The San Michele Foundation has had excellent relations with the Swedish Royal Family due to Axel Munthe’s close contacts there. It was Munthe’s wish that the Swedish state should entrust the running of the Villa to the Swedish Institute in Rome, which the then-Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf had helped to create.
It was also the Crown Prince and the first director of the Swedish Institute in Rome, Axel Boëthius, who succeeded in persuading the Swedish government to accept the donation of Villa San Michele on the condition that the Villa be put in order to be a self-supporting institution.
The Crown Prince was present at a constituting meeting at the institute on 26 May 1950, but after assuming the throne that same year he withdrew from taking an active role on the board. As the honorary chairman, however, he made frequent tours of inspection to Villa San Michele.
