Sweden House of Nobility website:
http://www.riddarhuset.se/
Thanks, Blog Real! The site actually answers many of the questions that have been asked here.
1) Who is a member of the Swedish nobility?
The descendants in male line of the families with representation in the House of Nobility are officially recognized as members of the Swedish nobility with the caveat that, for families who were ennobled under Paragraph 37 of the Instrument of Government of 1809 and introduced in the House of Nobility thereafter, only the most senior male agnate (as determined by the usual rules of primogeniture) is considered noble and has the right to use of the family's title, e.g. of count or baron, when the family is titled.
2) What is the legal status of the nobility?
The Swedish nobility nowadays is legally a corporation constituted and governed by the House of Nobility Act. The House of Nobility Act was amended, however, in 2003 by the Swedish Parliament (?) to remove all legal obligations and prerogatives of the Swedish government with respect to the nobility. Those legal obligations and prerogatives included for example:
- The obligation of the government to give public notice of the annual head tax approved by the Meeting of the Nobility to be paid by all adult members of the legally recognized nobility;
- The prerogative of the government to call extraordinary Meetings of the Nobility and to introduce motions for discussion therein;
- The requirement that all amendments to the House of Nobility Act be approved by the government; and
- The possibility that families who were not previously introduced in the House of Nobility within two years of the granting of their Letters Patent might petition the King to be extraordinarily introduced following a procedure laid down by government regulation.
In addition, all residual legal privileges of the nobility were also repealed in 2003 with the exception apparently of an old ordinance that reserves to the nobility the right to use certain elements in their coats of arms such as helms with open visors and supporters (a "commoner" who uses those elements in his/her coat of arms is subject to a fine).
As a result of the 2003 reforms , all regulations pertaining to the Swedish nobility have been de facto removed from Swedish public law although the nobility properly was not abolished or disbanded and is still governed by the House of Nobility Act and ordinances now approved solely by the Meetings of the Nobility. As a private corporation, the Swedish nobility owns the building of the House of Nobility and its respective archives and mantains the directory of the officially recognized nobility whose adult members are still subject to the head tax.
Given that the King, since 1975, can no longer grant nobility, and given that it is no longer possible for previously ennobled families to seek extraordinary introduction in the House of Nobility, it follows that the Swedish nobility is now a closed class so to speak, restricted only to those families who were introduced in the House prior to 2003.