Carlos Gustavo of Sweden lost his father when he was only nine months old and was raised by his grandfather, King Gustavo VI Adolfo. In 1973 he became Europe's youngest king, a burden that initially made his first years on the throne difficult. Today he is the longest-lived Swedish monarch.
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (born Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus Bernadotte) became heir to the throne of his country at just four years old and king at 27, in 1973, when his paternal grandfather, King Gustav VI Adolf, died on 15 September. He is the longest-lived Swedish king. He held the title of Duke of Jämtland from his birth until he accedes to the throne.
He was born on April 30, 1946 in the Haga Palace. He was the only son and the youngest son – he had four older sisters – of the then heirs to the throne, Prince Gustavus Adolphus, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibyl of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Gustav V of Sweden reigned first and his great-grandfather, later Gustav VI Adolf, his grandfather. They were years of stability after the turbulent times of the World War and the postwar period.
However, fate put the Swedish royal family to the test and, with it, the life of Prince Carl Gustaf, a baby of just nine months. Prince Gustavus Adolphus Oscar Frederick of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, second in line to the throne, lost his life in a tragic plane crash while returning from a trip to Denmark.
Carlos XVI Gustavo of Sweden: a life marked by the tragic fatal accident of his father
His father was Gustavo VI Adolfo of Sweden and his mother, Victoria of Baden and gave rise to some scandals due to his relationship with Nazism, always denied by the Swedish crown. The other 21 passengers died along with him, at the Kastrup airport, on January 26, 1947. He was returning after having participated in a hunting party with Princess Juliana and her husband Bernardo, in Holland. He was barely 40 years old.
As revealed years later, the accident was due to human negligence, because all the mechanics were not well-checked before taking off. In the castle of Haga, where the prince resided with his family, his wife, and his five children waited all night for the arrival of their father and it was at dawn that they received the news. Gustavus Adolphus was identified by the Swedish ambassador in Copenhagen and was buried on February 4 in the Royal Cemetery in Haga Park.
Before flying he had bought gifts for his wife and his children. The ceremony was silent. From that moment on, no one else would ever pronounce the name of the deceased prince in front of his children, especially Carlos Gustavo. The late prince had gone through a similar trauma, when his mother, Margaret of Connaught, died at the age of 38, eight months pregnant.
Gustavo Adolfo mastered horsemanship, a sport with which he won several competitions, including jumping, obstacle course, and dressage. He was part of the Swedish team at the 1936 Olympic Games, although his horse was disqualified. He was also a great practitioner of fencing, skiing, and shooting. Music lover, he enjoyed life outdoors and was fond of horticulture and gardening, a hobby he had inherited from his mother.
The tragedy had as a consequence that Princess Sibila of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, mother of Carlos Gustavo, locked herself in silence. Carlos Gustavo grew up without a father, but also without memories of him because she could not meet him. He never spoke about it, but he did acknowledge, in an interview in 2019, that his sudden absence served to be very close to his sisters and his family and that one of his concerns has always been to see his grandchildren grow up happily, in an environment that as normal as possible.
Carlos Gustavo, the youngest king in the world, and a wedding with a commoner
The family tragedy changed the line of succession: after the death of his great-grandfather, King Gustav V, in 1950, and the enthronement of his grandfather Gustav Adolf VI, the current Swedish king became heir apparent. He was just four years old.
Gustavo Adolfo VI, a disciplined and dour man, reigned for two decades, and Carlos Gustavo, who was just 27 when he succeeded him in 1973, grew up in his shadow. So the current Swedish monarch was the youngest in the world, and he did not feel prepared. During his first years, he received numerous criticisms in the media: he was seen as an untrained king, who liked living life more than the throne.
However, the training he had received with his grandfather had been much more intense than it might seem. Carlos Gustavo studied for two and a half years in the Land, Sea, and Air Forces, and was also trained in Economics, History, Political Science, Law, and Sociology at the universities of Uppsala and Stockholm.
He was dyslexic, like his children Victoria and Carlos Felipe, and he always had to work twice as hard in his speeches. He spent time at the UN and worked at a London bank. But he became a popular playboy who loved parties, and sports cars, although he was shy in character, but with a great sense of humor. But he felt insecure.
Things changed for the young king when he met the German of Brazilian origin, Silvia Sommerlath, in 1972, at the Munich Olympic Games, where she worked as a hostess and interpreter. They married in 1976. At the time of their wedding, Carlos Gustavo had been on the throne for three years and it was rare for a king of his age to be single.
However, Gustavo and Silvia had to wait for the king to ascend to the throne after the death of his grandfather, to get married. Gustav VI Adolfo would not have admitted that a commoner was the next queen of Sweden.
Carlos Gustavo, Silvia from Sweden, and the Shadow of Infidelity
The Swedish monarchy has been modernized in these years and has tried not to be burdensome for the State. Since 2019, only the king and queen consort, and the crown princess and her husband, Daniel, have received public money. His other children and grandchildren retain their titles but do not live off the crown.
Carlos Gustavo, however, has had to face, during all these years, various scandals, especially related to his private life and his alleged infidelity to Queen Silvia. But both he and his wife have carried on with dignity, despite the rumors.
When he accedes to the throne, Princess Victoria will be the first queen of the country in more than 300 years of history, thanks to the reform of the Salic Law, which Carlos Gustavo criticized a few weeks ago, before asking for forgiveness.
