Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden

Located on the dais in the background was the same silver throne on which her father was seated at his enthronement, in actual use from 1650 and up until this ceremony.

As heir apparent to the throne, Victoria is a working member of the Swedish Royal Family with her own agenda of official engagements.

Victoria attends the regular Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs and the information councils with Government ministers headed by the King, and steps in as a temporary regent (Riksföreståndare) when needed.

Victoria has made many official trips abroad as a representative of Sweden.

If she ascends to the throne as expected, she would be Sweden's fourth queen regnant (after Margaret, Christina and Ulrika Eleonora) and the first since 1720.

Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée; born 14 July 1977) is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Victoria was born on 14 July 1977 at 21:45 CET at the Karolinska Hospital in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden, and is the oldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

She is a member of the House of Bernadotte.

She was baptised at the Royal Palace Church on 27 September 1977.

Her inheritance is secured by Sweden's 1979 Act of Succession, the first law in Western Europe to adopt royal absolute primogeniture.

Born as a princess of Sweden, she was designated Crown Princess in 1979 (SFS 1979:932) ahead of her younger brother.

Her place as first in the line of succession formally went into effect on 1 January 1980 with the parliamentary change to the Act of Succession that introduced absolute primogeniture.

Her given name, Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée, honours various relatives.

Her first name comes primarily from her great-great-grandmother Victoria of Baden, queen consort of Sweden.

Her other names honour her great-aunt Ingrid of Sweden; her maternal grandmother, Alice Soares de Toledo; her ancestor Désirée Clary, queen consort of Sweden; and her paternal aunt and godmother, Princess Désirée.

Her godparents were Crown Prince Harald of Norway (later king of Norway), her maternal uncle, Ralf Sommerlath, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (later queen of the Netherlands, 1980–2013), and her aunt Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld.

Victoria was made Crown Princess on 1 January 1980 by the 1979 amendment to the Act of Succession of 1810 (Successionsordningen).

This constitutional amendment introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that the throne would be inherited by the monarch's eldest child regardless of gender.

King Carl XVI Gustaf objected to the reform after it occurred—not because he objected to women entering the line of succession, but because he was upset about his son being stripped of the crown prince status he had held since birth.

When she became heir, she also was made Duchess of Västergötland, one of the historical provinces of Sweden.

Prior to this constitutional change, the heir apparent to the throne was her younger brother, Carl Philip.

He is now fourth in line to the throne, behind Victoria and her children.

The Crown Princess was confirmed in the summer of 1992 at Räpplinge church on the island of Öland.

Victoria's declaration of majority took place in the Hall of State at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 14 July 1995.

As of the day she turned 18, she became eligible to act as Head of State when the King is not in country.

Victoria made her first public speech on this occasion.

Victoria studied for a year (1996–97) at the Catholic University of the West at Angers in France, and in the fall term of 1997 participated in a special program following the work of the Riksdag.

From 1998 to 2000, Victoria resided in the United States, where she studied various subjects at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

In May 1999, she was an intern at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. Victoria completed a study program at the Government Offices in 2001.

Her first major official visit on her own was to Japan in 2001, where she promoted Swedish tourism, design, music, gastronomy and environmental sustainability during the "Swedish Style" event.

That same year, Victoria also travelled to the West Coast of the United States, where she participated in the celebrations of the Nobel centenary.

In 2002, she paid official visits to United States, Spain, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kosovo where she visited Camp Victoria.

In 2003, Victoria's education continued with visits to Swedish businesses, a study and intern program in agriculture and forestry, as well as completion of the basic soldier training at SWEDINT (the Swedish Armed Forces International Centre).

In 2003, she made official visits to Egypt and the United States.

In early 2004, she paid an official visit to Saudi Arabia, as a part of a large official business delegation from Sweden, and in October 2004, she travelled to Hungary.

Crown Princess Victoria was given her own household in October 2004.

In 2006, Victoria enrolled in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' Diplomat Program, running from September 2006 to June 2007.

The program is a training program for young future diplomats and gives an insight to the ministry's work, Swedish foreign and security policies and Sweden's relations with the rest of the world.

In June 2009, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Uppsala University.

She speaks Swedish, English, French and German.