The Act of Succession, or Successionsordningen, is a part of the Swedish Constitution. It was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates on September 26, 1810 and it regulates the right of members of the House of Bernadotte to accede to the Swedish throne. The current King of Sweden is Carl XVI Gustaf.

History

The Act of Succession was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates assembled at Örebro in 1810, upon electing Charles XIV (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) as the heir to King Charles XIII. This happened at a tumultous time for Sweden, as only one year earlier the former king, Gustav IV Adolf had been deposed and replaced by his uncle, Charles XIII. At the same time the Finnish War was coming to an end and Finland, then a part of Sweden proper, was held by Russia. The authoritarian constitution of 1772 was abolished and power was returned to parliament by the new Instrument of Government adopted on June 6, 1809.

From 1814 to 1905 the Act of Succession also regulated succession to the Norwegian throne, due to the union of Sweden-Norway.

Provisions

The act specifies that the Monarch and the Royal Family shall belong to the "pure evangelical faith", i.e. the Church of Sweden, and that the royal offspring is to brought up within the realm. The heir to the throne, are not able to marry or embark on foreign travel without consent of the monarch. He or she is also prevented from becoming the head of state in another country, either by election or marriage, without the concent of the monarch and the government, by forfeit of all rights of succession for themselves and their heirs.

Reforms

In 1980 the rule of succession was changed from agnatic to full cognatic primogeniture. This means that the eldest child of the monarch, regardless of sex, is the first in line of succession. This created Victoria, (born 1977) crown princess over her younger brother Prince Carl Philip (born 1979).

At the same time the rights of succession to the throne were restricted to Carl XVI Gustaf and his descendants. However, a special addendum was made for Prince Bertil, Duke of Hallandia, an uncle to the king, so that he became third (and, after the birth of Princess Madeleine in 1982, fourth) in line to the throne.

By 1995, changes in other parts of the constitution, lowered the age of maturity for government from 25 to 18 years, the same age as the civil maturity. This meant that Victoria, at the age of 18 was able to act as a regent, in place of her father when he was out of the country.

See also

• List of Succession to the Swedish throne
• List of Swedish monarchs
• List of Swedish queens
• Dukes of Swedish Provinces

External links

• Successionsordning - at Wikisource (in Swedish)
• Act of Succession - at the Riksdag