Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Victoria Ingrid Alice Desirée (born July 14, 1977), Duchess of Westrogothia, is the heir apparent of Sweden, being the first-born child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and his commoner Queen Silvia. She was born a Princess, however constitutional reform, reportedly enacted over the objections of her father, created her crown princess and heir apparent on January 1, 1980. She is a descendant of Napoleon's marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who was adopted by the childless Swedish king Charles XIII and made his heir, and of Napoleon's former lover, Desirée Clary, who married Bernadotte. She is also a direct descendant of Napoleon's wife, the Empress Joséphine, whose granddaughter married Bernadotte's son, King Oscar I. On her mother's side, the Crown Princess is part Brazilian and part German.

The old principle of agnatic primogeniture, which meant that the throne was inherited by the eldest male child of the preceding monarch, was replaced by the principle of full cognatic primogeniture. This meant that the throne would be inherited by the eldest child without regard to sex, and Sweden was the first country to adopt it.

As a Princess, and as heir to the throne, Victoria is prohibited by the Swedish constitution from becoming the regent and head of another state, either by election, succession or marriage, unless approval is granted by the King and the Parliament, by forfeit of all rights of succession for herself and her heirs.

Victoria attended a state elementary school and a state gymnasium (secondary school) in Stockholm, from which she graduated in 1996. Afterwards, she has studied for a year at Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France, and for two years at Yale University in United States. She has also spent considerable time studying and following the work of the Swedish government at the local, national and EU levels, as well as familiarizing herself with the Swedish economy. She also has been an advocate and spokesperson for anorexia nervosa, a starving sickness she suffered from for several years.

In addition to her studies, Victoria has worked as a trainee at the United Nations in New York and at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, DC, and she has also served three weeks in the Swedish army. She has increasingly often participated in official state visits and other responsibilities in preparation for her role as the head of state.

Victoria's namesday on March 12 and her birthday on July 14 are official flag days in Sweden.

See also: King of Sweden, Constitution of Sweden, Politics of Sweden, Swedish Royal Family