Dukes of Swedish provinces

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In Sweden, Duke (hertig) 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 Halland (Princess Lilian), the widow of Prince Bertil, who was Duke of Halland.

[edit] 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 generally identical to one or more 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 instead, 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 (see Bernadotte af Wisborg).

When the Act of Succession was changed in 1980 and Princess Victoria became Crown Princess, she was also created Duchess of Västergötland. 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.

[edit] List of dukes (since 1772) by province

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