A time to rejoice: Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at 50

Scandinavian Review, Autumn 1996 by Jagerblom, Michael

For several years now King Carl XVI Gustaf has been voted the most popular man in Sweden. On April 30 this year, when he turned 50, enormous crowds of enthusiastic Swedes cheered and applauded in the streets of Stockholm as he made a triumphant tour through the city. In other parts of the country millions of Swedes watched the royal festivity on television all day long.

Opinion polls indicate that more than 80% of the population wish to maintain the monarchy in Sweden while only about 10% would prefer a republican constitution. Carl XVI Gustaf is probably one of the most genuinely popular monarchs in the history of Sweden.

This is quite an achievement for a man who had to cope with some real problems when he acceded to the throne in 1973, after the death of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf. As a young Crown Prince, Carl Gustaf gave the impression of being very shy by nature and feeling uneasy in front of large audiences. These are obviously difficulties for a person who cannot avoid frequently being in the goldfish bowl of public attention while performing his official duties. In addition, he has long suffered from dyslexia (difficulties in reading and spelling), a nightmare for a person who has to make some 150 official speeches each year. Dyslexia has been a problem for several Swedish Royals of the Bernadotte dynasty and seems to run in the family.

In some recent interviews, the King spoke, for the first time, quite openly about this handicap, stating that dyslexia is still an ordeal for him, though he has found some ways to handle it better than in his younger days. "Whenever I'm expected to make a public speech I have to prepare myself very carefully and practice, practice, practice," the King explained.

Nowadays dyslexia is regarded as a real medical handicap, but not long ago few people knew much about it, and many who suffered from it were considered to be not too bright, which is totally wrong. In reality, many highly intelligent women and men suffer from dyslexia.

King Carl Gustaf has learned how to deal with his dyslexia, and his shyness disappeared long ago. He does not appear troubled in any way in front of large audiences, obviously responding to the warm sympathy he meets whenever he performs his various official duties.

At solemn occasions he can retain an aura of traditional grandeur and act with the dignity required. At less formal occasions he is spontaneous and unpretentious. When watching a hockey game, for example, the King may shout, gesticulate wildly and sometimes appear uninhibited in an almost non-royal manner, especially if the Swedish National team is involved.

Heir to the Throne

Carl XVI Gustaf was born on April 30, 1946, at the Haga Palace close to Stockholm. He was the youngest child of the Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf and the German-born Princess Sibylla of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. Both parents descended from Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort Albert of the United Kingdom. The Swedish Prince and Princess already had four daughters (three of whom later married commoners). Swedes rejoiced at the news that the Royal couple was finally blessed with a son, since the Swedish Constitution of those days did not include the possibility of a reigning Queen.

The Bernadotte dynasty (descendants of the French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who became King of Sweden in 1818) appeared to be in danger, as one could foresee an acute lack of male heirs to the throne within a few decades. Several Princes had married Swedish commoners and thereby lost their position in the Order of Succession to the Swedish throne.

With the birth of Carl Gustaf this problem was put aside for a long time, and most Swedes followed the upbringing of the new prince with keen interest, because in the distant future he would become King of Sweden.

The future became less distant when his father Prince Gustaf Adolf was killed in an air accident over Copenhagen early in 1947. Carl Gustaf's great-grandfather, the reigning King Gustaf V died in 1950 and was succeeded by his oldest son, who became King Gustaf VI Adolf. Consequently, the new King's grandson Carl Gustaf, at the age of four, became Crown Prince of Sweden. His four older sisters, knowing the constitution, accepted the fact that he formally outranked them.

The Royal Role

The Crown Prince received his first education at a private school in Stockholm and then proceeded to the famous Sigtuna Boarding School, some 40 kilometers away from the capital, where he matriculated in 1966.

Immediately afterwards he continued with an intensive training program, designed especially for a future King. Military service (compulsory in Sweden) came first. The Crown Prince completed two and a half years' training in the Army, Navy and Air Force, with special emphasis on naval training. He passed his naval officer examination in 1968.

After that the Crown Prince studied history, political science, economics and other subjects at the Universities of Uppsala and Stockholm. Academic studies were then followed by field trips to national and local authorities, industry, schools, trade unions, employers' associations and news media.