Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden

Biography

Gustaf Adolf was born at Stockholm Palace in 1882, the eldest son of the future Gustaf V and Victoria of Baden. He became crown prince when his grandfather Oscar II died in 1907 and held that position for almost 43 years. He married Princess Margaret of Connaught in 1905; after her death in 1920 he married Lady Louise Mountbatten in 1923.

He succeeded his father on 29 October 1950 at the age of 67 and took 'Duty before all' as his motto. As king he generally kept to a ceremonial role and acted on ministers' advice; his main personal intervention came in the 1957 government crisis, when after trying to form a centre-right coalition he appointed a Social Democratic minority government. Shortly before his death he approved the new Instrument of Government that removed the monarchy's remaining political powers from 1975.

Throughout his life he was a serious amateur archaeologist, taking part in excavations in China, Greece, Korea and Italy and founding the Swedish Institute in Rome, and he was a recognised authority on Chinese art and on rhododendrons, which he grew at Sofiero. He also led the Swedish Olympic Committee and the Swedish Sports Confederation until 1933. He died in Helsingborg in 1973 and was succeeded by his grandson Carl XVI Gustaf.