Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
12 facts about his soon-to-be wife Carina Axelsson
Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Carina Axelsson
© Dana Press
After years of legal and will disputes, Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is finally allowed to marry Carina Axelsson: on June 4, 2022 at Berleburg Castle. This is how the soon-to-be princess ticks.
Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, 53, and children’s book author Carina Axelsson, 53, have been a couple since 2003. However, a clause in his grandfather’s will prevented the marriage. A bitter inheritance dispute also stood in the way. After years of court battles, the passage in the will was changed and Queen Margrethe’s nephew, 82, was entered as the legal heir to Schloss Berleburg.
Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg: This is his soon-to-be wife Carina
According to the Danish newspaper “Billed Bladet”, the German entrepreneur is expected to tie the knot with his Carina this year – to be more precise, on June 4, 2022 in the chapel of Berleburg Castle. We introduce you to the soon-to-be princess, who gets along very well with Princess Mary, 50, in private.
Carina Axelsson and Princess Mary have been friends since childhood.
© Dana Press
1. Carina Lynn Axelsson was born and raised on August 5, 1968 in northern California near Santa Cruz.
2. She is the eldest of three children, her brother’s name is Erik and her sister’s name is Liselotte.
3. Carina’s father, Bertil Axelsson, was born in Sweden and worked as an engineer. Her mother Alicia is Mexican.
4. After growing up in California and living in Sweden for a while, Axelsson moved to New York and Paris to pursue a career in modeling, gracing the covers of Vogue and Elle, among others.
5. Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg’s partner completed a two-year apprenticeship as an illustrator at an art school in Paris.
Carina Axelsson started out as a model and children’s book author
6. In 2004 Carina Axelsson published her first children’s book “Nigel of Hyde Park”, an illustrated book about a little dragon.
7. Axelsson also continued her career in fashion by briefly working as an assistant to fashion designer John Galliano.
8th. Carina finally became known as an author with her series “Model Under Cover”: It is about a young girl who solves cases in the fashion industry. Four books have been published so far. In 2019, the soon-to-be princess published her last book, “Royal Rebel”.
9. Carina Axelsson collects antique furniture, enjoys baking and loves being in nature with her dogs. When she lived in California at the time, she had horses, dogs, cats, a duck and two donkeys. With Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg she owns a total of five dogs: two Cocker Spaniels and three Labradors.
10 Carina met her soon-to-be husband in 2003 at a dinner with friends.
11. She has been good friends with Crown Prince Frederik’s wife Mary since childhood. Axelsson already inherited clothes from her.
12. She is also good friends with Denmark’s royal couple Marie and Joachim: Carina is Princess Athena’s godmother.
Sources used: Dana Press, billedbladet.dk, instagram.com