The Unique Wedding Tradition of the Swedish Royal Family: They All Got Married in June

So what's special with June? According to some, it is a wedding month. Couples want to get married in June because tradition dictates it is a luckier month to wed than any other month of the year. Of course, it is just a myth. 

Marrying in June dates back to ancient Roman times when marriages were performed at the festival of Jupiter (the Roman god of the sky) and Juno (the Roman goddess of love and marriage). Thus, June, which was named after Juno, developed a reputation for being the wedding month.

June is also an ideal month to hold a celebration of love because it is the last month of the spring season and the onset of summer. The environment turns green and the flowers spread their stunning blooms. The weather tends to be lovelier and warmer and typhoons rarely swing into action. 

It is indeed a perfect month for a merrier celebration like weddings.

The Swedish royal sisters wed in June

Interestingly, the term ‘honeymoon’ refers to the first Moon after the summer solstice (which is usually June 21 or 22) in the Northern Hemisphere. 

And so, many couples have chosen to hold their weddings in the month of June. all for good reasons, however, no one expects that the entire family will schedule their respective weddings in the month of June, isn't it?

The Swedish royal siblings all wed in the month of June

But it happened. Yes! And it's a reigning royal family. The House of Bernadotte, the ruling family of Sweden since the 19th century.

The Swedish royal June brides

We all know the story of how the future King Gustaf VI Adolf met the beautiful British princess, Margaret Victoria Charlotte Augusta Norah, also known as Princess Margaret of Connaught, the eldest daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, who was the third son of Queen Victoria of Britain.

They met and fell in love in Cairo, Egypt, in 1905, and married the same year, on June 15, 1905, at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. It began the June wedding tradition in the House of Bernadotte. 

Wedding of Prince Gustaf and Princess Margaret

Although their first born, Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Vasterbotten, did not wed in the month of June, his engagement to Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was announced on June 16, 1932. Four of the five children of Prince Gustaf and Princess Sibylla would marry in the month of June. 

Princess Desiree of Sweden

In 1964, two of their daughters, Princess Margaretha and Princess Desiree, wed in the same month of June. The first to walk down the aisle was Princess Desiree. She wed the Swedish aristocrat, Baron Nils-August Silfverschiold on June 5, 1964. Her older sister, Princess Margaretha, followed 25 days later. On the 30th day of June 1964, she wed John Ambler.

Princess Margaretha of Sweden

Ten years later, their youngest sister, Princess Christina, wed Tord Magnuson, a business executive. on June 15, 1974, at Stockholm Cathedral.

Princess Christina and Tord Magnuson

Princess Christina and Tord Magnuson today

Their other sister, Princess Birgitta, wed Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in May, making her the only royal sibling who did not marry in the month of June. The royal sisters are known as the Haga princesses because they were all born in the Haga Palace.

The sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf: Princess Margaretha, Princess Birgitta

Princess Desiree and Princess Christina

Their only brother, and the youngest in the family, King Carl XVI Gustaf, who was still single when he ascended the Swedish throne in 1973, followed their June wedding tradition by marrying Silvia Sommerlath on the 19th day of June 1976. 

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath. June 19, 1976

The bride wore the iconic Cameo Tiara, which was worn by Princess Desiree and Princess Birgitta to their respective weddings. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have three children: Victoria (1977), Carl Philip (1979), and Madeleine (1982).

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia

And what a tradition! All their three kids also tied the knot in the month of June, and the Crown Princess even held her wedding on the 34th wedding anniversary of her parents.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia

The eldest, Crown Princess Victoria, wed Daniel Westling on June 19, 2010, on the 34th wedding anniversary of her parents. And what's more heartwarming was that she also wore the wedding tiara of her mother, the Cameo Tiara.

Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling

The youngest, Princess Madeleine, who also celebrated her birthday in the month of June, tied the knot with her American-British financier boyfriend, Christopher O'Neil, on June 8, 2013, two days before her 31st birthday. 

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neil

The only son of the king, Prince Carl Philip, wed his girlfriend, reality TV star and model, Sofia Hellqvist, on June 13, 2015. Sofia did not wear a tiara from the royal collection, instead she wore a new piece, a Palmette tiara gifted to her by the King and Queen.

Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist

The Swedish royals are so sweet, so united in spirit with their wedding date choices. Just like this quote: Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you'll go.

The King and Queen at the wedding of their eldest child. They wed on the same date, June 19

Here's a beautiful piece to wrap up this wedding month with joy and love. "June Bride", from the 1954 musical, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".

“Oh, they say when you marry in June you’re a bride all your life,
and the bridegroom who marries in June gets a sweetheart for a wife.
Winter weddings can be gay as a Christmas holiday,
but the JUNE BRIDE hears the song of a spring that lasts all summer long.
By the light of the silvery moon, a home you ride side by side
with the echo of Mendelssohn’s tune in your hearts as you ride.
For they say when you marry in June you will always be a bride.”

Happy end of the wedding month!