OT: Gustavs and Adolfs

[Martin Olsen]

Olaf:

> And, correct me if I'm wrong, as Swedish
> monarchy has never been one of my favourite
> subjects, but... if he was king from 1950
> to 1973, wouldn't that mean he was given
> that name _long before_ WW2?

Sigvald:

> Yes, but with kings it doesn't work just like that. Our next king can freely
> choose if he will be called "Haakon VIII" or "Haakon VIII Magnus", so that
> Swedish king could in 1950 freely have chosen to be called Gusav 6 without
> using the Adolf name. He chose to use it - well OK a name is just a name I
> guess, but I doubt that could have happened in Norway or in Denmark.


Well, I won't claim to be able to read the mind of the late King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden, especially since he has been dead for three decades, but I do know a few historical facts.

Gustav VI Adolf was born on November 11, 1882, so he had his Adolf several years before Adolf Hitler, who was born on April 20, 1889. 
When Gustav Adolf became king of Sweden in 1950, he was actually of retirement age. His father, Gustav V, died 13 days before Gustav Adolf's 68th birthday.

I can think of at least two good reasons why Gustav Adolf chose Gustav VI Adolf for his name as a monarch:
One is that his immediate predecessor was Gustav V - so a name other than just Gustav VI would make it easier to distinguish the two.
Another is that earlier Swedish kings had chosen likewise:  
Gustav II Adolf (king 1611-1632), Gustav IV Adolf (king 1792-1809)
The odd-numbered Gustavs were Gustav I Vasa (king 1523-1560), Gustav III (king 1771-1792), and Gustav V (king 1907-1950).
Apparently, in 1792 Gustav IV Adolf was in a situation similar to Gustav VI Adolf's: He succeeded his father on the throne, the fathers being named Gustav III, Gustav V, respectively.

It is noteworthy that the kings Karl X Gustav and Carl XVI Gustav do not count in the Gustav-numbering.

Another thing to bear in mind when you try to "understand" Gustav VI Adolf's choice of his royal name is the fact that his eldest son, who was also named Gustav Adolf, the father of the current king of Sweden, was killed in an airplane accident at Copenhagen Airport in 1947. Thus, he may have chosen the name not only because it *was* his name, and not only to be readily distinguished from his father, but also in remembrance of his late son.


To Sigvald: 

If and when your crown prince Haakon Magnus becomes king of Norway he has other choices than the two you mention. 
One simple observation is that he may choose to name himself Magnus VII (or VIII?) (According to http://home.online.no/~olhov/norge.html the latest Magnus was Magnus VI (king 1319-1355), but I found the previous Magnus numbered as Magnus VI Lagabøte (king 1263-1280) in another source.)
Another possibility is Haakon Magnus I, just like some 20th century popes chose Johannes (John) Paul I and Johannes (John) Paul II as their names despite the fact that there had been 23 popes called Johannes (John) and 6 popes called Paul before them.

When Haakon VII became king of Norway in 1905 he chose the name Haakon, but his given name was prince Carl of Denmark - or to be precise: Prince Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel of Denmark
Of course, Prince Carl chose the name Haakon as a homage to the ancient Norwegian kings, and his son, who was born as Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik of Denmark, was at the same time given the name Olav. He later became king Olav V.

There is no reason to believe that Haakon Magnus will choose any other name as a king than one or both of the names he is known by, but in the end I believe it's his choice, and if he really has a free choice, he just might choose to call himself King Scrooge the First.

Of course I'd better stop this off course nonsense and get back on course.

Martin.