Forty years a king

Today is the jubilee of the King of Sweden.  Carl XVI Gustaf became king on September 15th 1973 on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf.  The old king, who was almost 91 when he died, had been the oldest heir to the throne in Europe when he became king in 1950.  When his grandson took the throne, he was the youngest monarch in the continent.  He took the motto 'For Sweden, with the times' and he has lived up to it.  He was the first monarch to bring in rules that allowed the crown to pass to the eldest child, regardless of their gender.  And in so doing, he became probably the only king in history to take succession rights away from a son and hand them to an older daughter.  Forty years on, he is still setting the pace on modernity - he is the only European monarch to have his dynasty guaranteed with two queen regnants to come.  Carl XVI Gustaf really has moved with the times.

Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, acceded to the throne September 15th 1973