The new issue of Royalty magazine came out recently, with an interesting article about Maria's son Lennart. He passed away on December 21, 2004, aged 95. They reprinted an interview with him, from 1992. I found some interesting facts about Maria's feelings towards motherhood and children in general.
When asked if he saw much of his mother, Lennart replied,
"No, not very much. We met several times in the 1920's and she came to Mainau a couple of times in the 1930's and 1940's. She died here in Constance. It was a great problem with my mother, she hated little children. She only began to estimate a child when they were, say, fourteen or fifteen. When she used to visit, our children would hide away."
When asked if she had a strong personality,
"Yes, very strong. We were not such good friends and I was the only child. She abandoned the family so to speak, in 1913, and my parents were divorced in 1914."
"The Swedish court was very severe and my grandmother Queen Victoria (of Sweden) a very Prussian woman, although my grandfather was much more easy going. And Maria--she did not like to be called mother--felt freer when she came to Sweden than in Russia. Rather too free, and it was not approved of."
