Why 2023 is a milestone year for Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf
Throne Ullberg/Kingl Hovstaterna
While 2022 was a big year for royal anniversaries – with Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain celebrating 70 years on the throne and Queen Margrethe of Denmark celebrates 50 years of her reign – it is King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden’s great year 2023.
The Swedish monarch celebrates 50 years as head of state this year. The king, who is already Sweden’s longest-reigning monarch, ascended the throne on September 15, 1973, when he was just 27 – and the anniversary will be marked with two days of celebrations in Stockholm. According to the palace, a service will be held in the Royal Palace Church on September 15 in addition to King Carl XVI Gustaf receiving a singer’s tribute and overseeing a changing of the guard. An anniversary dinner is held the same evening.
On September 16, the king will be joined by Queen Silvia in a procession through Stockholm.
RELATED: Swedish royalty look like Disney princesses come to life in new portraits!
CHRISTINE OLSSON/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty
To ring in the milestone year, the Swedish palace released a new portrait of King Carl XVI Gustaf taken by the photographer Thron Ullberg. He posed next to a silver throne, which was a gift from Riksdag Councilor Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie to Queen Kristina for her coronation in 1650.
The king wore an admiral’s uniform adorned with Swedish orders of knighthood for the portrait.
RELATED: The future queens of Europe! Meet all the female heirs who will take the throne
Carl XVI Gustaf’s great-grandfather, King Gustaf V, was Sweden’s monarch when he was born on April 30, 1946. Although Carl Gustaf was the youngest of five children, he was the only son of Sweden’s Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla, predeceasing his sisters in the line of succession .
Carl Gustaf’s father died in a plane crash at Copenhagen Airport in 1947, when the future monarch was only 9 months old, making him second in line to the throne. His great-grandfather died when he was only 4 years old and his grandfather became monarch, moving him to the place of heir. Carl Gustaf became king of Sweden after his grandfather’s death in 1973.
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Princess Estelle, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have three children: Crown Princess Victoria, 45, Prince Carl Philip, 43, and Princess Madeleine, 40.
Although Princess Victoria has a younger brother, Prince Carl Philip, her place as heir formally came into effect in 1980 with the parliamentary change to the Law of Succession which introduced absolute primogeniture. When she takes the throne, Victoria will become Sweden’s fourth reigning queen and the first since 1720.
Can’t get enough of PEOPLEs Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
Princess Victoria’s 10-year-old daughter, Princess Estelle, is currently second in line to the throne.