Succession to the throne (Sweden)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Swedish succession to the throne regulates who can become king or queen of Sweden and is regulated in the Swedish Succession Act ( Swedish Successionsordningen, SO) of 1810. This law is the oldest part of the four-part Swedish constitution .

history

The Act of Succession to the Throne was adopted by the Estates' Congress in 1810 and entered into force on September 26 of the same year. It replaced the previous regulation and had become necessary to regulate the succession to the throne after the election of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as Swedish Crown Prince, who later became King Charles XIV. Johann. Only male descendants were entitled to succession to the throne.

The Reichstag changed the Act of Succession to the Throne in 1980 and extended the line of succession to include female descendants. In addition, the succession of the Bernadotte family to the descendants of the current King Carl XVI. Gustaf restricted. Descendants of Karl XIV. John of other lines were deprived of the right to succession to the throne, with most of the other princes no longer being entitled to succession to the throne anyway because of unequal marriages according to older regulations. As a transitional rule, Carl XVI. Gustaf's uncle Prince Bertil the right of succession to the throne subordinated to Carl XVI. Gustaf's offspring. This transitional rule became obsolete after the death of the childless Prince Bertil in 1997 .

Succession to the throne

The Succession Act stipulates that the Swedish royal dignity should be passed on to descendants of Carl XVI. Gustaf is passed on after the birthright . Originally only male descendants were entitled to succession, since 1980 there have also been female descendants.

The Act of Succession to the Throne also contains rules on the belief and marriage of members of the Swedish royal family. A member of the royal family must profess the Evangelical Lutheran faith according to the Augsburg Confession . It must be raised in this teaching and grown up within the kingdom. A marriage must be approved by both the king and the Swedish government. If a member of the royal family violates one of the regulations, he loses his right to the throne. The king himself is not bound by the marriage condition, so he can marry without government approval.

If no heir to the throne is available, the Reichstag appoints an imperial administrator ( Riksföreståndare in Swedish ) who will take over the official duties until further notice. Until 1974 the appointment of a new royal house was planned in this case. No more specifications have been made since then.

Heir to the throne list

This results in this list of heirs to the throne:

  1. Crown Princess Victoria (born July 14, 1977), eldest child of King Carl XVI. Gustaf
  2. 00Princess Estelle (born February 23, 2012), eldest child of Princess Victoria
  3. 00Prince Oscar (born March 2, 2016), second child of Princess Victoria
  4. Prince Carl Philip (born May 13, 1979), second child of King Carl XVI. Gustaf
  5. 00Prince Alexander (born April 19, 2016), eldest child of Prince Carl Philip
  6. 00Prince Gabriel (born August 31, 2017), second child of Prince Carl Philip
  7. Princess Madeleine (born June 10, 1982), youngest child of King Carl XVI. Gustaf
  8. 00Princess Leonore (born February 20, 2014), eldest child of Princess Madeleine
  9. 00Prince Nicolas (born June 15, 2015), second child of Princess Madeleine
  10. 00Princess Adrienne (born March 9, 2018), third child of Princess Madeleine

Leaving the Swedish royal family

Formal resignation from the Swedish royal family was required until 1973 by those princes entitled to the throne whose marriage contradicted the law of equality . Princesses were not entitled to the throne until 1979. Ruling kings were free to choose because they were the head of the family; so could King Carl XVI. Gustaf to marry the commoner Silvia Sommerlath .

In order to enter into a marriage, the approval of the head of the family, i.e. the ruling king, must be obtained. If the spouse was not equal, this was usually denied. The person concerned lost his qualification as heir to the throne and his title of duke; In addition, he lost his position as a knight and commander of the order of his royal majesty, that is, knight of the order of the Seraphines , which he was entitled to by birth. As a rule, he was only allowed to keep the Grand Cross of the second highest order, the Order of the North Star . The new name was assigned to him at a special meeting of the government in the presence of the king (so-called Conseil, today written Konselj ) and was like the name of the ruling family, i.e. Bernadotte . In one single case (see below, Prince Oscar), one of those affected received a Swedish nobility title; all others were initially simple "Herr Bernadotte", but then got the title of Count af Wisborg .

An exception to the rule of equality was the second marriage of the widowed Crown Prince and later King Gustav VI. Adolf with Lady Louise Mountbatten, who was strictly speaking not equal, in 1923, who was approved by his father Gustav V. Although the bride was born as Princess von Battenberg , as a British subject she had lost this dignity in 1917 as a result of the First World War.

Between 1888 and 1946 five princes had to leave the royal house of Sweden:

  • 1888: Oscar Carl August (1859–1953), son of King Oskar II , received the lifelong title of Prince Bernadotte from the Swedish and Norwegian governments in 1888 and the Luxembourg title of Comte de Wisborg / Count from his uncle Adolph , Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1892 from Wisborg for himself and his descendants. This line still exists today.
  • 1932: Gustaf Lennart Nicolaus Paul (1909–2004), grandson of King Gustav V, received the title of Count of Wisborg in Luxembourg in 1951 . This line still exists today.
  • 1934: Sigvard Oscar Fredrik (1907–2002), son of the Crown Prince, later King Gustav VI. Adolf, received the title of Count from Wisborg in Luxembourg in 1951 . This line still exists today.
  • 1937: Carl Gustaf Oscar Fredrik Christian (1911–2003), nephew of King Gustav V, brother-in-law of the King of Belgium Leopold III. , received the lifelong Belgian title of Prince Bernadotte and a Belgian title of count for his descendants in 1938 . The line has gone out.
  • 1946: Carl-Johan Arthur (1916–2012), son of the Crown Prince (later King Gustav VI Adolf), received the title of Count of Wisborg in Luxembourg in 1951 . He adopted two children: Monica Bonde (* 1948) and Christian Bernadotte (* 1949).

All Bernadottes with the dignity of Luxembourg counts received the coat of arms awarded to Prince Oscar in 1892 , but without the Wisborg title . Several of the Counts and Countesses of Wisborg call themselves Bernadotte af Wisborg and thus illustrate the connection with Sweden.

Through these resignations, King Gustav VI was at death. Adolfs reduced the number of princes entitled to the throne in 1973 to such an extent that only two (of a total of about 17 living male Bernadottes) were still able to sit on the throne - today's King Carl XVI. Gustaf and his then 61-year-old uncle Prince Bertil .

In 1976, King Carl XVI approved. Gustav the marriage of his uncle Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland (1912–1997), with his longtime partner Mrs.  Lilian Craig née. Davies without loss of prince.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence