Powerless and Popular -
The Monarchy is Thriving

TEXT: ELIZABETH PRECHT
PHOTOS: CHARLES HAMMARSTEN /©IBL

The late King Farooq of Egypt is once reported to have quipped that very soon the world would have five monarchs only—the king of spades, the king of hearts, the king of diamonds, the king of clubs and finally, the king of England. This dire prediction has certainly not come true in Sweden, where the constitutional monarchy continues to enjoy a large measure of support and acceptance among the Swedish people.
On the occasion of the 60th birthday of King Carl XVI Gustaf, Swedish Bulletin has asked Elizabeth Precht to take a look at Sweden’s monarchy. We would like to extend our best wishes for good health and happiness to His Majesty.

Most Swedes believe that the monarchy does a good job in representing and uniting the country.
      “The Royal family accepted and embraced Sweden’s transition to democracy. That’s the reason we still have a monarch”, explains historian Dick Harrison at Lund’s University.
     The Swedish monarchy survived - unlike monarchies in Russia, Italy, and Greece, for example. “The King accepted having only a symbolic function,” says Mr. Harrison. To be head of state stripped of actual power.
     Today, King Carl XVI Gustaf is a popular monarch. In the 1970s, explains Mr. Harrison, as the Swedes realized that the king did well in representing and uniting his country, the king’s popularity started to grow. “These days the monarchy is accepted in all political camps,” claims Mr. Harrison, pointing to the fact that Nalin Pekgul, the leader of the National Federation of Social Democratic Women, is a monarchist.
     Though, listening to other Social Democrats, this is not always the case. “Inheriting the position as head of the state is strictly speaking incompatible with democracy,” wrote Member of Parliament Louise Malmström earlier this year. Advocating the introduction of a republic, Ms. Malmström believes that “there is no sensible significance” [for keeping the monarchy].
     Her view echoes the Social Democratic Party platform (adopted in November 2001): “…the Social Democrats are also committed to abolishing the hereditary principle of the monarchy, to be replaced with a republic, where the head of state is directly or indirectly elected by the people.” Basically, the Left party (Vänstern) as well as the Green (Miljöpartiet de gröna) hold the same view.
     Most critics agree that only a minority of the Swedes would prefer to have an elected president instead of a king or queen and a royal family. “No more than 15-16 percent of Swedes would rather have a republic”, Dick Harrison estimates.
     The monarchy is regulated in the Act of Succession in the Swedish Constitution, adopted 1810 when the French marshal Bernadotte was named heir to the Swedish throne. In the act it is stated that the King’s duties are mainly of a ceremonial and representative nature. As head of state the monarch opens the new session of the parliament (riksdagen) every fall. In addition he or she is regularly informed of foreign affairs and chairs the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. The act specifies that the monarch and the royal family must belong to the “pure evangelical faith”, i.e. the Church of Sweden.
     The order in which the descendants of a monarch shall succeed to the throne is determined in the Act of Succession. Under the Act of Succession, until 1979, female descendants of the monarch could ascend to the Swedish throne only if there was no male issue. The law was amended in 1979 so that the firstborn - male or female - has precedence to the throne.
     The Swedish monarch is not supposed to voice any opinions regarding politics, and most of the time doesn’t. An exception occurred during a state visit to Brunei a few years back when King Carl Gustaf stated that the Sultan of Brunei has “an open relation” to his people. As the Swedish government holds the view that civil and political rights are truly restricted in Brunei, the king’s remarks proved divisive and ignited a discussion about monarchy vs. republic.
     December 26, 2004 a tsunami caused heavy loss of life - including many Swedes. The nation was grieving. A memorial ceremony was arranged in Stockholm’s City Hall where King Carl XVI Gustaf gave a moving speech, relating to how he himself at an early age had coped with the loss of his father (who had been killed in a plane crash 1947). He concluded the speech by putting words to the wishes of many: “I wish I was a king in a fairy tale, able to create a happy ending”. But, he said, winning the heart of a captivated audience, “I am no different from all of you. I am only a grieving and searching human being”.