Prince Carl Philip of Sweden has in recent years been branded as the new “design prince”, a title often accorded to his late great-uncle, Sigvard Bernadotte, who won international renown as an industrial designer, but it has now been revealed that his claim to be a designer is a dubious one.
In the new issue of the magazine Form (no 5 - 2013) Bo Madestrand claimed (external link) to have proof that the Prince had not actually designed any of the works he is credited with, mentioning in particular the firescreen “The Castle on Fire”, which shows the silhouette of the old royal castle in Stockholm, which burned down in 1697. This was, according to Form, designed by another, anonymous designer.
The topic was picked up by Svenska Dagbladet on Monday (external link), where the journalist Erica Treijs recalled how the Prince obviously struggled at a press conference dedicated to his alleged work.
On Tuesday, the renowned company Svenskt Tenn, which sells the firescreen, decided to delete the Prince’s name from the information about the screen, rather crediting it to the design company CPhB Design AB (CPhB = Carl Philip Bernadotte).
Last night the designer Eric Ericson stepped forward (external link) to admit that he is the actual designer of the firescreen. He was at first asked to supervise the Prince’s work, he says, but soon realised that he was supposed to do all the work. Ericson describes it as an “unserious cooperation” and agrees with the others who in recent days have voiced the opinion that the Prince lacks the drive necessary to do the job, but adds that the Prince may become a designer through hard work.
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