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Monarch of Sweden
 
 
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The monarch is the head of state
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
 of the Kingdom of Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
. Sweden, being a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of constitutional government, where in either an elected or hereditary monarch is the head of state, unlike in an absolute monarchy, wherein the king or the queen is the sole source of political power, as he or she is not legally bound by the constitution....
 with a representative democracy
Representative democracy

File:Electoral democracies.pngRepresentative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of Election individuals representing the people, as opposed to either autocracy or direct democracy....
 based on a parliamentary system has a largely ceremonial monarch, though officially he or she holds the highest public office in Sweden and the highest military rank. The Act of Succession
Swedish Act of Succession

The Act of Succession, or Successionsordningen, is a part of the Constitution of Sweden. It was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates on September 26, 1810, and it regulates the right of members of the House of Bernadotte to accede to the Sweden throne....
 of 1810 designates the House of Bernadotte as the Swedish royal house; it also states that the king (and thus implicitly any queen regnant
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
) must be a Protestant Christian
Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
.

The current monarch of Sweden is King Carl XVI Gustaf.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m775343",this)' onMouseout='hide("m775343")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Sweden">Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 has been a kingdom since prehistoric times.






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The monarch is the head of state
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
 of the Kingdom of Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
. Sweden, being a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of constitutional government, where in either an elected or hereditary monarch is the head of state, unlike in an absolute monarchy, wherein the king or the queen is the sole source of political power, as he or she is not legally bound by the constitution....
 with a representative democracy
Representative democracy

File:Electoral democracies.pngRepresentative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of Election individuals representing the people, as opposed to either autocracy or direct democracy....
 based on a parliamentary system has a largely ceremonial monarch, though officially he or she holds the highest public office in Sweden and the highest military rank. The Act of Succession
Swedish Act of Succession

The Act of Succession, or Successionsordningen, is a part of the Constitution of Sweden. It was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates on September 26, 1810, and it regulates the right of members of the House of Bernadotte to accede to the Sweden throne....
 of 1810 designates the House of Bernadotte as the Swedish royal house; it also states that the king (and thus implicitly any queen regnant
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
) must be a Protestant Christian
Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
.

The current monarch of Sweden is King Carl XVI Gustaf.

History

Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 has been a kingdom since prehistoric times. As early as the 1st century, Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
 wrote that the Suiones
Suiones

The Swedes were an ancient North Germanic tribe in Scandinavia. As the dominions of their kings grew, their land slowly evolved into the modern Sweden....
 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 saga
Norse saga

The sagas , are stories about ancient Scandinavia and Germanic tribes history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families....
s (see Mythological kings of Sweden and Semi-legendary kings of Sweden
Semi-legendary kings of Sweden

The semi-legendary kings of Sweden are the long line of Sweden kings who preceded Eric the Victorious, according to sources such as the Norse Sagas, Beowulf, Rimbert, Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, but who are of disputed historicity because many of them appear in more or less unreliable sources....
).

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
Temple at Uppsala

The Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in Norse paganism once located at what is now Gamla Uppsala , Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th century work Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum and in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century....
 (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
Haakon the Red

H?kan the Red was a Monarch of Sweden reigning for about a decade in the second half of the 11th century. There is little information on him, and it is mostly contradictory....
) and U 861
Norsta Runestone

The Norsta runestone is an 11th century runestone inscribed in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark that stands near Wik Castle outside Uppsala, Sweden....
 (Blot-Sweyn
Blot-Sweyn

Blot-Sven was a Sweden king c. 1080, who replaced his Christian brother-in-law Inge I of Sweden as King of Sweden, when Inge had refused to administer the bl?ts at the Temple at Uppsala....
).

The power of the king was however, greatly strengthened by the introduction of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 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
Stones of Mora

Stones of Mora was the place where the Swedish kings were elected. The origin of the tradition is unknown....
, and the people had the right to both elect king and to depose him. The stones were, however, destroyed ca 1515.

The office is hereditary since 1544. The present Bernadotte dynasty was established during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
 through the Constitution
Instrument of Government (1809)

The Instrument of Government, or Regeringsformen, adopted on June 6, 1809 by the Riksdag of the Estates was the Constitution of Sweden of Sweden from 1809 to 1974....
 of 1809 and the Act of Succession
Swedish Act of Succession

The Act of Succession, or Successionsordningen, is a part of the Constitution of Sweden. It was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates on September 26, 1810, and it regulates the right of members of the House of Bernadotte to accede to the Sweden throne....
 of 1810, in a bloodless Revolution after present day Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
, then the eastern half of the Realm
Realm of Sweden

The Realm of Sweden or Svenska v?ldet is a term that historically was used to comprise all the territories under the control of the Sweden monarchs....
, was lost to Russia.

The 19th century Constitution divided the powers of government between the Riksdag
Riksdag

The Riksdag is the national parliament of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 List of members of the Riksdag, 2006-2010 , who are elected on a proportional representation basis to serve fixed terms of four years....
 and the Monarch. Following the break-through 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
Privy Council of Sweden

The High Council of Sweden or Council of the Realm consisted originally of those men of noble, common and clergical background, that the king saw fit for advisory service....
 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
Speaker of the Riksdag

The Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden is the speaker of the national parliament in Sweden. The Riksdag underwent changes in 1867, when the old Riksdag of the Estates institution was abolished....
. 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.

A more recent constitutional reform changed the rules for succession to equal primogeniture
Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the common law right of the firstborn son to inherit the entire Estate , to the exclusion of younger siblings. It is the tradition brought by the Normans to England in 1066....
. This allowed for the crown to pass to the eldest child regardless of gender and thus installed Princess Victoria
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of V?sterg?tland is the heir apparent to the Sweden throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant ....
 as heir apparent
Heir apparent

An heir apparent is an heir who cannot be displaced from inheriting; the term is used in contrast to heir presumptive, the term for a conditional heir who is currently in line to inherit but could be displaced at any time in the future....
 over her younger brother Prince Carl Philip
Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland

Prince Carl Philip, Duke of V?rmland is the second child of three children and only son of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Silvia of Sweden. Born Crown Prince of Sweden, he retained his title and first place in succession for seven months until 1 January 1980....
.

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: By the Grace of God
By the Grace of God

By the Grace of God, as well as the various equivalent phrases in other languages thus rendered in English language,is not a title in its own right, but a common introductory part of the full styles of many Monarchs, preceding the actual princely styles in chief of the specific realm and/or other principalities ....
, King of the Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, the Goths
Goths

The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy....
/Geat
Geat

Geats , sometimes associated with the Goths, were a North Germanic tribes inhabiting what is now G?taland in modern Sweden. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Provinces of Sweden of V?sterg?tland and ?sterg?tland, the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms....
s and the Wends
Wends

The term Wends or Wendish is used in Germanic languages for Slavs living near or within Germanic peoples settlement areas after the migration period....
  (; , sometimes the first part of the latin title was Svionum or Sveonum, all meaning the Swedes, not Sweden). Other titles that were a part of the full title before the Bernadotte dynasty
Bernadotte

The House of Bernadotte, the current Royal House of the Sweden, has reigned since 1818. Between 1818 and 1905 it was also the Royal House of Norway....
 (which acceded the throne in 1818) were: Grand Prince of Finland, Duke of Skåne
Skåne

Scania is a geographical region on the southernmost tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, a traditional provinces of Sweden in the Kingdom of Sweden, before 1658 a province in the Kingdom of Denmark and part of the historical lands of Denmark....
, Estonia
Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
, Livonia, Karelia
Karelia

Karelia , the land of the Karelians, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden. It is currently divided between the Russian Republic of Karelia, the Russian Leningrad Oblast, and Finland ....
, Bremen, Verden
Bremen-Verden

Bremen-Verden, but formally Duchy of Bremen and Principality of Verden were two territories of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained Imperial immediacy in 1180....
, Stettin, Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania was a Dominions of Sweden under the Sweden from the 17th to the 19th century, situated on what is now the Baltic Sea coast of Germany and Poland....
, Kashubia and Wendia
Wends

The term Wends or Wendish is used in Germanic languages for Slavs living near or within Germanic peoples settlement areas after the migration period....
, Prince of Rügen
Rügen

R?gen or Rugia is Germany's largest island. It is located in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. R?gen makes up the vast part of the R?gen , which also includes the neighboring islands Hiddensee and Ummanz, as well as several small islands....
, Lord of Ingria
Ingria

Ingria is a historical region within Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east....
 and Wismar
Wismar

Wismar is a small port and Hanseatic League town in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,about 45 km due east of L?beck, and 30 km due north of Schwerin....
, Count Palatine of the Rhine
Palatinate-Zweibrücken

Palatinate-Zweibr?cken is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibr?cken....
, Duke of Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
, Jülich
Jülich

J?lich is a town in the district of D?ren , in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. J?lich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum J?lich and as shortwave transmitter J?lich of Deutsche Welle....
, Cleves and Berg
Berg (state)

The territory of Berg in today's North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany emerged as a separate domain in mediaeval times. It comprised roughly the area between the rivers Rhine, Ruhr and Sieg....
. During the reign of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty the title arvinge till Norge "heir to Norway" was added, as also other titles that were connected to the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp. When Norway after the Napooleonic wars was included in a personal union
Personal union

A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states are governed by the same monarch, while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct....
 with Sweden in 1815-1905, the title Norges konung "king of Norway" also was included in the king's title. In older spelling in Swedish the title was Sweriges, Norriges, Göthes och Wendes Konung.

This traditional full title with smaller alterations had been in use since the establishment of the hereditary monarchy in 1544. For example the title Vendes Konung "King of the Wends
King of the Wends

The title of King of the Wends denoted sovereignty or claims over once-Slavic peoples lands of southern coasts of the Baltic Sea, those otherwise called Mecklenburg, Holstein and Pomerania, and was used from 12th century to 1972 by Kings of Denmark and from ca 1540 to 1973 by the Kings of Sweden....
" started to be used then. However the title Götes Konung "King of the Goths
King of the Goths

The title of King of the Goths was for many centuries borne by both the List of Swedish monarchs and the List of Danish monarchs, denoting sovereignty or claimed sovereignty over the antique people of the Goths, which is sort of poetic explanation....
", dates back to Magnus Ladulås and Erik the Saint and the title King of the Swedes
Swedish people

Swedes are people from Sweden or of Swedish decent. Unlike the United States, United Kingdom, and Australian Censuses, Statistics Sweden does not classify the Swedish population by race or ethnicity....
 Svea Konung, dates back to those times as well. This latter title was however already in the 1500s 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 , thereby ending an age-old tradition.

Such innovations are reflected in his personal motto För Sverige, i tiden, "For Sweden, with the times".

The line of succession


Present monarch: His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

}|}Carl XVI Gustaf has been Monarch of Sweden since 15 September 1973. He is the only son of the late Prince Gustav Adolf, Duke of V?sterbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha....
 (since September 15, 1973), born 1946
  1. HRH Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland
    Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden

    Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of V?sterg?tland is the heir apparent to the Sweden throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant ....
    , daughter of the King, born 1977
  2. HRH Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland
    Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland

    Prince Carl Philip, Duke of V?rmland is the second child of three children and only son of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Silvia of Sweden. Born Crown Prince of Sweden, he retained his title and first place in succession for seven months until 1 January 1980....
    , son of the King, born 1979
  3. HRH Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland
    Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland

    Princess Madeleine, Duchess of H?lsingland and G?strikland is the youngest child and second daughter of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia of Sweden....
    , daughter of the King, born 1982


See also

  • List of Swedish governments
    List of Swedish governments

    This is a list of Sweden governments and rulers, from the end of the Kalmar Union until the breakthrough of parliamentarism.*1521-1523 : Regent Gustaf I of Sweden ...
  • List of Swedish monarchs
    List of Swedish monarchs

    This is a list of Sweden monarchs, that is, the King of Sweden, with regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union up until the present time.The earliest record of what is generally considered to be a Swedish king appears in Tacitus' work Germania, c....
  • Royal mottos of Swedish monarchs
    Royal mottos of Swedish monarchs

    The Royal mottos or Valspr?k of the Swedish monarchs has been a tradition since first used by Gustav I of Sweden, in the early 16th century....
  • Swedish monarchs family tree
  • Swedish Royal Family
    Swedish Royal Family

    The Swedish Royal Family consists of a number of persons in the Sweden Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. They are entitled to royal titles and style |]]s, and some perform official engagements and ceremonial duties of state....


External links

  • - Official site
  • - At the Riksdag