Carl XVI Gustaf, king of Sweden, celebrates today 80 years as the monarch who has spent more years, 52 already, on the throne of the Scandinavian country. He has even surpassed his predecessor Magnus Eriksson, who around the year 1300 held the crown for 45 years. The Swedish sovereign was born in 1946 as the only male child of Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla. They already had four sisters, but the strict succession laws of Sweden at the time prevented any of them from entering the line of succession.
Misfortune meant that his father died at 40 in an air accident, and the longevity of his grandfather, who died at 90, allowed him to prepare himself before ascending the throne. After more than half a century as monarch, Carl XVI Gustaf remains, among all European constitutional monarchies, the one who wields the least power. In fact, Sweden’s constitution only recognizes for him two essential duties: representation abroad and presiding over the Nobel Prize award ceremony.
With strained finances, the Swedish royal house has had to request from the Government an extra budget for the celebration of the monarch’s 80th birthday. The official program in Stockholm will include a military guard of honor, an air parade, and a gala dinner at the Royal Palace in the company of members of other royal houses from around the world. Queen Sofia is expected to attend on behalf of our country.
Before blowing out the candles on his cake, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden granted a sincere and revealing interview to the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. In it he spoke openly about the challenges of his office, about the energy he has left to stay on the throne, about his daughter Victoria, and about the secret of his long marriage to Queen Silvia, with whom he is about to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden: “I am king all the time”
The wedding of Carl XVI Gustaf with Silvia Sommerlath took place in 1976, and she became the first queen consort who was a commoner. After the union, the succession laws were changed, and his eldest daughter, Victoria, ended up becoming heiress to the throne ahead of her younger brother, Prince Carl Philip. In the interview, the monarch praised the way his daughter is preparing for her future role as queen: “She is even more ambitious than I am. She is preparing exceptionally well in various domains. More recently, as an officer in different branches of the armed forces. She is strong,” he highlighted about the princess.
In addition to being strong, the heiress Victoria will have to be patient, as apparently the king of Sweden has no plans to abdicate yet. Paraphrasing the words of his Norwegian counterpart, King Harald, Carl XVI Gustaf said he does not intend to follow the path of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and assured that “as long as I have energy,” I will stay in office. “I am king all the time. You have to be. You cannot resign, nor leave the country. It is like any other CEO or a bishop. When you are a bishop, you are, all the time.”
El rey Carlos Gustavo cumple 80 años.
Carl XVI Gustaf also described how expectations have changed in the last five decades and how being king today is completely different from when he ascended the throne on September 15, 1973. According to what he made clear in the interview, the monarch’s responsibility becomes even more difficult in turbulent times and “therefore we must be more alert and better informed. That applies not only to me as king, but to all families, to all people in Sweden.”
The issues of age and the success of his marriage
Among the Swedish king’s surprising statements, he also highlighted his confession about the moment he really notices his age: when he has to start cooking in the kitchen. As Carl XVI Gustaf told journalist Karin Thunberg, although he generally did not feel too old, “when you are in the kitchen and you wonder if you really should climb up that ladder to grab something from the top shelf. In the end you do it anyway. But you do it with a little more care.”
The Swedish monarch added a note of humor when talking about the care of his grandchildren, shifting responsibility to their parents: “They are their children and they can take care of them!” he said about his duties as a grandfather. And about the formula for the success of his long marriage with Queen Silvia, despite their crises, he added that “one must be humble, flexible. Help and support each other. Not be so hard nor crash into the wall every time you argue.”
