A visit to Sofiero Castle and Park
North of Helsingborg, on the west coast of Sweden, we find a former royal summer palace, Sofiero. In 1864, Prince Oscar of Sweden and his wife Sophie of Nassau bought this former farm. The first one-story palace was completed in 1865 and was expanded with another floor between 1874-76 after Prince Oscar became King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway. Sofiero Castle In 1905, Oscar II's grandson Prince Gustaf Adolf, future King Gustaf VI Adolf, and his wife, crown princess Margaret received the palace, called Sofiero, as a wedding gift. Princess Margaret was very interested in gardening as was Prince Gustaf Adolf, and they invested a lot of effort into making the gardens great. Among other things, they planted a large Rhododendron garden, situated in a sort of gorge surrounding the palace, which we can still enjoy today. Princess Margaret died in 1920 from blood poisoning following an ear infection. Three years later the Prince married Lady Louise Mountbatten who also took an inter