Posted by Marlene on 1/5/2008, 16:09:11, in reply to "Sibling rivalry?"
8.15.250.124
I would doubt that Carl Philip would have been aware of the situation .. he was probably blowing bubbles and having his diaper changed with the law was promulgated.
--Previous Message--
: --Previous Message--
:
: The king would prefer that the new rules
: were applied from the next generation
: onwards, without changing the rights and
: status of his living children. In other
: words, the law should not have been applied
: retroactively, so that the heir apparent was
: not "downgraded" in favour of his
: sister,
:
: As I posted below, my understanding is that
: Parliament began moves to change the
: succession law to absolute primogeniture
: even before the marriage of King Carl XVI
: Gustaf and the birth of Victoria. His
: Majesty must certainly have been aware of
: what was going on -- and from the beginning
: countenanced (however much he found the idea
: displeasing) the possibility of his daughter
: becoming heiress apparent to the throne.
:
: As has been explained: the procedure for
: amending the Constitution was a rather long
: and dragged out process, taking several
: years -- by which time the princess got a
: brother. But the first vote in Parliament
: had already been passed, by the time Prince
: Carl Philip was born. So most politicians
: saw fit to apply the new law retroactively
: -- since moves had been made from the
: beginning with the mind to apply it to the
: present king's children.
:
: Everybody knew that the consequences of a
: retroactively applying the new succession
: law would be mostly theoretical -- not
: practical. Carl Philip, after all, was only
: an infant at the time of the change: as
: such, he did not grow up with the
: expectation of inheriting the throne. The
: situation was vastly different in Norway --
: where Crown Prince Haakon Magnus was already
: 17 years old, by the time the constitutional
: amendment got finally passed by Parliament
: (my understanding is that the procedure
: there was also a rather long and dragged out
: affair). Like his father (the present King
: Harald V), he grew up thinking of himself as
: a direct heir to the throne.
:
: creating the potential for hard
: resentment and terrible relationship within
: the family for the years to come. Luckily,
: at least, this seems not to have been the
: case.
:
: I've heard this explanation, too -- that in
: fact, Queen Silvia also (for the same
: reason) had initial doubts and reservations
: about the change (although she appears to
: have warmed to it much earlier than her
: husband).
:
: Of course, one could argue that there would
: have been potential for discord, either way.
: For in theory, the Swedish Parliament could
: have gone in the way of the Norwegian -- by
: postponing implementation of the new law for
: one generation (and granting the sisters of
: Prince Carl Philip succession rights behind
: their brother). Even so, once the children
: grew up, they would find out about all the
: machinations and political maneuverings
: surrounding the succession issue, around the
: times of their births -- and it could have
: been Victoria who came to resent her brother
: ("Had Parliament only acted much sooner
: to change the succession law, I would be
: heiress apparent today -- as you would not
: have been born crown prince. The issue of
: retroactive or postponed implementation
: would never have become relevant, and you
: simply would have been born behind me in the
: succession").
:
: As it was, Parliament had the final say
: (after all, Sweden is first and foremost a
: democracy, where the monarchy exists at the
: will of the people -- is it not?). And it's
: quite fortunate that the results have not
: been the disaster that the king and queen
: initially feared. By all accounts, their
: three children enjoy a wonderfully close
: relationship -- and Prince Carl Philip does
: not appear to resent his position as second
: in line to the throne (at least he hasn't
: complained openly in public about it).
:
: Even King Carl XVI Gustaf appears resigned
: to the situation -- seeing how popular Crown
: Princess Victoria is, and how well she is
: performing her royal duties. So in
: retrospect, with the benefit of hindsight,
: one can all say that Parliament did the
: right thing at the time.
:
: On a side note: someone explained to me that
: in today's world, most royals would actually
: prefer NOT to be the heir. Victoria,
: Frederik, and Willem-Alexander, for
: instance, have all had to struggle with
: their destinies (perhaps the Swedish crown
: princess actually secretly wishes that
: Parliament postponed implementation of the
: new law, as did the Norwegian. The Danish
: heir is rumored to have once contemplated
: suicide! And even the Dutch heir has
: appeared awkward and ill at ease in his
: position: certainly he has a tough act to
: follow, after his mother and grandmother).
:
: By contrast, minor cadet princes are said to
: enjoy their positions. It has, in fact,
: been said to be the best of both worlds: you
: get to enjoy all the privileges of a high
: status -- while at the same time not being
: subject to the pressures of a sovereign or
: heir.
:
:
