Ever since 1818, the members of the House of Bernadotte have been the Swedish royal family, but a lot has changed between 1818 and today.

First of all, we need to be aware that there’s a difference between the royal family and the royal house. The royal house is those who are closest related to the King of Sweden, the members of the royal house have royal duties which they need to do, while the royal family are just related to the king and the royal house but do not have any royal duties.

The current members of the royal house are; the King of Sweden and his wife Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria (firstborn child of the King) and her husband Prince Daniel and their children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, Prince Carl Philip (the second-born child of the King) and his wife Princess Sofia but not their children, Princess Madeleine (the youngest child of the King) but not her husband nor children, and Princess Birgitta (the second sister of the King).
In the royal family, we also have Prince Alexander (child to Prince Carl Philip & Princess Sofia), Prince Gabriel (child to Prince Carl Philip & Princess Sofia), Prince Julian (child to Prince Carl Philip & Princess Sofia), Princess Leonore (child to Princess Madeleine and her husband Christopher O’Neill), Prince Nicolas (child to Princess Madeleine and her husband Christopher O’Neill), Princess Adrienne (child to Princess Madeleine and her husband Christopher O’Neill), Princess Margaretha (the first sister of the King), Princess Désirée (the third sister of the King), Princess Christina (the fourth sister of the King) and Marianne Bernadotte (the widow of the King’s uncle).

The King or Queen is the head of state and is the foremost representative of Sweden when meeting other countries’ heads of state. The King or Queen is also the head of the special cabinet council which is held when there’s a new government and also the head of the information council which consist of members of the government who is informing the head of state about the current situation in Sweden. Furthermore, the head of state also needs to open the parliament each year and is also chairman of the advisory council on foreign affairs.

According to the Swedish constitution, the head of state has immunity from prosecution which means the King or Queen can not be convicted of any crime. However, the immunity is somewhat regulated which means the head of state can be convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression crimes and can be convicted in International Criminal Court. It’s also written in the Swedish constitution that the King or Queen needs to be of Christian belief, which means the head of state could not be atheist nor believe in any other religion.

What the future might hold for the Swedish royal family is a bit hard to say. What we know for sure is that Crown Princess Victoria will be the Queen of Sweden once her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, either abdicates the throne or passes away. We have also seen that more and more people seem to be sceptical of the royal family and their purpose, so the question is; will Sweden remain a monarchy or will it eventually become a republic? That’s a question only time can tell. What do you believe? Let me know in the comment section!