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Sweden - Monarchy

The Swedish monarchy is one of the oldest in the world. Sweden has had a king for more than a thousand years. King Carl XVI Gustaf is the seventh King in the Bernadotte dynasty on the Swedish throne. He succeeded his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf on September 15, 1973. The official accession to the throne took place on September 19, 1973 in the Hall of State at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The 30 year anniversary of The King's accession to the throne was celebrated on September 15, 2003.

The Swedish monarchy rests on traditions dating back more than a thousand years. We do not know who the first kings of Sweden were. Most probably they were leaders of strong standing families. Only at the end of the 1200s it could be constituted that there was a central power, consisting of a king and his counsel.

Gustav Vasa is the first King in Swedish history of whose life is clearly in view. He was elected King on June 6, 1523. During Vasa's reign the right to inherit the Swedish crown was ratified through so called succession agreements.

The monarchy, as a form of government, was established in the 1809 constitutional governing procedures. When the French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was elected as successor to the Swedish throne at the Swedish parliament in Örebro in August 1810, a new order of succession was adopted. The crown would now go to the eldest son within the Bernadotte Dynasty and its offspring before siblings and their offspring.

The Swedish order of succession was changed in 1980 to a fully cognatic one. This means that the Monarch´s eldest heir, regardless of gender, inherits the throne. The governing procedures of The King remained the same from 1809 to 1974 when the Constitution Act was enacted. According to the new act The King should no longer "Rule the Kingdom alone". The new introduction states that "All public power in Sweden derives from the people".

Today, Sweden has a constitutional monarchy, which means that the monarch's duties are regulated by the constitution. The constitutional monarchy emerged at end of the 1800s and at the beginning of the 1900s. This was changed in 1974. For 165 years it had been Europe's oldest form of government. According to the Swedish constitution, the King as Head of State is the country´s foremost representative and symbol. The King's duties are primarily ceremonial and representative. When The King is unable to fulfil his duties as Head of State because for example he is abroad, his duties are discharged to Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip or Princess Madeleine.