History UsefulNotes / NotableSwedishMonarchs

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "''kung''", the Swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified, as he suffers from [[LIsForDyslexia serious dyslexia]], as does the crown princess. We also have the line "''Kära Örebroare!''" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!")... Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble and kind of harmless guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At a 2018 ceremonial inspection of the Swedish Military, a reporter shouted out "What does your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?" and without blinking he simply answered "The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing![[note]](Military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme in Swedish as in English)[[/note]]"

A constitutional change in the 70s made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made Crown Princess Victoria the heir to the throne. In recent years, Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she matures and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner, but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568, and back then it was mostly seen as a sign that he was utterly and completely insane (and he admittedly was, but this probably wasn't related to that).

Being highly respected, and seen as both intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that "I don't wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job". Victoria's oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

Due to the untimely death of his father, Prince Gustaf Adolf, in a plane crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustaf became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/note]].

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "''kung''", the Swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified.[[note]]He suffers from [[LIsForDyslexia serious dyslexia]], as does the crown princess.[[/note]] We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!")... Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble and kind of harmless guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At a 2018 ceremonial inspection of the Swedish Military, a reporter shouted out ”What does your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?” and without blinking he simply answered ”The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing![[note]](Military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme in Swedish as in English)[[/note]]”

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "''kung''", the Swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified.[[note]]He suffers from [[LIsForDyslexia serious dyslexia]], as does the crown princess.[[/note]] We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!")... Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble and kind of harmless guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At a 2018 ceremonial inspection of the Swedish Military, a reporter shouted out ”What does your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?” and without blinking he simply answered ”The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing![[note]](Military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme in Swedish as in english)[[/note]]”

A complicated figure, he managed to stage a revolution, restoring royal power and ending the Age of Liberty, and gave military support to the coalition of monarchies that tried to beat back UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution and place UsefulNotes/LouisXVI back on the throne. He was also fond of theatre and the arts, founding the Swedish Academy and sponsoring the great writers of his time including Music/CarlMichaelBellman.

A complicated figure, he managed to stage a revolution, restoring royal power and ending the Age of Liberty. He was fond of theatre and the arts, founding the Swedish Academy and sponsoring the great writers of his time including Music/CarlMichaelBellman.

He was eventually shot during a masquerade ball as part of a conspiracy involving disaffected nobility, and succumbed to his wounds thirteen days later. Conspiracy theories have been made surrounding his assassination, usually surrounding his brother (who acted rather suspiciously), but sometimes bringing in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

Charles never learned how to speak Swedish (which he himself was sorry for) and [[NotAMorningPerson spent a good deal of his reign ruling from his bedchamber because he felt it was too cold to get up]]. Being the most notable of the union kings of Sweden and Norway, he features in a number of poems written by Creator/HenrikWergeland, usually because of his revolutionary role, and because he [[ThrowTheDogABone actually gave Wergeland a steady job]]. His son Oscar I is also granted at least one poem by Henrik Wergeland.

Charles never learned how to speak Swedish (which he himself was sorry for) and [[NotAMorningPerson spent a good deal of his reign ruling from his bedchamber because he felt it was too cold to get up]]. Being the most notable of the union kings of Sweden and Norway, he features in a number of poems written by Creator/HenrikWergeland, usually because of his revolutionary role, and because he [[ThrowTheDogABone actually gave Wergeland a steady job]].

His relationship with Norway was shaky at best, conflicted at worst. The fact that he never forgave Norway for electing Danish prince Christian Frederik over him, nagged him to the point that he actually forbid the celebrations of May 17 (Norwegian constitution day). When the Norwegians decided to celebrate it anyway, it nearly came to blows, and the king had to give in, for the sake of a stable union. He also called in the army a couple of times when the Norwegian parliament opposed him. His son Oscar I is also granted at least one poem by Henrik Wergeland.

He was eventually assassinated during a masquerade ball. Conspiracy theories have been made surrounding the affair, usually surrounding his brother (who acted rather suspiciously) but sometimes bringing in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

'''Parents:''' ''Prince'' Gustaf Adolf, ''Duke of Västerbotten'', and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha\\

!Viking Kings

!The Houses of Erik and Sverker

!The House of Bjälbo

!The Kalmar Union

!The House of Vasa

!The House of Palatinate-Zweibrübcken

!The House of Gottorp

!The House of Bernadotte

While Swedish monarchs show up a lot less in media than their [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi French]] or [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily British]] or even German counterparts, they nonetheless occasionally show up in fiction, film and various other kinds of media. UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} is one of the oldest surviving monarchies in Europe, along with Britain, Denmark and the Papacy. The oldest verifiable Swedish king reigned at some point during the last half of the 10th century.

In his younger, more sane, days he was one of the suitors of [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen Elizabeth]] of England.

The most infamous of the union kings, both due to propaganda from his successor and his own murderous actions, which have caused some to label him as a schizophrenic. After a complicated set of turns (involving several different Swedish families with the same name, and the king's father and grandfather, as well as a pretty nifty statue of Saint George) Christian II had managed to (somewhat) assume control over the kingdom of Sweden. He then did what any renaissance prince would: He invited his enemies to a party promising them amnesty for all crimes against the crown, then [[ExactWords accused them]] of [[TheHeretic heresy]] for having deposed a bishop who was an ally of him, and [[NastyParty had them all publicly executed]] (all except one bishop who had the foresight to affix a note proclaiming his innocence to his seal when signing said deposition). The so-called Stockholm Bloodbath predictably lead to yet another uprising, led by the son of one the executed noblemen (see below).

In later years a story emerged in Sweden [[AHeroToHisHometown that he was known as "Christian the Good" in Denmark]]. [[SubvertedTrope This, however, isn't actually true]]. The Danes never game him any epithet and just call him "Christian II."

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/erik_overselo.gif]]

Being highly respected, and seen as both intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

A constitutional change in the 70s made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made \ Crown Princess Victoria the heir to thr throne. Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she matures and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner, but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568, and back then it was mostly seen as a sign that he was utterly and completely insane (and he admittedly was, but this probably wasn't related to that). Being highly respected, and seen as both intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

Due to the untimely death of his father, Prince Gustaf Adolf, in a plane crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustaf became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/note]]. A constitutional change in the 70s made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria.

His eldest daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she has become an adult and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner, but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568, and back then it was mostly seen as a sign that he was utterly and completely insane (and he admittedly was, but this probably wasn't related to that). Being highly respected, and seen as both intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

He was eventually assassinated during a masquerade ball. Conspiracy theories are usually involved, mostly surrounding his brother (who acted rather suspiciously) but sometimes bringing in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

The last king to wield any political power, Gustav reigned through both World Wars. Despite being personally very conservative and prone to meddle in politics, [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he helped back the introduction of universal suffrage and constitutional monarchy]] after [[OhCrap seeing the Russians did to the Tsar]].

Probably the Swedish king that appears the most in media: At least two or three television dramas have been created about the king, and an innumerable amount about his contemporaries. A complicated figure, he managed to stage a revolution, restoring royal power and ending the Age of Liberty. He was fond of theatre and the arts, founding the Swedish Academy and sponsoring the great writers of his time including Music/CarlMichaelBellman, and was eventually assassinated during a masquerade ball. Conspiracy theories are usually involved, mostly including his brother (who acted remarkably suspiciously) but sometimes tying in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

Ascended to the throne at only 15, had a biography written by Creator/{{Voltaire}}. He spent his entire reign fighting: Poland, Denmark and Russia (See UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar). The war went well for him at first, but eventually the Russian Tsar beat him by utilising scorched earth tactics and the cold Russian winter, which led to his defeat and the end of Sweden's period as a Great Power. His death at the siege of Fredrikshald is somewhat of a [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Stock Unsolved Mystery]], with people arguing whether he was killed by a Norwegian soldier, a war-weary Swede, or an agent of his brother-in-law, Frederick, who went on to be Frederick I of Sweden. Among the weirder theories is the one that he was shot with a button [[ImmuneToBullets due to the rumours that said he was immune to regular bullets]]. A relatively common subject for novels and other stories.