Prince Gustav and Princess Carina are expecting via surrogate, royal fans claim 

Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and his wife Carina Axelsson are expecting a baby boy in May via surrogacy, a royal enthusiast has claimed.

The nephew of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe and Greece’s Queen Anne-Marie – who married his partner of 19 years in Germany last summer – is even said to have a nursery and nanny at the ready.

According to the Couture and Royals account – which has more than 83,300 followers on Instagram and some 22,000 on Twitter – the royal, 54, had informed castle employees  of the news earlier this week.

Official sources have yet to confirm the announcement and MailOnline has reached out to The Royal House in Denmark for comment.

A quote – understood to be on behalf of the pair – said: ‘Princess Carina & Prince Gustav are very happy & grateful for this opportunity & thanks everyone involved who has helped to find a legally legal path to follow.

‘For the sake of the child, please refrain from further questions. Further information will be published in due course.’

The joyful rumours come following two decades of chaos for the couple, who couldn’t get married for years due to an inheritance rule set up by Gustav’s grandfather Prince Gustav Albrecht, who was a Nazi.

In the 1930s, he set up his will to prevent Gustav from inheriting family property if he marries someone not of Protestant, noble and Aryan descent.

By 1944, he went missing while serving as an officer in the German Army, during a mission near Orsha, Belarus. The soldier was declared MIA and no one sought an official declaration of death until Gustav was born in 1969.

Carina Axelsson, 54 – who is an American author best known for the teen fashion detective series Model Under Cover – has Swedish and Mexican heritage, and hence didn’t satisfy the will’s agenda.

Last year, on April 27 the Danish court confirmed that Gustav could marry Axelsson on June 4 2022, New My Royals reported.

However, their fight for love was not an easy one.

Gustav’s father Prince Richard was able to inherit property because his wife – Princess Benedikte of Denmark – met the strict and controlling criteria.

The joyful rumours come following two decades of chaos for the couple (pictured at their wedding with Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark) who couldn’t get married for years

According to the Couture and Royals account – which has more than 83,300 followers on Instagram and some 22,000 on Twitter – the royal, 54, had informed castle employees of the news earlier this week

And initially it seemed like Gustav’s bride would too, as, according to The Court Jeweller, in 2000 he was set to marry Elvire Pasté de Rochefort, who came from an aristocratic French family.

But sensationally, the royal wedding was called off just two months before the set date.

By 2003, Gustav was besotted with Carina – and the outlet explained it was thought they would be ‘unhappily married every after’.

‘Carina moved in to Schloss Berleburg with Gustav, and she often acted as chatelaine of the castle,’ the report said.

‘She even often appeared with a sparkling ruby and diamond cluster ring on the ring finger of her left hand. But marriage, it seemed, remained out of the question.’

After Prince Richard’s death in 2017, Town and Country Magazine said, legal challenges ensued as Gustav’s great uncle Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand believed he should get the fortune.

According to the Dorset Echo , in 2019 Carina (pictured in 2020) had been splitting her time between Germany and Purbeck, as she enjoyed the English town as a scenic ‘writing bolthole’

In the 2019 interview with the newspaper, Carina had also revealed that she enjoyed literature from a young age. Pictured in 2020

In 2020, German courts decided Gustav met the conditions of the will – and could inherit Berleburg Castle, where he and his wife got married in front of 80 guests.

According to the Dorset Echo, in 2019 Carina had been splitting her time between Germany and Purbeck, as she enjoyed the English town as a scenic ‘writing bolthole’.

The author, who grew up in Silicon Valley, California, told the outlet that her own experience with the monarchy inspired her to write the Royal Rebel series, which is about a fictional teenage princess.

‘I also wanted to break down this idea that princesses can do and have whatever they want,’ she said.

‘In fact, as part of a reigning monarchy, life may be privileged but it’s very different from what people imagine.’ 

In the 2019 interview with the newspaper, Carina had also revealed that she enjoyed  literature from a young age, especially favouring the works of Beatrix Potter and C.W.Anderson.

She has also worked as a model – including shoots for Vogue, Elle and Armani – which is the career path that initially led her to Europe. 

Carina balanced her modelling work in Paris with illustration night classes before beginning her foray into the creative industry, and eventually, book writing.