Sovereign: Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden (Haga Castle, Sweden, April 30th, 1946).
Son of Gustaf Adolf Prince of Sweden (1906-1947) and Sibylla Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1908-1972).
Succeeds his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf King of Sweden (1882-September 15th, 1973).
Inauguration: Dining Room, Royal Palace, Stockholm, Sweden, September 19th, 1973.
Motto: För Sverige i tiden (For Sweden- in our time).
Religion: Lutherian Evangelic.
Married (1976): Silvia Sommerlath (1943).
Children:
Titles:
The King is Majesty, King of Sweden. The heir to the throne is Crown Prince(ss) of Sweden. All members of the royal family are Royal Highness, Prince(ss) of Sweden. All dynasts bear a ducal courtesy title.
Succession:
The throne is hereditary in the descendance of Karl XIV Johan Bernadotte, until January 1st, 1980, according to male right of the first-born. After that date Princess Victoria followed her younger brother Carl Philip as heir. A dynast can't marry without permission of the King, who needs to be advised by the ministers. A dynast who doesn't ask for permission looses all rights to the throne, for himself and his descendance.
Address:
Royal Palace
11130 Stockholm
Sweden
Residences:
The official residence of the Swedish monarch is the Royal Palace in Stockholm, where most official engagements take place. It is also the office for royals and staff. The royal family however lives in the southern wing of the Drottningholm Palace. More information: The Royal Palaces and Sights.
History
Sweden is already a kingdom since more than 1000 years. There are legends about a kingdom named Svea from the 9th century. The kings are all known since 980. In the beginning the kings were chosen by the nobility from their own ranks. This changed in 1523 when Gustaf I Eriksson Wasa managed to free Sweden from the Danish domination. Sweden had been united with Denmark and Norway in the Union of Kalmar since 1397. In 1544 he made Sweden a hereditary monarchy. Well-known is his grandson King Gustaf II Adolf who made of Sweden one of the most important countries of northern Europe. He was killed in the war in 1632. Heir to the throne was his daughter Christina. She became a catholic and left the country in 1654 after haven given the throne to her cousin Karl X. The next kings were originally from German houses as Bavaria, Hessen-Kassel and Holstein-Gottorp.
The last Holstein-Gottorp King Karl XIII had to agree that the French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was made the new crown prince of Sweden. Marshal Bernadotte was born in Pau in an ordinary French family, and became a marshal under the Emperor Napoleon I of the French. He was asked to become crown prince of Sweden by the two Swedes (Mörner and Anckarsvärd) who had to bring the news of the death of the former crown prince of Sweden, Prince Christian August of Denmark, to France. Although they had no instruction to search for a new crown prince in France they asked some famous war heroes if they were interested. Bernadotte was popular because of his human behaviour during the war, the way he represented the Emperor and his talent to organize. The case was not solved yet as other Swedes more liked another Prince Christian August of Denmark as the crown prince. On August 21st 1810 Bernadotte officially was made crown prince of Sweden and in November the old King Karl XIII and his wife Queen Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotta adopted Bernadotte, who afterwards was called Karl Johan. On October 20th 1810 Bernadotte arrived in Helsingborg, Sweden, without his wife Désirée (a former fiancée of Napoleon) and their son Oscar, who stayed in Paris. In December they also arrived in Sweden. Princess Désirée left the country she didn't like in June 1811 and didn't return back until 1823. Crown Prince Karl Johan became a regent for the old king in March 1811 and stayed that until the death of Karl XIII in 1818. He was proclaimed the new king on February 6th 1818 and was crowned King Karl XIV Johan on May 11th 1818 in the cathedral of Stockholm. In 1814 he had won Norway for Sweden and thus also became King of Norway.
King Karl XIV Johan died in 1844 and was followed by his only child Oscar I who died in 1859 and in 1823 had married Joséphine Princess of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Napoleon's steph son Eugène de Beauharnais. Their sons Karl XV and Oscar II followed each other as King of Sweden. Oscar II had to give up Norway, which became independent in 1905. The next king was Gustaf V who reigned between 1907 and 1950. His son Gustaf VI Adolf reigned until 1973. His oldest son Gustaf Adolf had died in an air-crash at the airport of Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1947, not even one year after the birth of his son Carl Gustaf, who now became heir to the throne. In 1973 the unmarried Carl XVI Gustaf ascended the throne. In 1976 he married the commoner Silvia Sommerlath and they got three children: Victoria (1977), Carl Philip (1979) and Madeleine (1982). Carl Philip was crown prince in the year of his birth, but after a changing of the law his sister Victoria became the crown princess. Prince Bertil, uncle of the king, had always been ready to become a regent for Carl XVI Gustaf if that had been necessary. He even gave up his wedding plans with Lilian Craig, a commoner who wouldn't be accepted by the Swedish royal family. In 1976 they finally married each other after a long, long relationship.
The Kings of Sweden
| Karl XIV Johan (1763-1844) | 1818-1844 |
| Oscar I (1799-1859) | 1844-1859 |
| Karl XV (1826-1872) | 1859-1872 |
| Oscar II (1829-1907) | 1872-1907 |
| Gustaf V (1858-1950) | 1907-1950 |
| Gustaf VI Adolf (1882-1973) | 1950-1973 |
| Carl XVI Gustaf (1946- ) | 1973- |
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