The world's most visible royal family went through some seismic changes in 2022. When and
how might some of Europe's other royal houses see similar shifts? Here's what's in store in Sweden.
Sweden's current royal family dates back to the early 1800s. Known as the House of Bernadotte,
King Carl XVI Gustaf is the seventh monarch to reign under this house,
currently presiding as Sweden's head of state with his wife,
Queen Silvia. King Carl Gustaf is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history,
having ascended the throne in 1973 following the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf.
Full name Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus, the current king was born during the reign of
his great-grandfather, Gustaf V. In 1947, when the then-Prince Carl Gustaf was nine months old,
his father, Prince Gustaf Adolf, second in line to the throne at the time, died in a plane crash. As
his only son, Prince Carl inherited his father's title. He became the heir apparent in 1950,
when his grandfather ascended the throne following the death of Gustaf V.
When Gustaf VI Adolf died on September 15, 1973, Prince Carl Gustaf became king at age 27.
He was crowned four days after his grandfather's death on September 19, according to The New York
Times. In 1976, King Carl XVI Gustaf married Queen Silvia, and they had their first child,
Crown Princess Victoria, a year later. Now 45 years old, the heir apparent has
had decades to prepare to become Sweden's next monarch. But when will Victoria become queen?
"Once Victoria takes the throne, she will be Sweden's fourth reigning queen."
Born Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée, Crown Princess Victoria wasn't given the title of heir apparent
at birth. Victoria was born three years before Sweden imposed the 1979 Act of Succession,
which changed the law so that the eldest child of a reigning monarch could become heir regardless
of gender. At that point, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia had welcomed their son,
Prince Carl Philip, into the world, and he held the distinction of heir to the Swedish throne.
But Victoria soon became rightful heir once the Act of Succession went into effect in 1980.
As in most monarchies, Victoria is expected to ascend to the throne when her father dies.
But when that happens, it won't be like the recent ascension of Britain's King Charles III,
who immediately ascended the throne following Queen Elizabeth II's death but won't be officially
crowned, according to the BBC, until May 2023. The Swedish plan of ascension and enthronement
isn't nearly as drawn out. Actually, according to the Swedish Royal Court, no Swedish monarch
has had a coronation ceremony since Gustaf V decided not to have one. King Carl followed
that tradition when he became king in 1973, and Victoria will most likely follow in his footsteps.
When crowned, Victoria will be the first queen of Sweden to ascend the
throne since the 1979 Act of Succession and the first queen from the House of Bernadotte.
In 2010, Crown Princess Victoria married her personal trainer, Daniel Westling.
"Crown Princess Victoria. Princess of Sweden. Princess of my heart."
They have two children, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar,
who are second and third in line to the throne. King Carl Gustaf's only son,
Prince Carl Philip, is fourth in line, followed by his three sons. The king's youngest child,
Princess Madeleine, is eighth in line, followed by her three children.
As other European royal families have done in recent years,
King Carl announced in October 2019 that he plans to slim down the Swedish royal household,
CNN reports. This includes stripping five of his grandchildren, all but the two eldest,
of their royal highness status. Reportedly, the Swedish monarch's youngest children were
happy about these changes, unlike Prince Joachim of Denmark, who said his children
had been "harmed" when his mother, Queen Margrethe, stripped them of their titles.
Princess Madeleine wrote on Instagram that the
decision had been "planned for a long time." She added, in Swedish,
Her brother, Prince Carl Philip,
agreed in a separate post, saying it would give his children "freer choices in life."