Count Folke “Ockie” Bernadotte Turns 90!

Count Ockie and Countess Christine Bernadotte.

On 8 February 1931, Count Folke “Ockie” Bernadotte af Wisborg was born at Pleasantville, New York, as the second son of Count Folke Bernadotte af Wisborg (1895-1948) and his wife Countess Estelle (1904-1984; née Manville). Ockie Bernadotte made his entrance to the world at the home of his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. H. Edward Manville. He joined an older brother, Count Gustaf Eduard (1930-1936). Upon the birth of their second child, Folke and Estelle received congratulations from King Gustaf V of Sweden and other members of the royal family. 

Prince Oscar Bernadotte.

Princess Ebba Bernadotte.

Count Ockie Bernadotte (b.1931) is the paternal grandson of Prince Oscar of Sweden (1859-1953), Duke of Gotland, who married Ebba Henrietta Munck af Fulkila (1858-1946) in 1888. As a result of this marriage, Oscar gave up his royal and ducal title as well as his rights of succession and was created Prince Bernadotte and Count af Wisborg. The latter title, Count(ess) Bernadotte af Wisborg, is borne by the descendants of Oscar and Ebba. Count Ockie Bernadotte is the maternal grandson of Hiram Edward Manville (1872-1944), the president of the Johns-Manville Corporation, and his wife Henrietta Estelle Romaine (1878-1947). 

Countess Estelle Bernadotte.

Count Folke and Countess Estelle with their sons Gustaf Eduard and Ockie, 1934.

Count Folke and Countess Estelle with their sons Ockie and Bertil on Rhodes, February 1948. Photograph (c) Getty Images/Frank Scherschel.

In 1928, Count Folke Bernadotte, son of Prince Oscar and Princess Ebba Bernadotte, married Estelle Romaine Manville, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. Edward Manville. Folke and Estelle had four sons: Count Gustaf Eduard (1930-1936), Count Folke “Ockie” (b.1931), Count Frederik (1934-1944), and Count Bertil (b.1935). Ockie’s father Folke was a Swedish diplomat. During World War II, Count  Folke Bernadotte negotiated the release of around 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps, including 450 Danish Jews from the Theresienstadt camp. In May 1948, Folke Bernadotte was unanimously chosen to be the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Arab–Israeli conflict of 1947–1948. The count, aged fifty-three, was assassinated at Jerusalem in September 1948. In 1973, his widow Countess Estelle Bernadotte married Carl Erik Sixten Ekstrand (1910-1988).

Ockie Berndotte and Christine Glahns.

The cover of Svansk Damlidning: Count Ockie and Countess Christine.

Count Ockie and Countess Christine Bernadette af Wisborg.

On 2 July 1955, Count Folke “Ockie” Bernadotte af Wisborg married Christine Glahns (b.1932) at Grangärde. The couple have four children, two daughters and two sons: Countess Anne Christine (b.1956; married Per Larsen), Count Carl Folke (b.1958; married Birgitta Elisabeth Larsson), Countess Maria Estelle (b.1962; married Umberto Ganfini), and Count Gunnar Fredrik (b.1963; married Karin Lindsten). 

We wish Count Ockie many happy returns of the day!