Queen Silvia of Sweden - Marriage

Marriage

During the 1972 Summer Olympics, Silvia Sommerlath met Crown Prince Carl Gustav. In a later interview, the King explained how it just "clicked" when they met.

After the death of King Gustaf VI Adolf on 15 September 1973, Carl XVI Gustav succeeded to the throne.

He and Silvia announced their engagement on 12 March 1976 and were married three months later, on 19 June in Stockholm Cathedral ("Storkyrkan Cathedral") in Stockholm. It was the first marriage of a reigning Swedish monarch since 1797. If he had married Silvia during the reign of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, he would have lost his position as heir-apparent to the Swedish throne. This was due to the inflexibility of his grandfather, who believed that royalty must marry royalty. This was also the reason why Carl Gustav's uncle, Prince Bertil, did not marry until after Gustaf VI Adolf's death. (Bertil was second-in-line to the throne until his nephew produced an heir, and was therefore unable to marry the Welsh commoner, now his widow, Princess Lilian, with whom he had been in love for decades, until 1976.)

In celebration of the forthcoming wedding of the King and the soon-to-be-Queen, Silvia, the internationally famous pop group ABBA performed the song Dancing Queen on Swedish television the night before the ceremony, although the song was not actually written for Queen Silvia.

The King and Queen of Sweden have three children.

• Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée, Duchess of Västergötland, born on 14 July 1977. She was married on 19 June 2010 to Daniel Westling, who was born on 15 September 1973 (the same day that Carl Gustav ascended to the Swedish throne). The wedding took place on her parents' 34th wedding anniversary.
• His Royal Highness Prince Carl Philip Edmund Bertil, Duke of Värmland, born on 13 May 1979.
• Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, born on 10 June 1982.