Charles XIII of Sweden

Born 7 October 1748, the second son of King Adolf Frederick and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister of Frederick the Great. He spent sixty years as a prince, living through his older brother Gustav III's reign until assassination opened the succession in 1809. He took the throne carrying forward a numbering error: Charles IX had inflated his numeral centuries earlier after reading fake Swedish history, locking every successor into the wrong count. At sixty-five he became Norway's king as well in 1814, reigning there as Charles II. He died 5 February 1818, having ruled both kingdoms from an age when most men retire.