Succession to the Swedish throne

The Silver Throne, used by Swedish monarchs since 1650

The line of succession to the Swedish throne is determined by the Act of Succession (Swedish: Successionsordningen), originally approved jointly by the Riksdag of the Estates assembled in Örebro and King Charles XIII in 1810.[1][2]

In 1979, the Riksdag introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, regardless of gender, is first in the line of succession. The change entered into force on 1 January 1980,[3][4] making Sweden the first country to adopt absolute primogeniture.[5] The Swedish crown had previously (since 1810) descended according to agnatic primogeniture, meaning that only males could inherit it.[6] Though the change took effect in 1980, its application was backdated so that Crown Princess Victoria, who was born in 1977, became the first in line of succession, replacing her brother, Prince Carl Philip, who was born in 1979.

  1. ^ "Act of Succession" (PDF). Riksdag. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  2. ^ "Successionsordning (1810:0926)" (in Swedish). Riksdag. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference gus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference vicky was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Duties of the Monarch". www.kungahuset.se. Swedish Royal Court. Retrieved 22 December 2013. By this principle, which Sweden is the first country to have introduced, the throne passes to the eldest child, whether male or female.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference joakim was invoked but never defined (see the help page).