Wedding of Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath

Wedding of Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's dual cypher
Date	19 June 1976
Venue	Storkyrkan
Location	Stockholm, Sweden
Participants	Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden Miss Silvia Sommerlath

The wedding of Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, and Silvia Sommerlath took place on Friday, 19 June 1976 at

Olof Sundby, Archbishop of Uppsala, presided over the Church of Sweden ceremony in Storkyrkan. The ceremony was attended by the bride's and groom's families, as well as members of foreign royal families, diplomats, and various Swedish and German officials.

It was the first marriage of a reigning Swedish monarch since

Engagement

In 1972, then Crown Prince Carl Gustaf attended the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, where interpreter Silvia Sommerlath was charged with escorting him. In a later interview, the King explained how it just "clicked" when they met.^[2] In the subsequent years, Carl Gustaf's mother, Princess Sibylla, died, as did his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, and he, therefore, acceded to the Swedish throne.

On 12 March 1976, King Carl XVI Gustaf announced his engagement to Silvia Sommerlath.^[3] The King presented his fiancée with a single solitaire ring set with a 2-carat diamond. The ring once belonged to his late mother.^{[citation needed]}

The date was set for 19 June. The same date that the future

Pre-wedding celebrations

Sommerlath was unable to join the King for the celebrations of Sweden's National Day on 6 June due to illness. Despite her illness, she was present when the banns of marriage were read the following day in the Royal Chapel.^{[citation needed]}

On 17 June, Sommerlath was given the

The wedding began at 12:00

The bride and groom entered together to Johan Helmich Roman's "Sinfonia de Chiesa". The service included several Swedish hymns. The couple proceeded back down the aisle to "Sinfonia in D major, BWV 1045" by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Attire

The bride wore a silk

The couple had six child attendants: Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern, son of the groom's sister, Princess Birgitta; Master James Ambler, son of the groom's sister, Princess Margaretha; Baroness Hélène Silfverschiöld, daughter of the groom's sister, Princess Désirée; Miss Carmita Sommerlath, daughter of the bride's brother, Ralf Sommerlath; Miss Sophie Sommerlath, daughter of the bride's brother, Walther Sommerlath; and Miss Amelie Middelschulte, daughter of the bride's friend, Beate Middelschulte.^[5]

Guests

Relatives of the groom

• Princess Margaretha, Mrs Ambler, and Mr John Ambler
  , the groom's sister and brother-in-law
  • Miss Sybilla Ambler, the groom's niece
  • Master Edward Ambler, the groom's nephew
  • Master James Ambler, the groom's nephew
• Princess Birgitta and Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern, the groom's sister and brother-in-law
  • Prince Carl Christian of Hohenzollern, the groom's nephew
  • Princess Désirée of Hohenzollern, the groom's niece
  • Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern, the groom's nephew
• Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, and Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld, the groom's sister and brother-in-law
  • Baron Carl Silfverschiöld, the groom's nephew
  • Baroness Christina-Louise Silfverschiöld, the groom's niece
  • Baroness Hélène Silfverschiöld, the groom's niece
• Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson, and Mr Tord Magnuson
  , the groom's sister and brother-in-law
• Count Sigvard and Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg, the groom's paternal uncle and aunt
  • Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg, the groom's first cousin
• Queen Ingrid of Denmark,^[4] the groom's paternal aunt
  • The Queen and Prince Henrik of Denmark,^[4] the groom's first cousin and her husband
  • The Princess and Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, the groom's first cousin and her husband
  • Queen Anne-Marie and King Constantine II of the Hellenes, the groom's first cousin and third cousin
• The Duke of Halland and Mrs Lilian Davies, the groom's paternal uncle and his partner
• Count Carl Johan and Countess Kerstin Bernadotte of Wisborg, the groom's paternal uncle and aunt

Relatives of the bride

• Mr Walther and Mrs Alice Sommerlath, the bride's parents
  • Mr and Mrs Ralf Sommerlath, the bride's brother and sister-in-law
    • Miss Carmita Sommerlath, the bride's niece
  • Mr and Mrs Walther Ludwig Sommerlath, the bride's brother and sister-in-law
    • Miss Sophie Sommerlath, the bride's niece
  • Mr Jörg Sommerlath, the bride's brother
• The Rev. Dr Ernst Sommerlath, the bride's paternal uncle

Foreign royal guests

• The
  Queen of the Belgians
  , the groom's second cousin once removed, and his wife
• Tsarista Margarita of Bulgaria
  , the groom's fourth cousin once removed and his wife
• The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg,^[4] the groom's second cousin once removed and her husband
• Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands,^[4] the groom's third cousin and her husband (representing the Queen of the Netherlands)
• The King of Norway,^[3] the groom's second cousin once removed
  • The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, the groom's third cousin and his wife
• The
  King of Spain
  )
• The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester,^[4] the groom's third cousin and his wife (representing the Queen of the United Kingdom)
• The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the groom's paternal step-granduncle (and second cousin once removed)
• Captain Alexander Ramsay of Mar and the Mistress of Saltoun, the groom's first cousin once removed and his wife

Other heads of state

• Urho Kekkonen, President of the Republic of Finland
• Walter Scheel, Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Mrs Scheel
• Kristján Eldjárn, President of Iceland, and Mrs Eldjárn

Aftermath

Upon marriage, Sommerlath immediately became

The couple honeymooned in Hawaii, Botswana and finally at Solliden Palace in Öland. The wedding boosted the popularity of the monarchy as the public saw the bachelor king settling down.

The couple has three children, Victoria (b. 1977), Carl Philip (b. 1979) and Madeleine (b. 1982), and eight grandchildren. In 2010, their daughter, Victoria, married Daniel Westling on the same date in the same cathedral, becoming the fourth Swedish royal couple to marry on 19 June.

References