Carl XVI Gustaf 1946-
King of Sweden

Born in Stockholm, the grandson of King Gustav VI, he is the seventh sovereign of the House of Bernadotte. His father, Prince Gustav Adolf (1906-47), the heir apparent, was killed in an air crash, so Carl Gustaf became crown prince on his grandfather's accession (1950). Educated at boarding school, he did military service, mainly with the navy (1966-68), took a specially designed one-year course at Uppsala University, and studied economics at Stockholm University. On his accession (1973), in accordance with the new constitution being discussed by the Riksdag (parliament), he became a democratic monarch like his grandfather, although the constitution was not formally approved until 1975. He is head of state, but does not preside at cabinet meetings and is not supreme commander of the armed forces. In 1976 he married a commoner, Silvia Renate Sommerlath (1943- ), daughter of a West German businessman. They have three children: Princess Victoria (1977- ), hereditary Prince Carl Philip (1979- ) and Princess Madeleine (1982- ). Under a new Act of Succession (1980), Crown Princess Victoria is now heir to the Swedish throne.