Continuing our new series, Royal Central is taking a look at the members of Sweden’s Royal Family who are in the British line of succession. But what places the family in the British line, and where do they stand?
Britain’s Queen Victoria was King Carl XVI Gustaf’s great-great-grandmother. Her seventh child, Prince Arthur, was the father of Margareta who married King Gustaf VI Adolf. Their eldest son, was the King’s father, Prince Gustaf Adolf.
309. King Carl XVI Gustaf
Embed from Getty ImagesThe only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Carl Gustaf was only nine months old when his father died in an aeroplane crash in January 1947. Carl Gustaf is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, surpassing King Magnus IV’s reign of 44 years and 222 days.
310. Prince Carl Philip
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 1979, Carl Philip is the only son and second of three children of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. He was the heir apparent to the Swedish throne until 1 January 1980 when agnatic primogeniture was replaced with absolute primogeniture – meaning the eldest child, regardless of gender, is the heir apparent. The law was retroactive, so Carl Philip lost his title as Crown Prince, and his older sister Victoria became the Crown Princess.
311. Prince Alexander
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn 19 April 2016, Alexander is the first child and son of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia. He is fifth in line to the Swedish throne.
312. Prince Gabriel
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn 31 August 2017, Gabriel is sixth in line to the Swedish throne.
313. Prince Julian
Born 26 March 2021, Julian is seventh in the line of succession.
314. Crown Princess Victoria
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 1977, Victoria became the heir apparent to the Swedish throne in January 1980 after the country’s constitution was changed; she became the Duchess of Västergötland just a couple of days after becoming Sweden’s Crown Princess. King Carl XVI Gustaf objected to the reform after it occurred because he was upset about his son being stripped of the title he had held since birth. The King did not believe that the law should have been backdated and should have applied to any future births.
315. Princess Estelle
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 2012, Princess Estelle is the older child and only daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. She currently is second in line to the Swedish throne.
316. Prince Oscar
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 2016, Prince Oscar is currently third in line to the Swedish throne behind his mother and older sister.
317. Princess Madeleine
Embed from Getty ImagesPrincess Madeleine is the second daughter and youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Madeleine currently sits eighth in the line of succession. She married British-American financier Christopher O’Neill in 2013; at that point, she lost her place in the line of succession due to marrying a Catholic. However, she regained her place once the 2013 Succession to the Crown Act took came into force in 2015. The new act no longer barred those who married Catholics from the line of succession.
318. Princess Leonore
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 2014, the eldest child of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O’Neill is ninth in the line of succession.
319. Prince Nicolas
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 2015, Prince Nicolas is tenth in the line of succession.
320. Princess Adrienne
Embed from Getty ImagesBorn in 2018, Princess Adrienne is 11th in the line of succession.
Editor’s Note: These are estimates as to the royals’ place in the British line of succession. As of 2011, King Carl XVI Gustaf was 279th. Since then, there have been 17 babies born to those in the first 100 places; therefore, we added 17 to the 2011 calculations to account for those births. Any children who have been born to those further down the line of succession have not been accounted for, so the Swedish royals could be a bit further down the line of succession.
Update: The two great-grandchildren of Princess Astrid of Norway and the one of Princess Ragnhild have also been accounted for, and we have also accounted for two new children in the Serbian Royal Family. We have also added in eight known births to those from branches of the Russian and German royal families. This is reflected in the new numbers as of 29 August 2020.
