Dismantling the patriarchy, hanging out with disco icons, and a racing legacy are just a
few of the ways that the Swedish Royal Family stand out from typical royalty.
"If you ask most Americans about Sweden, they would probably say,
'Okay, I know about Swedish Fish and IKEA. That's it.'"
The world's history is full of monarchs with long reigns, and Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf holds
the title of Sweden's longest-reigning monarch. In 2018, he made history with his rule of 44 years
and 233 days. His Royal Highness had an expedited path to leadership, as his father suddenly died
in an airplane crash when the future king was only nine months old. The new king's grandfather
assumed the role in the deceased king's place, and then the throne was officially passed to King Carl
XVI Gustaf when he was 27 years old. When his time ruling is complete, his eldest daughter,
Princess Victoria, will assume her royal duties, serving as Sweden's queen.
Dyslexia is a learning disability that involves difficulties with accurate word recognition,
and is often accompanied by poor spelling abilities. The disability is fairly common,
affecting up to 20% of the population, including familiar names like Cher, journalist Anderson
Cooper, world-renowned physicist Albert Einstein, and artist Pablo Picasso. Likewise,
several members of the Swedish royal family have also learned to live with dyslexia.
King Carl XVI Gustaf has dyslexia, as does his son Prince Carl Philip. The prince told
Sweden's Dyslexia Association chairman, Bengt-Erik Johansson,
that nothing made him more upset than someone with dyslexia being considered unintelligent
because of their disability. The prince explained on Swedish Public Radio that
it's vital that children with dyslexia never feel left out of school activities. Princess
Madeleine also opened up about her journey with her dyslexia while working on a children's book.
Prince Carl Philip's eldest sister, Princess Victoria, also has dyslexia. The future queen
shared with Swedish station SVT that she used to believe she was stupid and slow because of
her learning condition, though she's proved to the world that she is neither of those things.
In the realm of royal couplings, it's a longstanding tradition that a prince
or princess weds someone of similar social status,
but the Swedish royal family is one lineage aiming to dispel that notion. In Sweden,
the Cinderella Story is real life for four commoners who married princes and princesses.
King Carl XVI Gustaf wed Silvia Renate Sommerlath in 1976. They met at the Olympic Games,
where she was working as an interpreter. When she married her prince, she went from a common
Swedish citizen to the nation's future queen. The rulers of Sweden seemingly set the stage for their
three children to go forth and marry their true loves. Princess Victoria married Daniel Westling,
a gym owner. Princess Madeleine went on to wed Christopher O'Neill, who was not only
a commoner but a British-American, and had a lot of adjusting to do.
"If you talk to the king, your father in law, how do you address him?"
"Geezer."
Prince Carl Philip then married Sofia Hellqvist, a former reality television star and model,
in front of 550 guests, of royal status and otherwise.
Swedish royal weddings have a history of rock and roll flair. When Prince Carl XVI Gustaf and his
bride Silvia Renate Sommerlath had their royal wedding in 1976, they brought in some serious
singing power to serenade them. The legendary Swedish band ABBA performed their worldwide
hit "Dancing Queen" for the future king and queen on the eve of their nuptials. While
the song wasn't specifically written for Queen Silvia, it was dedicated to her at the festivity.
The couple's son, Prince Carl Philip, followed suit when he wed Sofia Hellqvist. When they
said their "I do's," they also incorporated contemporary music into their celebration. A
rendition of Coldplay's "Fix You" was played, as was a version of Rihanna's
"Umbrella". The late Swedish DJ Avicii was asked to be a part of the royal celebration.
Even the new princess got in on the musical contribution with a song she wrote for her Prince.
The Swedish royal family has a few wild children in their bunch, and the streak
for questionable behavior might have started with King Carl XVI Gustaf. In the 2010 book,
"The Reluctant Monarch," details of the king's carnal escapades were released to
the public. The result wasn't a great look for the royal family,
but the king decided not to sue the publishers of the book, saying at a press conference,
"I have spoken with my family and the queen, and we choose to turn the page and
move forward because, as I understand, these are things that happened a long time ago."
The public might view their king in a different light now, but haven't turned
their backs on their ruler. According to The Times, the Swedish people are cool with the
king's past. Add 'forgiving' and 'graceful' to the Swedish lot's list of notable qualities.
The king and queen's children have faced scandals, too. Future queen Princess Victoria
and her husband defended their marriage via Instagram, denying rumors of divorce.
Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia made waves when they announced their
relationship to the world. The two lovebirds, who met at a nightclub,
defended their relationship to the world on Swedish TV 4,
staying firm that despite their pasts, they were confident their future lay in one another.
Sweden might seem like a pretty calm place to most observers,
but it's still a pretty interesting country with interesting people.
"This time we're in the birthplace of social security and dynamite. It's Sweden's capital city,
Stockholm."
Royal Swedes love car races and fancy automobiles. Both the king of Sweden and his son, Prince Carl
Philip, have a penchant for racing. The king has an entire fleet of vehicles at his disposal,
and once gifted himself an exclusive BMW M8 Competition Coupé for his birthday,
a present that drew criticism and cost an astounding 1.7 million Swedish crowns.
The other royal men of Sweden own race cars and enjoy sport-spectating from time to time.
Prince Carl Philip began his own racing career in 2008, winning his first championship in 2010.
He competed in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship as part of the Volvo Polestar
Racing and Polestar Cyan Racing teams. But in 2019, he put his need for speed aside
to focus his attention on his growing family. However, he still attends races, even partaking
in award ceremonies, especially Prince Carl Philip's Racing Pokal, a race named after him.
A love of fast cars seems to extend past just the king and prince. Prince Carl
Philip's godfather and great-uncle, Prince Bertil, was a popular race car driver in the
1930s. Will the prince's sons grow to love the sport the same? Only time will tell,
but they have many great racers to look to for family inspiration.
The Swedish royal brood doesn't mess around when it comes to their beloved environment.
Many of the family members actively advocate for the health and protection of the world
they live in. King Carl XVI Gustaf leads the family by example, even being the recipient of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Award. His daughter, Princess Victoria,
also strongly supports causes linked to the betterment of the environment.
She participated in the Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group,
focusing on water and health issues. She also made an appearance at World Water Week in 2016.
Ensuring the world around them stays beautiful and healthy is critical to the Swedish royal family,
and they've often been seen frequenting the great outdoors as part of this appreciation.
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia were seen hiking through Sörmlandsleden at the
inauguration of an accessibility-adapted hiking trail. The family's two princesses, Victoria
and Sofia, have also taken to the trails, trekking through Fulufjällets National Park
to mark Princess Victoria's completion of her hiking all 25 Swedish provinces.
The Swedish family is forgoing out-of-date succession laws and changing the game of
reign and rule. This all started in 1980, when Sweden boldly switched its current succession
laws to reflect a gender-neutral stance. This meant that the king and queen's firstborn child,
Princess Victoria, would reign as queen next, not the couple's first-born son, who came later.
Years later, the royal family made another change to tradition when King Carl XVI Gustaf
removed members of his family from the Swedish royal house. All but two of the
king and queen's grandchildren have officially been removed from the royal line of succession
and royal public duties. Currently, only the son and daughter of Princess Victoria
and Prince Daniel continue to carry the traditional stylings and royal duties.
This decision was put into effect out of the
king's love for his little royals. In a holiday speech, the king explained,
"Earlier this year, I made a decision to define what is called the royal house.
The decision was to make clear who within the royal family will
act as official representatives of Sweden in the future. For me,
this is a way of clarifying what expectations are. [...] It will hopefully be helpful when my
grandchildren eventually carve out their own future. But, to that day, it is far away."
Not everything about the Swedish royal family is unconventional. Much like most people,
the Swedish family has a thing for royal pets. The king and queen of
Sweden have a dog named Brandy who often accompanies her proud parents on outings.
Princess Victoria's children are smitten with their own family's pup, too. Rio the Cavapoo,
a poodle and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mixed breed, is often seen with his royal
family. Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia own a dog named Siri, who famously got loose
in 2021 and roamed the town before eagle-eyed citizens figured out she could very well be
the royal couple's pup, and the family's dog was safely returned to its rightful owners.
Princess Madeleine's family is dog lovers too. According to People, they brought a
three-year-old Havanese dog named Oreo into their Florida home after it was discovered
living in undesirable conditions. The family pet is often featured on the family's Instagram page,
living the good life with his royal family, and the family's other pup, Teddy.