Do you need clarification from the Swedish royal family? Like most European monarchies, the Bernadotte family has several princes and princesses in its family, many of whom also regularly represent the country at official events.
So, who actually lives in the Royal Palace, Isla Dronke Palace and Haga Palace? Here is a list of the most important members of the Swedish royal family.
King Carl XVI Gustaf
The current monarch and head of the Swedish royal family is King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden – the longest reigning monarch in Swedish history. He was born on April 30, 1946, and ascended the throne in 1973, when he was only 27 years old. The reason for his young age was a family tragedy: his father, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, died in a plane crash when Carl was still an infant. After the death of Carl’s grandfather, a member of the royal family became the second contender for the throne. He trained in the Swedish Navy, Army, and Air Force and achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant.
In 1976, he married Miss Sylvia Sommerlath at Stockholm Cathedral, whom he met at the 1972 Olympic Games. They have three children.
Queen Sylvia
Queen Silvia, formerly known as Silvia Sommerlath, was born on December 23, 1943, in West Germany to a German father and a Brazilian mother. Four years later, her father’s job moved the family to Sao Paulo, Brazil. They returned to Europe in 1957, where she studied translation. In 1972, she found work as a stewardess at the Munich Olympics, where she met Crown Prince Carl Gustaf. They married in 1976.
Crown Princess Victoria
Crown Princess Victoria, the first child of Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf, was not considered heir to the Swedish throne: traditional male primogeniture put her brother Prince Carl ahead of her in the line of succession. She was born in 1979.
She studied at Yale University in New Haven and Uppsala University in Sweden, then worked for a while at the United Nations. In 2009, she announced her engagement to personal trainer Daniel Westling. They were married the following year at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Stockholm. They have two children, Estelle and Oscar.
Prince Daniel
Princess Victoria’s husband grew up in the Swedish town of Åkerbo. After serving in the Swedish military, he moved to Stockholm in 1997 to study fitness. Soon after, he opened his own gym, Master Training, where his clients included Princess Victoria. The two married in 2009.
Princess Esther
Estelle is the eldest daughter of Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. The 12-year-old is second in line of succession to the throne. Currently, she is a student at the Manila campus outside Stockholm and lives with her family at Haga Palace.
Prince Oscar
The second child of Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. The eight-year-old and his sister also attend elementary school in the Manila School District. He occasionally makes public appearances at events such as Sweden’s National Day.
Prince Carl Philip
The second child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. For seven months he was heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as succession laws sometimes favor the eldest son over the eldest son. However, the government soon changed the constitution to allow his sister Victoria to remain second in line to the throne. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
In 2015 he married Sofia Hellqvist. They have three children: Prince Alexander, Prince Gabriel, and Prince Julian.
Princess Sofia
Wife of Prince Carl Philip. At the age of twenty, she was a model and reality TV contestant who starred in the American show Paradise Hotel. She also completed accounting courses in New York and studied to become a yoga instructor.
Unconfirmed rumors suggest she and the prince met at a nightclub. They announced their engagement in 2014 and married a year later. As a working royal, she is known for her work at Sophiahemmet Hospital, even volunteering there during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Princess Madeleine
The third child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. She has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stockholm University. In 2009, she was briefly engaged to Jonas Bergström. However, the couple broke up and a few years later Madeleine married British-born American financier Christopher O’Neill. After the wedding, O’Neill renounced any Swedish titles and citizenship, choosing to remain a regular citizen to continue working. They have three children: Princess Leonore, Prince Nicholas, and Princess Adrienne.
The family has lived in New York, London and Florida. In the summer of 2024, the family returned to Sweden. Although Princess Madeleine has limited participation in royal events, since December 2021 she has been the vice president of her mother’s World Children’s Fund.
