Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

Mayflower Place, home of Charles and Laura Shedd Schweppe, where the Prince and Princess were entertained with a dinner and dance.

News clipping from the Lake Forester, dated July 2, 1926, detailing the royal visit.

The Crown Prince Gustavus Adolphus and Princess Louise of Sweden visited Lake Forest on June 25, 1926. The royal party traveled up from Chicago to Great Lakes Naval Station by motor yacht, and then drove down to Lake Forest.The Prince played golf at Old Elm Club and Charles and Laura Shedd Schweppe hosted an elaborate dinner party in their honor at their house on Mayflower. The gate of the estate was decorated with American and Swedish flags with yellow roses and larkspur to carry out the Swedish national colors. Thousands of electric lightbulbs illuminated the grounds. Ruth Page of the Chicago Opera Company performed for the group and 300 guests danced in a pavilion east of the house to three orchestras.

While here, the Prince became a godfather to 9-month-old Gustave Romaine Solbert at the Church of the Holy Spirit. The baby was the daughter of Colonel Oscar Solbert of 311 College Road who had been appointed by President Coolidge to accompany the royal visitors on their tour.

The Princess, the former Louise Mountbatten, was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Gustavus Adolphus ascended to the Swedish throne as King Gustaf VI in 1950, upon the death of his father; at the time, he was the world’s oldest heir apparent to a monarchy (a record broken by Charles, Prince of Wales in 2016). He had a reputation as a “professional amateur professor,” and was a dedicated archaeologist with an enormous private library.

Lake Forest Entertains Royalty: The Crown Prince of Sweden