Glance: Other Russians whose deaths have rocked UK

LONDON (AP) — Russia's transition from a Kremlin-controlled economy to a free market free-for-all in the 1990s brought on a wave of contract killings as criminals, entrepreneurs and corrupt officials tried to muscle each other out of lucrative businesses. The death of 67-year-old Boris Berezovsky — which remains unexplained — has raised questions about the safety of oligarchs as opposition figures back in Russia have been making the United Kingdom their home.

Here are some other U.K. incidents involving figures from — or involved with — the former Soviet Union:

ALEXANDER LITVINENKO

Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned fierce critic of the Kremlin, died after ingesting polonium in his tea at a London hotel in 2006. His family blames the Russian state for orchestrating his death, and British authorities have named former KGB officer and Russian lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi as their chief suspect. The Kremlin — and Lugovoi — deny being behind the poisoning, which drew headlines worldwide. Perhaps mindful of Litvinenko's experience, British police called in a hazardous materials team to examine Berezovsky's home. They later declared the property clear of hazardous materials.

BADRI PATARKATSISHVILI

Patarkatsishvili, an associate and confidant of Berezovsky's, died in his mansion in southern England in February 2008. Police initially said his death appeared suspicious but authorities later ruled the 52-year-old billionaire had succumbed to heart failure. Patarkatsishvili was active in Georgian politics, retained a small army of bodyguards, and often said he feared he would be targeted in an assassination attempt.

ALEXANDER PEREPILICHNYY

Perepilichnyy was found dead outside his plush home in southern England in November 2012. He had been in possession of documents which allegedly blew the lid off a massive Russian tax fraud involving dirty money being funneled into Swiss bank accounts. Post-mortem examinations have so far failed to determine how the 44-year-old died. In a recent report, the BBC said he had had a checkup and was given a clean bill of health only months before his death.

STEPHEN CURTIS

Described by author Mark Hollingsworth as "the lawyer who knew too much," Curtis died when his helicopter crashed in poor weather on its way to his 19th-century retreat in southern England in March 2004. Investigators ruled the crash was an accident, but Curtis was a big player in the murky world of Russian banking and had recently been receiving death threats.

GERMAN GORBUNTSOV

Russian businessman Gorbuntsov was shot six times in London's Canary Wharf financial district in March 2011. Gorbuntsov — who survived — blames disgruntled business associates for the attack. So far no one has been brought to justice.

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Princess whose forbidden love gripped Sweden dies

STOCKHOLM (AP) — She was one of the better kept secrets of Sweden's royal household: a commoner and divorcee whose relationship with Prince Bertil was seen as a threat to the Bernadotte dynasty.

In a touching royal romance, Welsh-born Princess Lilian and her Bertil kept their love unofficial for decades and were both in their 60s when they finally received the king's blessing to get married.

Lilian died in her Stockholm home on Sunday at age 97. The Royal Palace didn't give a cause of death, but Lilian suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had been in poor health for several years.

She met Sweden's Prince Bertil in 1943, but his obligations to the throne and Lilian's status as a divorced commoner prevented them from making their love public. The couple's sacrifices and lifelong dedication to one another gripped the hearts of Swedes.

"If I were to sum up my life, everything has been about my love," the witty, petite princess said of her husband when she turned 80 in 1995. "He's a great man, and I love him."

Born Lilian Davies in Swansea, Wales, on Aug. 30, 1915, she moved to London at 16 to embark on a career as a model and an actress, showcasing hats and gloves in commercials and taking on small roles in movies. She met British actor Ivan Craig, whom she married in 1940.

After World War II broke out, Craig was drafted into the British army while Lilian stayed behind in London, working at a factory making radio sets for the British merchant fleet and serving at a hospital for wounded soldiers.

At the time, Prince Bertil was stationed at the Swedish Embassy in the British capital as a naval attache. The couple first laid eyes on each other in the fancy nightclub Les Ambassadeurs shortly before Lilian's 28th birthday in 1943. Lilian then invited him to a cocktail party in her London apartment. But it wasn't until he fetched her with his car following an air raid in her neighborhood that the romance blossomed, Lilian recalled in her 2000 memoirs, "My Life with Prince Bertil."

"He was so handsome my prince. Especially in uniform. So charming and thoughtful. And so funny. Oh how we laughed together," Lilian wrote.

Lilian was still married at the time, but the situation resolved itself since Craig, too, had met someone else during his years abroad in the army, and the couple divorced on amicable terms.

Upon Bertil's return to Sweden, however, his relationship with a commoner became a delicate issue.

Bertil became a possible heir to the throne when his eldest brother died in a plane crash, leaving behind an infant son — the current King Carl XVI Gustaf. Two other brothers had dropped out of the line of succession by marrying commoners.

Bertil's father, King Gustaf VI Adolf, ordered him to abstain from marrying Lilian, since that would jeopardize the survival of the Bernadotte dynasty.

Instead, the couple let their romance flourish in an unofficial manner, living together in a common-law marriage for decades.

They first lived in their house in Sainte-Maxime in France, but later shared their time between the French village and Stockholm, where Lilian discreetly stayed in the background for years.

Despite the royal reluctance to recognize her officially, Lilian's charm and warm personality soon won the Swedes over, and magazines depicted the happy couple playing golf and riding around on the prince's motorbike. When Prince Bertil had to use a walking frame after an operation, she cheerfully nicknamed it his "Bugatti."

In 1976, some 33 years after they first met, the new king finally gave them the approval they had been waiting for.

On a cold December day the same year, Lilian, or "Lily" as the prince used to call her, became princess of Sweden and duchess of the southern province of Halland in a ceremony at the Drottningholm Palace Chapel just outside Stockholm. The bride had by then turned 61 and the groom 64.

The couple never had any children.

Prince Bertil died in the couple's residence Villa Solbacken in Stockholm in 1997 after unspecified lung problems.

Lilian took over some of her husband's duties, especially as an award presenter for various sports associations.

Health problems forced her to cut back on some of her royal duties. In 2006 she stopped attending the annual Nobel Prize banquet, and the next year she also stopped taking part in the award ceremony.

In 2010, the palace said Lilian suffered from Alzheimer's disease, preventing her from attending the wedding that summer of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling.

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