Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, was born to be Queen. The daughter of King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia was born in 1977, two years before her brother, who was designated as the future King. However, that same year, in an unprecedented historical move, the Swedish Parliament amended the country's Act of Succession and adopted an “equal absolute birthright,” which meant that the sovereign's eldest child, regardless of gender, would inherit the throne.
Sweden was the first country in the world to enact such a law and it meant that Victoria’s younger brother fell behind the now heir apparent and any children she may have. If crowned as expected, Victoria will become the first reigning queen in the house of Bernadotte, the royal family of Sweden since 1818, and will be Sweden's fourth female monarch and the first since 1720.
Despite being bullied as a child because of her dyslexia, Victoria was a dedicated student. She studied at the Catholic University of the West at Angers in France, participated in a program following the work of the Riksdag (the national legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden), and from 1998 to 2000, studied various subjects at Yale University. She interned at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., completed basic soldier training at SWEDINT (the Swedish Armed Forces International Center), and enrolled in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Diplomat Program. She graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Uppsala University.
In 1997, the Crown Princess Victoria's Fund was set up to provide support for leisure and recreational activities for children and young people with functional disabilities or chronic illnesses. It is run as a part of Radiohjälpen, the fundraising branch of Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio. After her marriage to Daniel Westling, they established The Swedish Crown Princess Couple's Foundation, which aims to prevent social isolation and promote good health among children and youth in Sweden.
Victoria has also been appointed as a U.N. ambassador and advocates for its Sustainable Development Goals, focusing specifically on water, and is a dedicated patron of the Gundua Foundation, championing educational development throughout Kenya.