Obit: Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013)

Chris Collins/The Margaret Thatcher Foundation

Yesterday the news of the death of Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, created headlines and discussions around the world. Many people, myself included, obviously felt that her demise marked the end of an era and wanted to talk about it. Because no matter where one is in the world or in what political direction one’s heart leans – Margaret Thatcher evoked feelings and opinions. She left this world with the epithet Iron Lady, and she certainly was one.

Thatcher came from a regular middle class family, she never could get rid of the calling name “grocer’s daughter”, but her image was completely different. With her unique high-pitched and clearly elocuted upper class English and an elegant, conservative style she always made an impression. In reality, on photos and via radio. Paired with an elegant style that included the trademark handbag, just like the Queen, pearls, large hats and well-cut suits – it all made her one of a kind.

With this unique image Thatcher made her way into politics in England; a very male dominated world where the upper class boys attend the same posh schools and them meet again at leading positions, in the House of Lords and at private gentlemen’s clubs. After first making her way into parliament, Thatcher became a minister and then, in 1979, she became the first democratically elected female head of government of a large western country.

She became known for her market-oriented economic policies and a sceptic attitude towards what is now the EU (still today lingering on in the conservative party in the UK). Thatcher strengthened her country’s position in the world as she became good friends with Ronald Reagan and championed against communism. Through her relative approval of Mikhail Gorbachev she also brought her own country and the USA closer to Russia. Much can be said about the domestic policies and the battles she fought on the home front, some which led her to be hated by some and loved by others, but Thatcher way always true to herself.

Thatcher may not have been a uniting political character, even if not intended, but then again that’s not the Prime Minister’s role in the United Kingdom but more that of the monarch’s. She held her line and made no excuses, the political landscape was divided into strong ideologies. Perhaps then people thought she was too extreme and unwavering in her ways, and ultimately this was what looks to have caused her downfall, but today her iconic status could also signal that people miss politicians who are unique, steadfast and ideological.

After eleven and a half years as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990. After being challenged in her leadership she left the positions as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party voluntarily. On the steps of 10 Downing Street Mrs Thatcher said goodbye to some wonderful years and pointed out that she handed over the country in a better shape than it had been when she had taken over in 1979.

After leaving the big political arena Thatcher remained a strong character both at home and around the world. She wrote books, endorsed political candidates in elections and travelled widely to support causes, give interviews and appear at conferences. Few have been honoured with as many prominent portraits as she and Thatcher proudly unveiled most of them.

Queen Elizabeth II, who is said to not always have been at ease with her rather high and strict character (the court curtsies Thatcher performed were infamous), honoured Thatcher with a peerage and in 1992 she entered the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. Thatcher was also appointed to the Order of the Garter, an incredible honour, and before all of this even happened Thatcher’s husband was given an hereditary baronetcy in an extraordinary measure.

Despite the divided different opinions of Thatcher and the huge amounts of prizes and accolades she received through the years, her memory will be that as the United Kingdom’s first (and so far only) female Prime Minister and the Iron Lady. A resolute and strict woman who made an enduring impression on both her lifetime and the future; an achievement that very few politicians succeed in today.

The last few years Lady Thatcher lived a pretty quiet and secluded life. Her daughter Carol openly talked to the British media of her mother’s dementia but friends and colleagues bear witness of how she remained very sharp about her own political life until the end and with great interest followed the political life both from a distance and up-close. She suffered several strokes and other health problems but even after officially retiring from public life about a decade ago Lady Thatcher appeared when her health permitted. The last time she was seen as her representative self in higher circles was in 2010 when she could attend for example the Garter Day in Windsor. In April 2011 she was invited to Prince William’s wedding but her health did not permit her attending.

Monday 8 April 2013 Margaret Thatcher passed away at The Ritz in London. Flags at official government buildings, Buckingham Palace included (the Queen was at Windsor) were lowered at half-mast. After her own wishes and the Queen’s permission Thatcher will receive a ceremonial (not state) funeral next Wednesday 17 April at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, attended by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, followed by a private cremation.

Baroness Thatcher changed the game in UK politics and opened doors for women. True to herself she was seen as a strong and determined politician but not played down as “a strong woman” as can be the case for many today. Thatcher left this world as an icon and will so remain into the future. “She stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered”, President Obama said yesterday of her legacy.

Margaret Thatcher is survived by two children and two grandchildren.

Recent reading: “Tant Almas hemlighet: Fabergékonstnären Alma Pihl” by Maj-Britt Paro

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Tant Almas Hemlighet A slightly plump lady with dark peppercorn-eyes, self-knitted clothes and a soft accent that no one knew was from Russia — all paired with being a well-liked, kind, happy and inspiring teacher. That is how Maj-Britt Paro remembers Fabergé designer Alma Pihl in her new book.

Paro was for five years a pupil in a school for local Swedish speaking children at pulp and paper industry communities and surrounding areas in Kymi/Kymmene in eastern Finland near the Russian border. For twenty-four years, between 1927 and 1951, this small community is where a woman who people knew as Alma Klee taught drawing and calligraphy, inspiring her pupils to create free from their fantasy and calling for “more schwung”. It was not until long after her death that they would learn the story that has now been told to the world and made Alma Pihl Klee remembered as one of Fabergé’s most celebrated designers.

Alma Theresia Pihl was born on 15 November 1888 in Moscow, Russia. Her maternal grandfather was August Holmström, master goldsmith and jeweller for Fabergé until his death, and her father started out as his apprentice. After losing her husband and father of her five children, Alma and four brothers, their mother moved with the family to S:t Petersburg.

After graduating school with top marks, Alma started an internship in the Holmström workshop, which her maternal uncle had taken over, and was then hired as their archivist. With the job to make and file drawings of all objects made in the workshop and the amount of metals and gems used for them, Alma could also use her artistic side for the job. One day her uncle spotted sketches Alma had made on breaks from her archive work and it was decided that she would get a chance to use those shown skills.

Alma’s firs task, in 1911, was to sketch suggestions for little gifts that oil magnate Emanuel Nobel wanted to hide in napkins of female guests at his entertaining dinners. The result was the ice-crystal and snowflake design, inspired by the frost flowers of winter, that Nobel purchased the patent rights to use, and the design came to be used on many kinds of little pieces of jewellery for Nobel over the years.

The world famous Fabergé eggs were from 1885 presented as gifts from Emperor Alexander III to Empress Maria Feodorovna and later by Emperor Nicholas II to Empress Alexandra and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and had become a strong tradition when, in 1913, Alma Pihl was asked to design one.

The result of Alma’s design work was the Winter Egg, the most expensive of all Fabergé eggs, and it celebrates the return of spring and light. The egg was given by Emperor Nicholas II to his mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna; today the egg is in Qatari ownership and might be exhibited in the future. In 1914, Alma was asked to design another egg and author Paro suggests that the inspiration came from the cross-stitch embroidery work her mother-in-law made. The result was the Mosaic Egg presented to Empress Alexandra; it is today found in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and has been exhibited to the public.

Alma’s work for Fabergé lasted for around ten years and included the 18th birthday gifts for Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana as well as many different designs for various pieces of jewellery and customers around the world. This can all be read about in various jewellery books, see for example Tillander-Godenhielm and A. Kenneth Snowman.

When the Russian revolution happened in 1917, life as they knew it in S:t Petersburg ended. In 1912 Alma had married Nikolaj Klee who later came to work for Ab Kymmene Oy (today part of UPM-Kymmene Oy) as the head of the company’s main Russian sales office in S:t Petersburg. Nikolaj had been a tennis partner of Alma’s brothers during their comfortable datja life where families socialised. As the life they knew ended, the company was shut down and the couple’s home searched. It took until 1921 for the family to flee Russia for Finland and that summer they settled in Kymmmene to establish a new, different life.

Nikolaj got a job at his company’s head office and Alma became a school teacher and after a few years they moved into a villa with a garden. When they retired in 1951 Alma and Nikolaj moved to Helsinki with Lydia, a niece of Alma who had grown up with them. Nikolaj died in 1960, Alma in 1976 and Lydia in 1990.

Alma’s life story was unravelled by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm when she worked with the 120th jubilee exhibition and catalogue of A. Tillander in 1980, the family jewellery company that had employed two of Alma’s brothers when they came to Finland. Author Paro describes this and some side-stories to the great story of Alma Pihl Klee’s life and artistry, one of them being the two sketchbooks rescued and smuggled out from the Holmström workshop when by a young worker whose son sold them to Wartski and later resulted in the book “Fabergé: Lost and Found” by A. Kenneth Snowman in 1993.

Paro also describes her own, Tillander-Godenhielm’s and Anu Seppälä’s respective contact with Alma’s Russian relatives who met Alma many times and today cares for her inheritance. Old pupils of Alma have also met, collected written memories and raised memorial plaquettes at the family home in Kuusankoski (neighboring Kymmene, to which they moved) which Paro describes along with Alma’s and Nikolaj’s archived self-told stories of what they lost in Russia and the celebrations of their silver weddings in 1937.

This book, whose title can translate to “Aunt Alma’s secret: Fabergé artist Alma Pihl” in English, is a small and quite humble being that contains a big story. Next to Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm’s unravelling of Alma’s and other Finnish jewellery designers and jewellers’ stories and making their work known to the world and preserved for the future; Paro has helped by collecting and preserving the story of one designer and her family. As one of many Finnish families who struggled to make a new life for themselves in their old homeland when the life they knew in Russia was taken away, the Pihl Klee’s succeeded in doing what others couldn’t. Although they lived anonymous lives, Alma’s name is today known around the world and her design work stands in a class of few.

Full title: “Tant Almas hemlighet: Fabergékonstnären Alma Pihl” (Swedish)
Author(s): Maj-Britt Paro
Publisher: Tore och Herdis Modeens stiftelse
Publishing date: 2013
ISBN: 9789529315734

The Royal Burial Ground at Haga

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In the early twentieth century it became apparent that the Bernadotte crypt in the Riddarholmen Church, the traditional royal burial church of Swedish monarchs from 1632 to 1950 (with the exception of Queen Christina), was becoming quite full and that alternatives had to be sought for the future. Unless an extension was made, and this was not considered a good option considering the historical value and age of the church, it was advised that it could only continue to be used as a burial church for the monarchs and their consorts.

Around the same time Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, son of King Oscar II and Queen Sophia of Sweden, had thoughts about creating a cemetery for the more junior members of the ruling dynasty, and it didn’t take long before he had acquired a setting for it. In 1915 he took over Karlsborg, a small islet in the Brunnsviken Bay that connects Stockholm city with a part of unique countryside, situated in the big and beautiful Haga Park; a favourite recreational area for Stockholm inhabitants.

Karlsborg couldn’t be closer to nature; surrounded by water and with hundreds of years old trees such as lime, willow, alms, oak and pine trees, it is a world apart from the austere medieval Riddarholmen Church and its dark crypts. Immediately after Karlsborg was acquired Prince Carl ordered plans for a mausoleum with crypt from architect Ferdinand Boberg, but the plans never realised. Instead, all that came to be built on the islet was a granite crucifix on its highest point and a stone bridge with iron gates, both probably designed by Boberg as well. Where there are not graves, Karlsborg continues to be left in its natural state with hills covered in grass, big trees and some other wild vegetation.

In 1922 the early deceased Crown Princess Margareta came to be the first royal to be buried at the Royal Burial Ground. The quite religious British-born supposed future Queen Consort of Sweden had died in complications of several afflictions, weakened by an advanced sixth pregnancy, aged only 38 and was deeply mourned by family, public officials and the people. After the funeral of Queen Sophia in 1914, which she obviously thought was much too gloomy and dark, the Crown Princess wrote down instructions for how she wanted her own death to be handled.

Crown Princess Margareta did not find the Riddarholmen Church a good place for her eternal rest; instead she wanted to have it somewhere in the free nature. The Crown Princess also asked that the funeral church was not dressed in black, as was the tradition at the time, and left instructions for a simple coffin, no display of orders, lots of fresh flowers and lit candles. She also wanted to hold a crucifix in her hand and added that should her children still be young to let them be dressed in white, also at the burial. Little did anyone know how useful these instructions would be not that many years later.

After a temporary burial at the Stockholm Cathedral in 1920, Crown Princess Margareta was laid to rest at the new Royal Burial Ground at Haga in a ceremony performed by Archbishop Nathan Söderblom in 1922. This came to be the inauguration of the new burial ground.

When you walk over the stone bridge and enter through the iron gates you first walk over a small gravel area, this is where car parks during a burial or when relatives come to visit, before coming to some steps.

After you have walked up those steps, uphill, there is a small path to you right.

If you follow that path you will pass the graves of:

1) King Gustaf VI Adolf (1882-1973) together with Crown Princess Margareta (1882-1920) and Queen Louise (1889-1965)

2) Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg (1916-2012)

3) Prince Bertil (1912-1997) and Princess Lilian (1915-2013)

4) Prince Carl (1861-1951) together with Princess Ingeborg (1878-1958) and Prince Carl (1911-2003)

5) Count Sigvard Bernadotte af Wisborg (1907-2002)

Walking back that same path, to where you started, there is a small gravel path up the hill.

On top of the hill, at the highest point of the islet, you will find the Bernadotte crucifix and the grave of Prince Gustaf Adolf (1906-1947) and Princess Sibylla (1908-1972).

If you look down from there, this is the view…

All tombs have large rectangular stones inscribed with names and titled on them. Rows of flowers are planted as decorations and mark the area of each grave. As the cemetery is only open to the public one day per week during the summer months, royal relations to those buried there often visit the graves to lay flowers for special anniversaries.

To view more of my photos from the Royal Cemetery at Haga, please visit my
Flickr album devoted to it and my visits there.

A visit to Princess Lilian’s grave

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Floral tributes at Princess Lilian’s grave

Today I went to pay my last respects at the grave of Princess Lilian at the Royal Burial Ground at Haga. Just as the funeral day this past Saturday, this Monday was a cold day with icy winds reaching through all layers of clothes and snowflakes tumbling down from the sky.

Just like after Prince Bertil’s funeral in 1997 the Royal Burial Ground has been extra open to allow members of the public to pay their last respects, normally the site is only open occasionally during the warm summer months. Since yesterday was a Sunday I thought that it would perhaps be a better idea to go today, a regular Monday, as I had the possibility to do so and thought that there might be less people there because of it. That did not turn out to be the case…

At the gates to the burial ground was a constant stream of people coming and going, that it was not a sunny day like yesterday Sunday did not seem to be of any hindrance whatsoever. Old and young, children and even a few dogs gathered in large crowds around the temporary blue cloth that covers the opening to the tomb were Princess Lilian’s coffin had been lowered. The heavy gravestone carved in gneiss from Bårarp in Halland has been moved to the side and all the beautiful wreaths and other floral tributes placed on and around the cloth that covers the temporary setting.

Princess Lilian’s last resting place was a sea of flowers to which a constant stream of people came to look and some to place their own flowers, cards or candles among them. In the good Swedish tradition a line was formed so that everyone could have the chance to walk around and see, but at times there were so many people that the line was double or triple. I took my time to look at all the different tributes though I have to say that the current cold spring, now even with more snow, had not treated the flowers, which are not made for such climate, very well. But it was indeed a beautiful tribute and it’s hard to imagine a more heart-warming send-off for Princess Lilian than the masses of people and many beautiful tributes at her last resting place.

Because of weather and wind, and also the amount of flowers, it was not easy to see each individual tribute but I did my best and from what I could spot there were fifteen floral decorations from royal descendants.

Carl Gustaf, Silvia

(King Carl XVI Gustaf & Queen Silvia of Sweden)

Victoria, Daniel, Estelle

(Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Princess Estelle of Sweden)

Carl Philip, Madeleine, Christopher

(Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Christopher O’Neill)

Margaretha, Birgitta, Désirée, Christina med familjer

(Princess Margaretha Mrs Ambler, Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Hohenzollern, Princess Christina Mrs Magnuson with families)

Gunnila

(Countess Gunnila Bernadotte af Wisborg, widow of Count Carl Johan)

Marianne

(Countess Marianne Bernadotte af Wisborg, widow of Count Sigvard)

Mica, Ebba, Marianne, Carl Johan

(Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg’s daughter Monica Bonde af Björnö with children)

Christian & Marianne

(son of Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg with wife)

With tender affection
Madeleine Bernadotte Kogevinas

(daughter of Prince Carl Bernadotte)

Prince Oscar Bernadotte’s family

Daisy
Henri

(Queen Margrethe and the Prince Consort of Denmark)

Kronprins Frederik
og
Kronprinsesse Mary

(Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark)

Richard
Benedikte

(Prince Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Princess Benedikte of Denmark)

Tino
Anne-Marie

(King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece)

Kongefamilien

(the Norwegian Royal Family)

Some of the other floral tributes came from the government, the county governors of Sweden together, Halland County, Stockholm County, the County Governor of Stockholm, the City of Stockholm, the staff of the Royal Court, the Wallenberg family, the Ulla Winbladh restaurant (Princess Lilian was a regular), The Royal Lawn Tennis Club of Stockholm, The Swedish Sports Confederation, KAK (The Royal Automobile Club), SOS Children’s Villages (a favourite charity of Princess Lilian, she was protector) and the editorial office of Svensk Damtidning.

To view more of my photos from the Royal Burial Ground at Haga, please visit my
Flickr album devoted to it and my visits there.

Funeral of Princess Lilian, The Duchess of Halland

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Screen-caption from SVT showing the setting of Princess Lilian’s funeral in the Palace Church.

It was a cold day, yesterday Saturday 16 March, with the temperature meter pointing to -12 Celsius in the morning and icy winds enabling the coldness to reach into marrow and bone despite sensible clothing with long johns, thick down coats and furs, hats, scarves and gloves on all the people that came out to the streets of Stockholm to pay their last respects to Princess Lilian. As the clock ticked to forenoon the sun came up and its rays shone beautiful golden light over rooftops and church towers, warming things up as the security level around the Royal Palace in the Old Town of Stockholm was raised and roped off for passage.

Although the funeral was aired on national public service broadcasting, SVT, myself and two friends felt that we wanted to be near as it took place – firstly out of respect for the lovely Duchess of Halland (it’s with great sadness we see a great personality as well as link to the past gone) but also a little bit for the special display that a royal funeral is. The last royal funeral in Sweden was Prince Bertil’s in 1997 and at the time I was too young to go on my own and also did not have the same interest as I do today.

At noon the bells of the Riddarholmen Church started tolling, not stopping until one hour later a little before 1 PM when the last echoes rang out and reached the palace’s outer courtyard by air. The traditional ‘seraphim ringing’ signals the death and funeral of a Knight or Member and is followed by the mounting of his/her shield on the walls of the church. At the church were one officer and four soldiers from the Life Guards as the ceremony took place and my friend Pia was one of the few visitors there.

Seraphim ringing for Princess Lilian in the Riddarholmen Church, photo by Pia Lagergren.

As an honorary guard lined up along the cortège route and military bands positioned themselves, the Royal Family received guests who arrived at the palace by car or foot. In the palace church officers from the Life Guards and Karl XII:s Life Guards stood by Princess Lilian’s coffin which was draped in the royal standard, a triple-tailed flag with the lesser national coat of arms in its centre. On the coffin stood Princess Eugénie’s crown, made in 1860 in Stockholm, and a decoration with lilies of the valley, the Duchess of Halland’s favourite flowers.

At the front left of the coffin stood a small table with Princess Lilian’s badge and grand star of the Order of the Seraphim, resting on a cushion, and in front of the coffin and on the sides of the platform laid the big beautiful memorial wreaths from family, friends and other connections. The altar was also decorated with lilies of the valley. To the left of the altar stood the seraphim standard and to the right a British flag lent from the British embassy in Stockholm; the same flag used for Queen Louise’s funeral in 1965.

The Palace Church was barely half-full. On the right of the coffin sat the extended Royal Family, which for some reason also included Prince Carl Philip’s girlfriend Sofia Hellqvist, and the only two foreign royal guests Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Princess Astrid of Norway. To the left of the coffin sat some official representatives of various kinds, among them Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and the Speaker of the Parliament Per Westerberg with wife.

On the extended guest list (the Royal Court’s guest list document can be downloaded here), apart from private friends, former staff and other special connections, were also the ambassadors of the Scandinavian countries, Archbishop Anders Wejryd, the County Governor of Halland, Lars-Erik-Löwdén, and representatives of organisations which the deceased was involved in. Princess Lilian’s only present relative was Mrs Barbara Davis, her cousin Jean Beaumond who has travelled to Sweden for birthday parties through the years could not make it as she is elderly.

The order of service (download it on the Royal Court’s website) was a mix of Swedish and British. After the introductory organ piece, court singer Karl-Magnus Fredriksson sang Beethoven’s ‘The Glory of God in Nature’ which was also a part of Prince Bertil and the then Lilian Craig’s wedding ceremony. In his eulogy, Chief Court Chaplain Lars-Göran Lönnermark said:
- Lilian Craig went under the rules for the sake of love, for the sake of her husband and, for the sake of the Royal Family and for the sake of our country. In that respect she did not seek hers. In an admirable loyalty towards her husband and solidarity with his life task. It was in itself a declaration of love. To be there but not be seen. In this, her life choice, there was surely also a lot of pain. Princess Lilian was however granted a long life, after 33 years came the day when Prince Bertil and Lilian May Davies became man and wife and Lilian became Princess Lilian and member of the Royal House.

At the end of the ceremony, as the bagpipe tunes of ‘Auld lang syne’ toned out, the bells of the Cathedral of Stockholm next door to the Royal Palace started tolling as members of the Life Guards carried the funeral wreaths and Princess Lilian’s coffin out to the hearse waiting at the Inner Courtyard. As a military band played King Karl XV’s Funeral March the police escort followed by the hearse and a row of chauffeured cars slowly drove out through the palace gates, starting the cortège route lined with honorary guards that took them to the Royal Burial Grounds as parts of Stockholm stood still.

Princess Lilian left the Royal Palace of Stockholm for the last time just after 2 PM as the hearse slowly drove through the gates to a palace at which she was for so many years a secret guest of Prince Bertil and which she first visited officially in 1972 at the birthday of King Gustaf VI Adolf. Surrounded by the extended Royal Family she was laid to rest at the Royal Burial Ground at Haga yesterday afternoon, joining her great love Prince Bertil for the eternal rest under stone from the duchy of Halland.

While the funeral ceremony took place at Haga, other guests remained in the palace where King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia after returning from the burial ceremony hosted a lunch for a select group of guests. The last guests and royals, the King and Queen not spotted, were seen leaving the palace only around 7 PM in the evening.

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