Quote:
Originally Posted by Iva
It's actually a bit of mystery what his name/full name is.  He is officialy styled as HRH Prince Daniel of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland. The royal court talks about Olof Daniel, Pr of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, the swedish version calls him Olof Daniel Westling Bernadotte, Pr of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland. For legal purposes he is called Olof Daniel Bernadotte Westling, with Bernadotte being his middle name and keeping Westling as his last name. But after the wedding it was said that it would be the exact opposite, moving Westling to middle name spot and last name being Bernadotte. So...at least we know that he goes by Daniel.  |
According to Wikipedia (not the most reliable source), he is registered with the Swedish Tax Authority as "Westling Bernadotte", not "Bernadotte Westling", so I'd say that, for legal purposes, it is indeed "Westling Bernadotte" and not the other way around.
The Royal Court website no longer lists his full name. Instead, following the convention of omitting family names for members of the Royal House, he is listed only as "
Olof Daniel, Prins av Sverige, Hertig av Västergötland" and cited simply as "
H.K.H. Prins Daniel".
The legal foundation for his titles of "Prince of Sweden" and "Duke of Västergötland" remains unclear to me though. Unlike his other European counterparts, the King of Sweden, under the Instrument of Government of 1974, doesn't seem to have the power to give titles to anyone, not even members of his own family and there is no official regulation of how the titles are bestowed.
In the past, the title of Prince or Princess in Sweden seemed to be interpreted as a title of the reigning dynasty similar to any title of nobility transmittted in male line. In fact, prior to 1980, any male descendant in male line of King Karl XIV Johan was called an
Sveriges Arvfurste (i.e. a "Hereditary Prince of Sweden"), with the heir to the throne in particular being called the
Sveriges Kronprins ("Crown Prince of Swden"); a female descendant in male line of Kiing Jarl XIV Johan was called in turn an
Sveriges Prinsessa ("Princess of Sweden"). Both the title of
Arvfurste and title of
Prinsessa, with the associated
HRH predicate, could be lost if the title holder violated certain conditions in the Act of Succession. e.g. married unequally; for males in particular, that also meant the loss of succession rights for himself and his descendants, who also became by extension untitled (for females, the penalty was only the title loss , as there were already no succession rights).
With the change in the Act of Succession, the line of succession was restricted to the male and female descendants of King Carl XVI Gustaf only, by order of equal primogeniture. Only possible legal interpretation that is frequently suggested, then, is that all his descendants , who are not excluded from the succession by the situations in the amended law, may now use the new titles of
Prins av Sverige and
Prinsessa av Sverige that replaced the old titles of
Sveriges Arvfurste and Sveriges Prinsessa. However, whereas a wife of a
Prins av Sverige could, by courtesy, be also called a
Prinsessa av Sverige, that is not Daniel's case as his wife is still entitled
Sveriges Kronprinsessa, whereas he is a
Prins av Sverige rather
than Sveriges Kronpris, suggesting a title
suo jure rather than a courtesy title.
Daniel, however, is not in the line of succession to be a
Prins av Sverige in his own right and cannot get the title from the King, as the King has no legal power to grant any title. Should we interpret his title then just as an honorific dynastic title as the Swedish royal duchy titles are now interpreted, in which case the King is able to give the title in his condition as Head of the Royal House ? It is all very confusing to me !
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