Click to see the full image

Click to see the full image. Photo: Royalpalaces.se

King Carl XVI Gustaf 1973-

Our current King Carl XVI Gustaf grew up at Haga Palace in Stockholm, an only son and the youngest of five children. His father, Prince Gustaf Adolf, died in an air crash at Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport in 1947 on his way home from a visit to the Netherlands. Prince Carl (XVI) was only nine months old at the time.

Carl Gustaf met Silvia Sommerlath during the Munich Olympics in 1972, and they married four years later. They have three children: Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine.

King Carl Gustaf took the royal oath in 1973 aged 27, succeeding his grandfather King Gustav VI Adolf.

King Carl XVI Gustaf's role as a monarch is purely representative, but he remains chairman of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs at which the Swedish Government seeks the Riksdag's backing for its foreign policy.

The King is deeply involved in issues related to the environment and nature. The King is chairman of the Swedish organisation of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and honorary chairman of the World Scout Foundation.

Portrait by Olle Hamngren, 2013.

swedish regents

King: Carl XVI Gustaf
Reign: 1973-
Motto: For Sweden – With the Times

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