Gustaf V of Sweden

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Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf) (June 16, 1858 – October 29, 1950) was King of Sweden from 1907 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and Sophia of Nassau.

He was born in Drottningholm Palace and at birth was created Duke of Värmland. On December 8, 1907 he succeeded his father on the Swedish throne, which had been separated from the Norwegian throne two years earlier.

He married Princess Victoria of Baden on September 20, 1881. She was the granddaughter of Sofia of Sweden, and her marriage to Gustaf V united by a future real blood link (and not only so-called adoption) the reigning Bernadotte dynasty with the former royal house of Holstein-Gottorp that sometimes called itself Vasa. At the death of her brother, Victoria became the heiress general of Kings Adolf Frederick, Gustaf III and Gustaf IV of Sweden. Gustaf himself was a descendant of the original House of Vasa, e.g of Gustaf I through both his mother Sophia of Nassau and his grandmother Josephine of Leuchtenberg.

Gustaf V was the last Swedish king to intervene directly in the politics of the country, in 1914 on the disputes over defence budgets. He was a conservative man, who did not approve of the democratic movement and the demands for workers' rights. Gustaf V was also the last Swedish king to be Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces between 1907 and 1939.

Gustaf V had German sympathies of during World War I, and, like Prince Gustaf Adolf, he was friendly with the Nazis during World War II.

According to Prime minister Hansson the king had, during a private conversation, threatened to abdicate if the government did not approve of the German request for transitation of one armed division from northern Norway to northern Finland in June 1941.

Image:Gustavgoring1939.JPG

Gustaf V was also a devoted Tennis player, appearing under the pseudonym Mr G.

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Haijby affair

A former restauranter, Kurt Haijby, claimed to have been a lover of the king between 1912 and 1932. During Gustaf's life, Haijby was paid 170,000 Swedish kronor by the court of Sweden to maintain his silence, which would appear to substantiate his claim. In 1938 Haijby was arrested for paedophilia and placed in an asylum at Beckomberga. Following this, the court offered him a further 400 crowns a month if he left the country. He accepted this deal. However, Haijby breached the agreement, returning to Sweden in 1940 and writing a book about his life with the king. The entire printing was bought by the court and destroyed.

After Gustaf's death, papers detailing Haijby's complaint to the Attorney General of Sweden about his enforced detention in the asylum were smuggled out of the Attorney General's office by writer Wilhelm Moberg. As a consequence, the details of his story became public and the court was forced to charge Haijby for acts of blackmail. These incidents took place against a background of scandals known as the Kejne affair, which involved homosexuality amongst government officials.

A contemporary biography of Gustaf V by Stig Hadenius, while mentioning the Haijby affair, does not address the king's sexual orientation or the exact relationship between him and Hajiby. Haijby was sentenced to six years' hard labor. He committed suicide shortly after his release from prison.

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