 Thus, Christian's title as King of Iceland became null and void and Sveinn Björnsson was elected the first President of Iceland by the Icelandic parliament.Christian, who believed that Sveinn had given him assurances that Iceland would not make further moves toward independence while the occupation was ongoing, felt quite badly betrayed.However, at the urging of his relative, the King of Sweden, Christian still accepted the outcome and sent a message of congratulations to Iceland during the celebration of the founding of the Republic on 17 June 1944.