Editing Monarchy of Sweden (section)

== Royal Family ==
{{Swedish Royal Family}}
{{Main|Swedish royal family}}

The Swedish royal family is, according to the [[Royal Court of Sweden|Royal Court]], currently categorized into three groups; 
* first, those with royal titles and [[style (manner of address)]] who perform official and unofficial engagements for the nation, are the members of the Royal Family ({{langx|sv|Kungafamiljen}}) (currently this category only includes the King, Queen and their descendants, including spouses);<ref name="Möt Kungafamiljen"/>
* second, those with royal titles and style (manner of address) who perform no official engagements ({{langx|sv|Kungliga Huset}}, usually stylized with the shortform ''Kungl. Huset'');<ref name="Möt Kungafamiljen"/> 
* and third, the extended family of the King ({{langx|sv|Kungliga Familjens övriga medlemmar}}, usually stylized with the shortform ''Kungl. Familjens övriga medlemmar'') which is other close relatives who are not dynasts and thus do not represent the country officially.<ref name="Möt Kungafamiljen">{{cite web|url=http://www.kungahuset.se/kungafamiljen.4.1c3432a100d8991c5b80002606.html|title=Möt Kungafamiljen|publisher=[[Royal Court of Sweden]]|language=sv|access-date=2014-11-23|archive-date=7 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507022020/http://www.kungahuset.se/kungafamiljen.4.1c3432a100d8991c5b80002606.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, in any case, there is no legislation or other public document which delineates the rules of membership in either the Royal House or Royal Family, as it is left to the sole discretion of the King.

=== The line of succession ===
{{Main|Succession to the Swedish throne}}
[[File:Vasaorden 3.JPG|thumb|The royal barge ''Vasaorden'', last used at the [[Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling|2010 royal wedding]]]]

The [[Swedish Act of Succession|Act of Succession of 1810]] provides the rules governing the [[Line of succession to the Swedish throne|line of succession]] and designates the legitimate heirs to the Swedish Throne; it also states in [[:wikisource:Act of Succession of Sweden|article 4]] that the Monarch and dynastic members of the Royal House must at all times be a [[Protestantism|Protestant Christian]] of the ''pure evangelical faith'' (by implication the [[Church of Sweden]]).<ref name="The Act of Succession">{{cite web|url=http://www.riksdagen.se/en/How-the-Riksdag-works/Democracy/The-Constitution/The-Act-of-Succession/|title=The Act of Succession|publisher=The [[Riksdag]]|access-date=2014-10-24|archive-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024144000/http://www.riksdagen.se/en/How-the-Riksdag-works/Democracy/The-Constitution/The-Act-of-Succession/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Nergelius:42-44">[[#Nergelius|Nergelius]]: pp. 42–44.</ref>

A rewrite of the Act, entering into force in 1980, fundamentally changed the rules of succession from [[agnatic primogeniture]] to [[absolute primogeniture]].<ref name="Nergelius:42-44" /> This allowed for the crown to pass to the eldest child regardless of gender and thus [[Ex post facto law|retroactively]] installed Princess Victoria as crown princess over her younger brother, [[Prince Carl Philip]], who had been born as crown prince a few months before.

In its present reading, Article 1 of the Act of Succession limits the potential number of claimants to the throne, so that only the descendants of Carl XVI Gustaf can inherit the Throne.<ref name="Nergelius:42-44" /><ref name="AOS:1">See [[#AOS|Act of Succession, Article 1]].</ref> If the royal house were to be extinct, the [[Riksdag]] is not obligated to elect a new royal house, as it once was up until the constitutional reforms of the 1970s.<ref name="Nergelius:42" />