| Silvia | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Queen Silvia in 2023 | |
| Queen consort of Sweden | |
| Tenure | 19 June 1976 – present |
| Born | Silvia Renate Sommerlath (1943-12-23)23 December 1943 (age 82) Heidelberg,Germany |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| Father | Walther Sommerlath |
| Mother | Alice Soares de Toledo |
| Signature |  |
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Silvia (bornSilvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 December 1943) isQueen of Sweden as the wife of KingCarl XVI Gustaf. She has held this title since her marriage to Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976. The king and queen have three children:Crown Princess Victoria,Prince Carl Philip, andPrincess Madeleine.
Silvia Renate Sommerlath was born inHeidelberg, Germany, on 23 December 1943,[1] the only daughter of Alice (née Soares de Toledo) andWalther Sommerlath. Her father was German and her mother Brazilian.[2]
She has three brothers: Ralf (born 1929), Walther, who died in 2020, and Jörg, who died in 2006.[3]
Silvia was four years old when her family moved to Brazil, where she spent her childhood.[4] She studied atColégio Visconde de Porto Seguro in São Paulo and used to spend holidays in the countryside, among her mother's family inSão Manuel.
Silvia often makes low-profile visits to Brazil and still keeps in touch with her relatives. She is known for her love forjabuticaba, a Brazilian native fruit, and keeps a jabuticaba tree in theRoyal Palace[5].
When she was 13, the family moved back to Germany, in 1957. She attended grammar school inDüsseldorf, finishing her Abitur in 1963; and attended the Munich School of Interpreting from 1965 to 1969, majoring in Spanish.[1]
She has some fluency inSwedish Sign Language, a national sign language used by the deaf community in Sweden.[6] She is a trained interpreter and Swedish is her sixth language. Apart from her native German and Portuguese, she also speaks French, Spanish, and English.[2]
During the1972 Summer Olympics, Sommerlath met Crown Prince Carl Gustaf. At the time, she was leading a marketing campaign for the city of Munich. Sommerlath and the other Olympic hostesses wore sky-bluedirndls to promote Bavarian cultural identity.[7][8][9][10] After the death of KingGustaf VI Adolf on 15 September 1973, Carl XVI Gustaf succeeded to the throne.
He and Sommerlath announced their engagement on 12 March 1976 and were married three months later on 19 June 1976 inStockholm Cathedral.[11] It was the first marriage of a reigning Swedish monarch since 1797. The wedding was preceded the evening before by a Royal Variety Performance, where the Swedish musical groupABBA performed "Dancing Queen" for the first time as a tribute to Sweden's future queen.[12]
The King and Queen have three children and nine grandchildren:
In February 2021, Silvia was taken to hospital after she fractured her right wrist in a fall.[13]
In July 2002, the Queen became the subject of international curiosity when an article published in thesyndicalist newspaperArbetaren reported that German state archives recorded that the Queen's father,Walther Sommerlath, joined the Nazi party's foreign wing, theNSDAP/AO, in 1934, when he was living in Brazil and working for a German steel company.[14] In December 2010, Queen Silvia wrote a letter of complaint toJan Scherman, the CEO ofTV4, the network that had aired a documentary about her father's alleged Nazi past.[15]
Queen Silvia commissioned a report from World War II expert Erik Norberg, a choice that was criticised due to Norberg having ties to the royal family. In his report, Norberg said that the Queen's father had in fact helped the owner of the steel-fabrication plant, a Jewish businessperson, escape from Germany by taking over the factory.[16] In a December 2011 interview for Sweden'spublic service broadcasterSveriges Television, Silvia called the media's handling of the information about her father "character assassination".[17]
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Queen Silvia establishedMentor International in 1994 in collaboration with theWorld Health Organization. Her vision was to offer mentoring as inspiration, empowerment, and motivation for young people to make healthy life choices and view their futures more positively. Mentor's work has been recognized by theUnited Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, theOrganization of American States, and theCouncil of Europe. She is now an honorary board member ofMentor Foundation.[18]
She was also a co-founder of theWorld Childhood Foundation in 1999, having been inspired by her work as Patron of the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm.[19] She has also been involved in theGlobal Child Forum, which she helped initiate, as a keynote speaker in several forums.[20][21]
Her commitment to the work withdementia and the care of the elderly at the end of life is also well known and respected. On her initiative, Silviahemmet was established in Stockholm. It works to educate hospital personnel in how to work with people suffering from dementia, and also initiates research in the area.[22]
She chairs the Royal Wedding Fund, which supports research in sports and athletics for disabled young people[23] and the Queen Silvia Jubilee Fund for research on children and disability.[23]
Queen Silvia holds honorary positions in the Swedish Amateur Athletic Association, the Children's Cancer Foundation of Sweden andSave the Children Sweden.[23]
In May 2025, Queen Silvia made a surprise appearance on national television in Sweden to honor entertainer-designerChrister Lindarw in a program about Lindarw's life and career.[24]
| Styles of Queen Silvia | |
|---|---|
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| Reference style | Her Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
Sweden:
Member and Commander of theRoyal Order of the Seraphim, in diamonds (LoKavKMOmbr) Member 1st Class of theRoyal Family Decoration of King Carl XVI Gustaf Recipient of the50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf[citation needed] Recipient of theWedding Medal of Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling.png)
Recipient of theRuby Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
Recipient of the70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf[citation needed].png)
Recipient of theGolden Jubilee Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf
Argentina: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Liberator General San Martín
Austria: Grand Star of theOrder of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria[25]
Belgium: Grand Cross of theOrder of Leopold
Brazil: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Southern Cross
Brunei: Honorary recipient of theFamily Order of Laila Utama
Bulgaria: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Balkan Mountains
Chile: Grand Cross of theOrder of Bernardo O'Higgins
Croatia: Grand Cross of theGrand Order of Queen Jelena[26][27]
Denmark:
Estonia:
Finland:
Germany:
France:
Greece: Grand Cross of theOrder of Honour[33]
Holy See:
Hungary: Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
Iceland: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Falcon[36]
Italy: Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic[37]
Japan: Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of theOrder of the Precious Crown
Jordan: Grand Cordon of theSupreme Order of the Renaissance
Latvia:
Lithuania:
Luxembourg: Knight of theOrder of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau[41][42]
Malaysia: Recipient of theOrder of the Crown of the Realm[43]
Mexico: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Aztec Eagle
Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Lion of the Netherlands
Norway:
Poland: Knight of theOrder of the White Eagle (2011)[44]
Portugal:
Romania: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Star of Romania[47][48]
Slovenia: Member of theDecoration for Exceptional Merits (2004)[49]
South Korea: Grand Gwanghwa Medal of theOrder of Diplomatic Service Merit[citation needed]
Spain:
Thailand:
Tunisia: Grand Cross of theNational Order of Merit[54]
Ukraine:
United States:Ellis Island Medal of Honor[56]Sweden: Grand Cross of the Social Order of the Amaranth[57][58]Germany: The National German Sustainability Award[59]
United Arab Emirates: Recipient of theShaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Motherhood and Childhood Award (November 2016)[citation needed]Queen Silvia has been awarded a number of honorary doctorates, most recently for her work on dementia.
Silvia Sommerlath Born: 23 December 1943 | ||
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| Vacant Title last held by Louise Mountbatten | Queen consort of Sweden 1976–present | Incumbent |
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