Swedish gouvernment.
Cheers,
Robert

Petri

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2004, 06:23:16 AM »
I´m happy to contribute with info on the connections to Sweden! (beeing Swedish...)

"Ninety- five, what a milestone. I always wondered what he though of his mother."

Lennart Bernadotte wrote his autobiography back in the 1980´s. It hasn´t been translated to English (I think). I read it a looong time ago, but he seems to have moved on and has a healthy perspective on his tough childhood. (He grew up with his extremely strict grandmother, Queen Victoria of Sweden, but married a commoner and lost his prince title. After WWII he moved to the palace Mainau on the Bodensee.)

Petri

Almedingen

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2004, 10:05:42 AM »
Petri,

I have enjoyed reading your message and thanks for posting.  I was wondering, since your are from Sweden if you had any information regarding the following.

Do you know what was Lennart's father like?  I know he married Maria Pavlovna but I don't know much about him as a person.  I thought I read someplace (I don't remember where) that he was a difficult person and that's why he had to go all the way to Russia to find a wife.

Also, do you know what happened to him after he divorced and what kind of relationship did he had with his son.

Any help you can give will be much appreciated.

Janet_W.

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2004, 12:31:14 PM »
A belated happy birthday to Lennart Bernadotte!  My neighbor celebrated her 95th birthday last Saturday, and except for some vision problems she is in wonderful health and spirits, as I hope is the case with Lennart Bernadotte. How I wish I could read his autobiography; I am sure it makes fascinating reading.

And yes, it would be interesting to read more about his father, Prince Wilhelm, who has always seemed to be such a shadowy figure. Since Marie Pavlovna's autobiography was one of the first books I read after Nicholas and Alexandra, Marie's story has always been of interest to me, and I would like to recommend the excellent article about her on this website.

Petri

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2004, 05:35:06 AM »
Thanks for your kind words! This really is an amazing place for exhanging thoughts and information.

Prince Wilhelm - well... He did write his memoirs, but personally I find it interesting to read other people´s comments about him, especially Lennart´s. Maybe this is the wrong place, the forum has a section for personal history, but here goes in short:

PeWe, as he was called (or William), b 1884, d 1965, was a bit of a withdrawn person but he was a member of the Royal family and therefore a (popular) public figure. He was Victoria´s favourite son, which might explain why his relationship to the older brother Gustav Adolf never was the best. W also had the courage to live an unconventional life, building up a career as a filmmaker and poet after splitting up with Maria Pavlovna. It was a marriage of convenience, forced upon them to strengthen the political relationship between Sweden & Russia. (As late as 1908!) The country house named Stenhammar, where they spent relatively happy summers as newlyweds, remained W´s permanent home although he travelled a lot. A lady named Jeanne Tramcourt was W´s semiofficial partner for nearly 30 years, but they never married. (Marriage between a prince and a mondaine French divorcée was impossible. Married or unmarried - which was most chocking, really?) She entered the stage very early, which explains W´s total lack of interest in Maria P. They seem to have had a happy life, but Madame Tramcourt could be a bit bossy and jealous of W´s relationship to other people. When Maria Pavlovna had "fled" from Sweden W and Lennart became quite close, but they seldom lived together.
This is growing to an essay, so I´d better stop here!
Petri

Jmentanko

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2004, 08:31:20 AM »
Thank you very much Petri. I really enjoy the great information.

You mention that Wilhelm's permanent home was Stenhammar. (Is there another way of writing it?) Do you know what this palace looks like and what it is used for today.

Thanks in advance!

Petri

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2004, 10:06:21 AM »
You can see a small picture of Stenhammar on this site: www.eskilstuna.se/lansbiblioteket/litteraturer/12.html

The manor Stenhammar in the province of Södermanland is mentioned for the first time in 12th c records, but the main building, overlooking a lake, was erected 1658-61, and rebuilt several times. The present exterior is from the 1840´s. There are two separate wings, and several service buildings, barns etc that always are found at country estates.
Stenhammar was bequethed to the nation by Baron F R von Kraemer in 1903, on the condition that it was used by a Swedish prince. Prince Wilhelm also happened to be Duke of Södermanland.
When PW passed away 1965 most of his furniture was auctioned off, and the art collection was donated to the National Museum. HM Carl XVI Gustaf is the leaseholder (correct term?) but doesn´t use it as far as I know... The manor is not open to the public, but the park has been used for summer concerts.
Stenhammar is about 1 hour from Stockholm.
Also a note of interest: During their frequent visits to Stenhammar Maria Pavlovna enjoyed wearing the traditional folk costume of Södermanland. The romantic national movement around 1900 had a strong inpact on music, art, literature etc. Old vanishing traditions were documented. The national Nordic Museum in Stockholm was founded. It was chic (for middle to upperclass ladies) to wear these quaint costumes. Even the queen had one made...

Also: Nothing of this has to do with the Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1925)!

Jmentanko

  • Guest
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2004, 08:07:10 AM »
Thanks again, Petri.

Offline Svetabel

  • Moderator
  • Velikye Knyaz
  • *****
  • Posts: 4883
    • View Profile
    • http://svetabella.livejournal.com/
Re: Oak Hill
« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2009, 04:09:38 AM »
Oak-Hill, former residence of Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and GDss Maria Pavlovna. Now the Italian Embassy

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Italian_Embassy_in_Stockholm_Sweden.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oakhill_2.jpg