Written and introduced by Bernard Keeffe
How did it happen that the people of Sweden chose as Heir to the Throne a man who was neither royal nor even aristocratic by birth? Why did they elect in 1810 a Frenchman, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who was born into a modest family and who had risen from the rank of sergeant-major to become one of Napoleon's Marshals? Bernadotte's wife was Desiree Clary, daughter of a silk merchant, and it is their family which still reigns in Sweden.
Bernard Keeffe tells the extraordinary story of the founder of the dynasty, in the places where these events took place. He tries to see why Bernadotte succeeded where Napoleon had failed - and to discover something of the nature of kingship itself.

BBCtv/Swedish TV co-production
(Colour)