A newspaper mistake changed his entire legacy forever. #history #nobelprize #legacy The controversy over Nobel’s will was immediate and immense. His family was furious at losing their inheritance, and the King of Sweden, Oscar II, initially opposed the prizes because they were not restricted to Swedes. ~It took five years of legal battles by his executors~ to finally execute the vision. Nobel had specified that nationality should play no part in the awards, a radical idea for a nationalist era.