| Event Name: | Wedding of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Princess Ingrid of Sweden |
| Location: | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Date: | 24 May 1935 |
The wedding of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark (later King Frederik IX), and Princess Ingrid of Sweden took place on Friday, 24 May 1935 in Storkyrkan.
Crown Prince Frederik was the heir apparent to the Danish throne and Princess Ingrid was the granddaughter of King of Gustaf V of Sweden.
Before their engagement, the marriages of Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Ingrid had been the topic of much conversation in their respective countries. False rumours of an engagement between the pair were spread on numerous occasions, including in 1918, 1929 and 1934. The pair had also both been previously linked to other royal persons.
Frederik's mother, Queen Alexandrine, had originally considered the two youngest daughters of her cousin, Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia, as possible wives for Frederik, prior to their execution oin 1918. Later, Frederik met his second cousin, Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, in Cannes and their engagement was announced on 5 March 1922 before being called off two months later.[1] [2] [3]
The question of Ingrid's future marriage was the topic of much conversation in the 1920s. Among others, she was seen by some as a possible wife for the heir apparent to the British throne, Edward, Prince of Wales, who was her second cousin.[4] Her mother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, and the Prince's father, King George V, were first cousins, both being grandchildren of Queen Victoria. She was also considered a match for his younger brother, Prince George. Neither of these matches came to fruition.
Despite court officials denying an engagement in January 1935, their engagement was announced on 15 March 1935. In a 1969 interview, Frederik revealed the couple had gotten engaged in private in the beginning of February.[5] The couple were double third cousins through mutual descent from Oscar I of Sweden and Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and fourth cousins once removed through Paul I of Russia. It was described as a love match.
In the week leading up to the wedding, numerous events were held in Stockholm to celebrate. The bride and groom's mutual cousin, Queen Astrid of Belgium, and her husband, King Leopold III, hosted a reception at the Belgian Embassy. On the evening of 22 May, the bride's grandfather, King Gustav V, held a dinner and concert for 800 guests at the Royal Palace and a second reception was held on the evening of 23 May followed by a gala performance at the Royal Swedish Opera.
The wedding took place in Stockholm Cathedral on 24 May 1935 and was officiated by the Archbishop of Uppsala, Erling Eidem.
Ingrid wore the veil of Irish lace that her late mother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, had worn at her wedding 30 years prior. The veil has since been worn by all of Ingrid's female descendants – as well as Mary Donaldson, the present Queen consort of Denmark. She wore a crown of myrtle from a shrub her mother had brought with her from Osborne House in England to Sofiero Palace in Sweden. Carrying a sprig of myrtle in your wedding bouquet is a tradition that is maintained to this day in the Swedish royal family and, with Ingrid, has continued into the Danish royal family when she brought cuttings from the shrub at Sofiero to be planted at Fredensborg Palace.
Ingrid's second cousins Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid of Norway served as bridesmaids while Count Gustaf Bernadotte of Wisborg, son of Folke Bernadotte, was a ring bearer.