Posted by Jane
(JanEl) on 1/5/2008, 1:16:11, in reply to "Re: Succession laws revisited - for the umpteenth time"
71.113.195.84
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: The king had 4 older sisters
: before his parents finally produced an heir
: and it was seen as not of the time to have
: to put the king and queen through a similar
: experience. Especially when their firstborn
: turned out to be a girl as well.
Actually, Parliament began making moves to change the succession law (to absolute primogeniture, no less) even before the king's marriage -- given (as you say) the changing times and attitudes toward women. But you're probably right that the birth of Victoria catapulted the movement.
Like I said: there probably would have been far less pressure to make any changes at all, had Sweden -- like the UK -- simply had a longstanding and consistent tradition of allowing female succession. Male-preferred primogeniture may be somewhat discriminating against women. But certainly there has to be a world of difference between the four sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf having subordinate succession righs to their brother vs. not having any rights to the throne at all. If nothing else, his parents most definitely would have been far less stressed out to produce a male heir.
