Congratulations to HM King Carl XVI Gustaf

Celebrating 44 years and 223 days as the king of Sweden and a birthday, all in the same week. 

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  Photo by Anna-Lena Ahlström/kungahuset.se

• Congratulations to HM King Carl XVI Gustaf! Today, just four days before his 72nd birthday (April 26; the Swedish King was born on April 30, 1946), he celebrates 44 years and 223 days as the King of Sweden, making him the longest ever reigning monarch in Sweden, now exceeding the 44 years and 222 days that King Magnus Ericsson ruled in 1319-1364. Carl XVI Gustaf succeeded his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf on September 15, 1973.

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  The royal couple celebrates King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 40 years on the Swedish throne in 2013. Photo: Bruno Ehrs / Kungahuset

• This falls during the year Sweden’s royal family is recognizing its 200 years of leadership. No other Swedish royal family has ruled so long, and in no other European country has the same branch of the same family under the same name ruled over a free and independent country in peace as long as the Bernadotte family. With the birth of the King and Queen’s seventh grandchild earlier this year, it’s now also the largest royal family.