The aim of this study is to examine how the Swedish reigning queens Margaret and Christina are portrayed in Swedish textbooks and analyze whether those portrayals change over a period from 1845 to 2014. The material consists of a total of eight history textbooks intended for use in either the elementary- or the upper secondary school. These books were chosen based on the trait of them being written approximately 30 years apart.

As method the study uses “educational textual analysis”, and the theoretical framework applied is a theory of the gender system. 

The result shows a relatively constant depiction of queen Margret throughout the period. She is portrayed as a competent ruler and a heroine who frees the Swedish people from German oppression. Queen Christina is portrayed in a more complex manner, as the attitude towards her seems to change after the 1960s. Previously she is portrayed as selfish, extravagant and a traitor to her country. This depiction later fades into a portrayal where her actions are described as a way of freeing herself from men trying to control her.