Dukes of Swedish Provinces
In
Sweden,
Duke is considered a royal title, and is only given to members of the
Royal House (currently
Bernadotte). The dukedom is always one (in one case two) of the
Provinces of Sweden. Currently, there are three such dukes in their own rights:
The titles are given for life (though not used after accession to the throne), but unlike
e.g. British dukedoms they are not hereditary. Following the standard rule, wives of dukes are also called duchesses. There is one such duchess at the moment, HRH
The Duchess of Hallandia (
Princess Lilian), the widow of
Prince Bertil, who was Duke of
Hallandia.
History
In medieval times, when a king had more than one son, the younger sons were sometimes given a duchy to rule over as a
fief. Feuds between the king and his ducal brothers were common, and sometimes ended in cold-hearted murder.
Just before his death in
1560, King
Gustav I continued this tradition by making his sons
John, Magnus and
Charles powerful dukes, together ruling as much of the country as their older brother King
Eric XIV. The geography of these duchies was somewhat unclear as they were not identical to a number of provinces. John soon became king, and Magnus was an unimportant power due to mental health issues, but Charles's duchy did prosper as a separate country for several decades before acting as a powerful springboard for his aspirations to the throne. It was later inherited by his younger son,
Carl Philip, who died in
1622, the last holder of a Swedish duchy.
In
1772, King
Gustav III reinstated the title, but now as a mere
courtesy title. Ever since then, all Swedish princes have been created dukes of a province at birth (except for one, who became
Grand Duke of Finland in stead, but died young). During the 20th century however, several of them lost their royal titles, including that of duke, because of marriages disapproved of by the king.
When the
Act of Succession was changed in
1980 and Princess
Victoria became Crown Princess, she was also created
Duchess of Westrogothia. Her younger sister
Madeleine was the first princess to be created duchess from birth, and also the first to get duplicate dukedoms (together roughly corresponding to
Gävleborg County). The ducal titles are unregulated in law however, and the issue of which of the children of the three siblings, when born, will be created dukes, remains yet to be officially considered.
Today, the princes are seldom referred to by their dukedoms; while most Swedes do know about them they rather talk about
Crown Princess Victoria,
Prince Carl Philip and
Princess Madeleine. Neither do the dukes ordinarily reside within their dukedoms, however they feel somewhat connected to them and make frequent visits, which can be a means of
public relations for the
County Administrative Boards in question and for local enterprises.
List of dukes (since 1772) by province
Category:Swedish monarchy