King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

Carl XVI Gustaf born 30 April 1946 is King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf is the longestreigning monarch in Swedish history having surpassed King Magnus IVs reign of 44 years and 222 days on 26 April 2018 Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal greatgrandfather King Gustaf V He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of SaxeCoburg and Gotha His father died in January 1947 in an airplane crash in Denmark when Carl Gustaf was nine months old Carl Gustaf became crown prince and heir apparent to the Swedish throne at the age of four when his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf acceded to the throne in 1950 Carl Gustaf acceded to the throne upon his grandfathers death on 15 September 1973 Shortly after he became king the new 1974 Instrument of Government took effect formally stripping the monarchy of its remaining executive powers As a result Carl Gustaf no longer performs many of the duties normally accorded to a head of state in parliamentary regimes such as the formal appointment of the prime minister signing legislation into law and being commanderinchief of the nations military The new instrument explicitly limited the king to ceremonial and representative functions while he retained the right to be regularly informed of affairs of state As head of the House of Bernadotte Carl Gustaf has also been able to make a number of decisions about the titles and positions of its members In June 1976 Carl Gustaf married Silvia Sommerlath They have three children Victoria Carl Philip and Madeleine The Kings heir apparent after passage on 1 January 1980 of a new law establishing absolute primogeniture is his eldest child Crown Princess Victoria Before the passage of that law Victorias younger brother Carl Philip was briefly the heir apparent as of his birth in May 1979