The Royal Connection

A central portion of Munthe’s biography is taken up by his relationship with Crown Princess Victoria, Queen of Sweden from 1907. Victoria, born in 1862, was of poor health from a young age, both in mind and body. Her lungs were weak and she was unhappy in her marriage to Crown Prince Gustaf, later Gustaf V. From 1893 Munthe was not only Victoria's personal physician but also her closest friend and confidant. His importance to her physical and mental well-being cannot be sufficiently underlined; it was his support which gave her strength. When Munthe left Rome at the beginning of the 20th century and moved to Capri, Victoria chose to follow him. To begin with she lived in a hotel, later in Casa Caprile, the house she had built in Anacapri and which still stands, nowadays a hotel. The words the Queen spoke to Munthe on her death-bed are very moving: ”Come soon”.