King in Council, or Royal Majesty, (most formally ''Konungen i Statsrådet'', but a term for it most often used in legal documents was Kunglig Majestät or short form Kungl.Maj:t or K.M:t. in Swedish) was a term of constitutional importance that was used in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

before 1975 when the 1974 Instrument of Government came into force. ''Royal Majesty'' denoted several functions, but most importantly, it was the commonly used term that designated the supreme

executive authority The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

under the 1809 Instrument of Government: where the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

made all decisions of state in the presence of his cabinet ministers. The 1974 Instrument of Government removed the Monarch from all exercise of formal political powers and created its successor: the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

( sv, Regeringen) chaired and led in all aspects by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

History of the term ''Kunglig Majestät''

The term ''Kunglig Majestät'' was earliest in use in Sweden in the 16th century, when the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

and other kings in Europe began to use the title

Majesty Majesty (abbreviated HM for His Majesty or Her Majesty, oral address Your Majesty; from the Latin ''maiestas'', meaning "greatness") is used as a manner of address by many monarchs, usually kings or queens. Where used, the style outranks the s ...

, which only the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

earlier used. The prefix "Royal" was probably added to differ the title from the Imperial Majesty. Originally the term ''Kunglig Majestät'' therefore referred to the

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch 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 authority ...

personally but later only to him (her) as a

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

in the Privy Council (Council of State) (Swedish: ''Statsrådet'' "Council of State", before 1789 ''Riksrådet'' "Council of the Realm"). Most commonly, decisions in the council required the king's formal participation. But when the king was away in other countries, or in remote parts within the country, the Council of State could reign in his name (sections 39–43 in the Instrument of Government 1809). After 1863, the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

, or if he was prevented, the nearest in line to the throne, could reign as Regent (Swedish: ''Regent'') in the king's name. When there was no person in line to the throne available, the Council of State alone again could reign in the king's or the crown's name. The same rules are today used in the new Instrument of Government when the king is unable to fulfil his duties, but the title now is '' riksföreståndare,'' instead of Regent. "Riksföreståndare" is a historic Swedish title with medieval roots. The term ''Kunglig Majestät'' was also used by three courts acting on the king's behalf and using the king's seal according to section 23 in the 1809 Instrument of Government. This was a remnant from the Judicial committee – ''Justitierevisionen'' ("the Justice revision") of the Privy Council or the Council of the Realm (Swedish: ''Riksrådet''), before the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

was established in 1789. The different uses of the term ''Kunglig Majestät'' were thus: *''Kungl. Maj:t i Statsrådet'' ("The King in the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

"),''Lilla Uppslagsboken'', edition of 1964-1967, binding 6, Förlagshuset Norden AB, Nordens boktryckeri, Malmö 1974, column 25; and ''Nordisk Familjebok, Encyklopedi och konversationslexikon'', edition of 1952 (the fourth), Förlagshuset Norden AB, Förlagshuset Nordens Boktryckeri, Malmö 1953, 13th binding, column 34 (both in Swedish). *''Kungl. Maj:t i kommandokonselj'' ("The King in the 'Command Council' "), i.e. with military advisers (mostly the

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

) from the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

(Swedish: ''Försvarsdepartementet'') *''Kungl. Maj:t i Högsta Domstolen'' ("The King in the

) *''Kungl. Maj:t i Regeringsrätten'' ("The King in the Supreme Administrative Court") *''Kungl. Maj:t i Kammarrätten'' ("The King in the Administrative High Court")

Current usage

Today, with the exception of remnants of previous usage, the term Royal Majesty is at present in Sweden only used for Royal orders of knighthood, .''Royal Court of Sweden''
"The Royal Court of Sweden designates the order as being the ''Order of Knights'' and the order is in their English translation designated as ''Order of His Majesty the King''."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:King In Council (Sweden) Swedish monarchy Legal history of Sweden Royal styles

History of the term ''Kunglig Majestät''

Current usage

See also

References

External links