Editing Axel Munthe (section)

==Queen Victoria of Sweden==
[[File:Axel-Munthe-with-pets.jpg|thumb|right|Axel Munthe with his pet monkey and pet dog, photographed by [[Victoria of Baden|Queen Victoria of Sweden]]]]
In 1892, Munthe was appointed physician to the [[Swedish royal family]]. In particular, he served as personal physician of the [[Crown Princess]], [[Victoria of Baden]], continuing to do so when she became [[Queen consort]], and until the time of her death in 1930, although this did not mean that he was in constant attendance.

Victoria suffered from severe [[bronchitis]] and possibly also [[tuberculosis]]. Munthe recommended that she spend her winters on Capri for her health. While initially hesitant, in the autumn of 1910 she travelled to Capri, and from then onwards, except during the First World War and for a few years towards the end of her life, she spent several months each year there.

While in residence the Queen often visited the Villa San Michele to join Munthe for morning walks around the island. Munthe and the Queen also arranged evening concerts at San Michele, at which the Queen played the piano. The Queen shared Munthe's love of animals, owning a pet dog herself, and helped support his efforts to purchase Mount Barbarossa to establish it as a [[bird sanctuary]]. Perhaps inevitably, given the small local population and their close friendship, it was rumoured that Munthe and the Queen were lovers, but this has never been substantiated.

Young [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1890–1958)|Princess Maria]], who by request of King [[Gustaf V of Sweden]] twice stayed with her mother-in-law the Queen and Munthe at Capri, found his influence damaging and his powers [[Hypnotism|hypnotic]]. Years later she asserted that he wanted her to be his patient at age 23 and made physical advances toward her, and that the horror she then felt toward the Swedish royal family, because of their unlimited support of Munthe, was the main reason she fled them and filed for divorce from [[Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland|Prince Wilhelm]].<ref>[[Lennart Bernadotte]] in ''Käre prins, godnatt!'' {{ISBN|91-0-041935-4}} pp. 155-158</ref>

Munthe has been described as less interested in the health of his patients than in his own convenience and fame, and his having Victoria travel to Capri, and stay there for months in that particular climate, has been considered more detrimental than beneficial to her health.<ref>Sir [[:sv:Gustaf von Platen|Gustaf von Platen]] in ''Bakom den gyllene fasaden'' [[Bonniers]] {{ISBN|91-0-058048-1}} p 114</ref>

Other indication of his passionate nature concerns an affair he is believed to have had with the English socialite Lady [[Ottoline Morrell]], beginning when they first met in July or August 1898. Ottoline was then an unmarried 25-year-old member of the privileged London social scene, while being at the same time slightly contemptuous of it. Her intellectual and spiritual interests drew her to more mature men, such as [[H. H. Asquith]], particularly if they had a reputation for iconoclasm. She and Axel Munthe were drawn to each other, and managed to spend much private time together on Capri.<ref>Sandra Jobson Darroch, ''Ottoline: The life of Lady Ottoline Morrell'' (1975), chapter 2</ref>