Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus was born 30 April 1946, the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His father died in a plane crash in Denmark when Carl Gustaf was nine months old. At four, when his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf took the throne in 1950, he became crown prince. He acceded 15 September 1973, and shortly after, the new Instrument of Government formalized what was already underway: no more appointing prime ministers, no more signing laws, no commander role - the monarchy now explicitly ceremonial. In June 1976 he married Silvia Sommerlath; they have three children. A 1980 law establishing absolute primogeniture made his eldest, Victoria, heir apparent, bumping her younger brother Carl Philip, who'd held the title since birth the year before.