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Swedish princess dies: Princess Lilian dead at 97

Prince Bertil and his companion Lilian Davies smile on Jan. 13, 1976, shortly before their marriage. STOCKHOLM — The British-born Swedish princess whose secret 33-year romance with her royal husband became Sweden's best-known love story, died on Sunday at the age of 97, the court said. Princess Lilian was the commoner wife of Prince Bertil, who died in 1997. They met and fell in love in London during World War Two, but had to keep their relationship secret for decades for the sake of the crown and to avoid a constitutional crisis. "It is with sorrow that I have learnt that H.R.H. (Her Royal Highness) Princess Lilian is dead," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in a statement. "A much loved and appreciated member of the royal family has now passed away," he added. The royal court said in a statement that the princess, born Lillian Davies to a working class family in Swansea in August 1915, died peacefully in her sleep in the afternoon at her home in