Editing Gustav IV Adolf (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Gustav III & Sophia Magdelene.jpg|thumb|left|Gustav Adolf's parents, King Gustav III and Queen Sophia Magdalena]]
[[File:Gustav Adolf Vierte Schweden Kind.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Gustav Adolf at the age of 7.]]
Gustav Adolf was born in [[Stockholm]] on 1 November 1778 as the son of [[Gustav III]] and queen [[Sophia Magdalena of Denmark|Sophia Magdalena]]. His mother was the eldest daughter of [[Frederick V of Denmark]] and [[Louise of Great Britain]].

Gustav Adolf was under the tutelage of [[Hedvig Sofia von Rosen]] and her deputies Brita Ebba Celestina von Stauden and [[Maria Aurora Uggla]] until the age of 4. He was then raised under the tutelage of his father and the liberal-minded Nils von Rosenstein. Upon Gustav III's assassination in March 1792, Gustav Adolf succeeded to the throne at the age of 13, under the regency of his uncle, [[Charles XIII|Prince Charles, Duke of Södermanland]], who was later to become King Charles XIII when his nephew was forced to abdicate and was banished from the country in 1809.

In August 1796, his uncle the regent arranged for the young king to visit [[Saint Petersburg]]. The intention was to arrange a marriage between the young king and [[Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia|Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna]], a granddaughter of [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine the Great]]. However, the whole arrangement foundered on Gustav Adolf's unwavering refusal to allow his intended bride liberty of worship according to the rites of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Nobody seems to have suspected the possibility at the time that emotional problems might lie at the root of Gustav Adolf's abnormal piety. On the contrary, when he came of age that year, thereby ending the regency, there were many who prematurely congratulated themselves on the fact that Sweden had now no disturbing genius, but an economical, God-fearing, commonplace monarch.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}