Carl XVI Gustaf, full name Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus, is the King of Sweden and has reigned since 15 September 1973.
Born on 30 April 1946 at Haga Palace in Solna, near Stockholm, he is the only son and youngest of five children of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
His father died in a plane crash in Denmark in January 1947 when Carl Gustaf was nine months old.
He became Crown Prince in 1950 upon the accession of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, and succeeded to the throne at age 27 after his grandfather’s death.
He is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history and the seventh king of the House of Bernadotte.
Siblings
Carl XVI Gustaf has four older sisters, often called the Haga Princesses after the palace where the family lived in their early years.
The eldest is Princess Margaretha, born on 31 October 1934. She married British businessman John Ambler in 1964; he died in 2008. They had three children.
Next is Princess Birgitta, born on 19 January 1937 and who died on 4 December 2024. She married Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961; he died in 2016. The couple had three children.
Princess Désirée was born on 2 June 1938 and died on 21 January 2026. She married Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld in 1964; he died in 2017. They had three children.
The youngest sister is Princess Christina, born on 3 August 1943. She married Tord Magnuson in 1974, and they have three sons.
After their marriages the sisters retained the title of princess but without the style of Royal Highness, and only Birgitta remained a formal member of the Royal House for a time.
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Career
After private early education and schooling that included Broms School and Sigtuna Boarding School, Carl Gustaf completed secondary education in 1966.
He then undertook two and a half years of military training in the Swedish Army, Navy, and Air Force, including a round-the-world voyage on the minelayer Älvsnabben.
He received his officer’s commission in 1968 and later rose to the ranks of captain in the army and air force and lieutenant in the navy before ascending the throne.
He studied history, sociology, political science, tax law, and economics at Uppsala University and further economics at Stockholm University.
Upon becoming king in 1973, constitutional reforms that took full effect in 1975 transformed the Swedish monarchy into a largely ceremonial and symbolic role.
As Head of State he represents Sweden at home and abroad, opens the parliamentary session, receives foreign ambassadors, awards decorations, and serves as the most senior representative of the Swedish Armed Forces with the ranks of admiral and general.
He is well known internationally for presenting the Nobel Prizes each year.
Accolades
Carl XVI Gustaf holds the highest military ranks in Sweden’s armed forces and serves as Honorary Commander of the Life Guards and the Life Regiment Hussars.
He is Grand Master of the Royal Swedish Orders of Chivalry.
Among his international awards are the United Nations Peace Medal in 1976, the Bronze Wolf Award from the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1982, and the Golden Pheasant Award from the Scout Association of Japan in 1980.
He has received numerous foreign orders and decorations from countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and elsewhere.
He holds honorary doctorates from institutions including the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Royal Institute of Technology, the Stockholm School of Economics, and Åbo Akademi University in Finland.
He is also an honorary member or associated with several Swedish royal academies and has long been involved with the World Scout Foundation and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
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