Monarchy of Sweden

This article is about the history and function of the Swedish monarchy as an institution. For the kingdom of Sweden itself, see Sweden.

King of Sweden
Monarchy
Coat of arms of Sweden
Incumbent: Carl XVI Gustaf
Style:	His Majesty
Heir apparent:	Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
First monarch:	Eric the Victorious (first monarch of undisputed historicity)
Formation:	Unknown

Kingdom of Sweden

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Sweden

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The monarchy of Sweden is the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Sweden. The present monarch, Carl XVI Gustaf, has reigned since 15 September 1973. He and his immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties. As Sweden is a representative democracy based on a parliamentary system, the monarch has a largely ceremonial role, though officially he or she is head of state and holds the highest public office in Sweden and the highest military and social rank. The Act of Succession of 1810 designates the House of Bernadotte as the Swedish royal house; it also states that the king (and thus implicitly any queen regnant) must be a Protestant Christian.

History

Sweden has been a kingdom since prehistoric times. As early as the 1st century, Tacitus wrote that the Suiones had a king, but the order of succession to the later historic kings of Sweden is not known, except for what is accounted for in the historically controversial Norse sagas (see Mythical kings of Sweden and Semi-legendary kings of Sweden).

Originally, the Swedish king had little power, and that was restricted to the functions of a warchief, judge and priest at the Temple at Uppsala (see Germanic king). It is a testimony to this lack of influence that there are thousands of runestones commemorating commoners, but no chronicle about the Swedish kings, prior to the 14th century (though a list of kings was added in the Westrogothic law), and only a few runestones that may mention kings: Gs 11 (Emund the Old), U 11 (Haakon the Red) and U 861 (Blot-Sweyn).

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  The Personal Command Sign of H.M. the King of Sweden

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  The Royal Standard

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  kunuki, i.e. konungi, the dative case for Old Norse konungr, "king". The runic inscription from the 11th century (U11) refers to king Håkan the Red

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  The Silver Throne, seat of the Swedish monarch since 1650

The power of the king was, however, greatly strengthened by the introduction of Christianity during the 11th century, and the following centuries saw a process of consolidation of power in the hands of the king.

The king was traditionally elected at the Stones of Mora, and the people had the right to both elect the king and to depose him. The stones were, however, destroyed ca 1515.

The office has been hereditary since 1544. The present Bernadotte dynasty was established during the Napoleonic Wars through the Constitution of 1809 and the Act of Succession of 1810, in a bloodless Revolution after present-day Finland, then the eastern half of the Realm, was lost to Russia.

The 19th century Constitution divided the powers of government between the Riksdag and the monarch. Following the breakthrough of Parliamentarism in 1917 the king's powers were considerably reduced, and he became a constitutional monarch with only limited political authority.

Head of state

In 1974 a new Instrument of Government became part of the Constitution which abolished the Privy Council as the government institution and stripped the Monarch of virtually all formal powers, while still retaining him as Head of State. Many of the king's previous political functions were transferred to the Speaker of the Riksdag. The monarch leads the Privy Council in a session that establishes the new government following a general election or cabinet reshuffle. The king also chairs the Committee for Foreign Affairs (Utrikesnämnden), a body which serves to officially inform the head of state and the leaders of the opposition of government affairs. Bills passed in the Swedish parliament become law without having to acquire royal assent. Thus, in Sweden, unlike most constitutional monarchies, the Monarch is no longer even the nominal chief executive.

Another constitutional reform in 1980 changed the rules for succession to equal primogeniture. This allowed for the crown to pass to the eldest child regardless of gender and thus installed Princess Victoria as heir apparent over her younger brother Prince Carl Philip.

Full title

A simplified title that was sometimes used in less formal circumstances was Rex Sveciae or Sveriges Konung, the king of Sweden. The traditional full title of the Swedish sovereign was:

Swedish: Med Guds Nåde Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung ("By the Grace of God, King of Sweden, the Goths/Geats and the Wends")

Latin: Dei Gratia Suecorum, Gothorum et Vandalorum Rex - sometimes the first part of the Latin title was Svionum or Sveonum, all three words meaning of the Swedes, not Sweden.

Before 1818, the King of Sweden had many more titles since the times of Sweden as a great power. As the first king Charles XIV John of the House of Bernadotte acceded the throne in 1818, these extra titles (except the title above) were dropped. This was in coherence with Sweden as a smaller power and with the new more realistic Instrument of Government of 1809, which explicitly in § 46 prohibited that any governor general should be appointed in the realm. The Instrument of Government of 1809 was also written in a more analytic and contemporary Swedish language, better defined by the Swedish Academy established 21 years earlier. The abolished titles in 1818 were:

Grand Prince of Finland, Duke of Scania, Estonia, Livonia, Karelia, Bremen, Verden, Stettin, Pomerania, Kashubia and Wendia, Prince of Rügen, Lord of Ingria and Wismar, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Jülich, Cleves and Berg.

During the reign of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty (1751-1818) the title heir of Norway (Swedish: Arvinge till Norge) was added, as also other titles that were connected to the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp. When Norway after the Napoleonic wars was included in a personal union with Sweden, the title King of Norway also was included in the title. In older spelling in Swedish the title was Sweriges, Norriges, Göthes och Wendes Konung.

The traditional full title first mentioned here had been in use since the establishment of the hereditary monarchy in 1544. For example the title Vendes Konung "King of the Wends" started to be used then. However the title Götes Konung "King of the Goths", dates back to at least the kings Magnus Ladulås, Erik the Saint and Charles Sverkersson (maybe also Inge the Elder in a letter from the Pope). The title King of the Swedes Svea Konung, dates back to those times as well and even further back. This latter title was however already in the 16th century changed to the title Sveriges Konung, King of Sweden, and this short form of the title was also used frequently. Carl XVI Gustaf instead chose the plain and simple title King of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges Konung), thereby ending an age-old tradition.

Such innovations are reflected in his personal motto För Sverige, i tiden, "For Sweden, with the times" and also contemporarily in the neighbouring countries: Queen Margrethe II did the same in Denmark in 1972 and in Norway the monarch has no extra titles except "King of Norway".

The line of succession

Main article: Line of succession to the Swedish throne

Present monarch: His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf (since September 15, 1973), born 1946

1. HRH Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland, daughter of the King, born 1977
2. HRH Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland, daughter of the Crown Princess, born 2012
3. HRH Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, son of the King, born 1979
4. HRH Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, daughter of the King, born 1982

See also

• List of Swedish governments
• List of Swedish monarchs
• Royal mottos of Swedish monarchs
• Swedish monarchs family tree
• Swedish Royal Family

External links

• The Royal Court of Sweden - Official site
• The Act of Succession - At the Riksdag