The King speaks out on Swedish TV. Finally, some say. In the televised interview, the Swedish King denies having been to any kind of dubious clubs during his career. When asked if he’s ever visited a sex- or strip club, the King wavers, saying it’s difficult to answer, because it depends on what one means with such a club. “There are restaurants where the waitresses or performers are, what should I say? Not naked, of course not, but scantily clad. Like the lightly clad ladies at Folies Bergéres in Paris where I visited many, many years ago.”

The King was not willing to comment at all on allegations from the book “Den motvillige monarken” (The Reluctant Monarch) and simply referred to it as speculation and rumors.

He further says that there are no photographs, can be no photographs, of him and other women in compromising situations. After having seen the interview, the authors of the book, Thomas Sjöberg and Deanne Rauscher, call the Swedish monarch a liar. “I’m amazed how he dares [to say what he’s saying],” Rauscher says. They are both convinced the King visited both the so-called Gold Club during the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA in 1996 and another club, Karat club, in Bratislava, Slovakia, where it is also rumored the King visited.

According to Jes Fabricius Möller, a lecturer in history at the Copenhagen University, it’s a sign of crisis when the Swedish king chooses to speak out like this. “Silence has been a very successful strategy in the Danish Royal House, for instance,” Möller says. “It is often amazingly effective. But in this case it seems the Swedish King felt forced to give an interview, and that in itself is a sign of crisis.” When German media report about the King of Sweden and his comments, they use words like “Rotlicht-skandale”, ”Rotlichteskapaden”, and ”Rotlicht-Äffäre”, words with references to brothels of the red-light districts. “Nothing became any clearer,” the German paper Handelsblatt wrote after the interview with the King. And Die Zeit’s website published the polls which show that Swedish people want the King to retire in favor of his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria.

In the interview, the King states – as he has before – that he is proud to be the head of state and will continue working as long as he can. He is aware that the rumors and allegations have hurt people's belief in the monarchy but feels certain he and the royal family are strong enough to weather the critique. He also stresses he will work even harder to represent the people in the future and travel extensively, also in the country itself.

See the interview on SVT Play: The interview with the Swedish King (Only in Swedish)