His Majesty's Marshal of the Realm () who heads the Office of the Marshal of the Realm (), is the highest

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

in the

Royal Court of Sweden The Royal Court () is the official name for the organisation ( royal households) that supports the monarch and the royal house. The incumbent monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is head of the Royal Court. Organizational structure The Royal Court is d ...

. The Marshal of the Realm is appointed by the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

and is directly responsible for the organization and affairs of the court, and for maintaining liaison arrangements with the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

and the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. Press releases and official statements from the Swedish royal family to the press and the public are typically released through the Marshal of the Realm.

History

The office was created in 1607 during the reign of Charles IX, and until 1936 during the reign of

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

, with the appointment of Axel Vennersten, it had always been held by a member of the

Swedish nobility The Swedish nobility (, or , ) has historically been a legally or socially privileged Social class, class in Sweden, and part of the so-called ''frälse'' (a derivation from Old Swedish meaning ''free neck''). The archaic term for nobility, ''fr ...

. The incumbent is in formal writing entitled to the style of

Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

, and is today, apart from Swedish ambassadors, the only officeholder to use this style. Until the 1970s, the

and the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

also used this style, but it has since fallen out of use. The Marshals of the Realm were also in the past, until the reform of the state orders of chivalry in 1975, appointed as Knights of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, but since then Swedish citizens other than members of the Royal House are no longer eligible. By convention former Marshals of the Realm are appointed as Chancellor of the Royal Orders upon their resignation, a position they hold until the next Marshal of the Realm resigns and themself assume the role. The present officeholder,

Fredrik Wersäll Claes Fredrik Richardson Wersäll (born 30 April 1951) is a Swedish jurist and civil servant who has been the Marshal of the Realm of Sweden and chief of the Royal Court of Sweden since 1 September 2018. Wersäll was educated at Uppsala Univer ...

has been the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

since September 1, 2018.

List of Marshals of the Realm since 1607

References

External links

*{{Official site, https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalcourt/theroyalcourt/officeofthemarshaloftherealm.4.396160511584257f2180003039.html 1600s introductions 1607 beginnings Swedish court titles Monarchy of Sweden

History

List of Marshals of the Realm since 1607

See also

References

External links