H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is alleged to have been a playboy in the 1970's.Five months ago, the Swedish royal family was the toast of Europe. All eyes were trained on Stockholm as the glamorous Crown Princess Victoria wed her long-time boyfriend in a fairy-tale ceremony, and the world's press clamoured for a glimpse of the elegant Swedish royals and their regal guests.Read the rest here.
Now the international media is again camped outside the gates of Stockholm's Drottningholm Palace – but this time for far less congratulatory reason.
Revelations last week that the King of Sweden once enjoyed romps in seedy nightclubs owned by shadowy underworld figures have eclipsed the sparkle of July's wedding. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the stern-looking, bespectacled monarch who is honorary chairman of the World Scout Foundation, has found himself thrust uncomfortably in the spotlight following the publication of an unflinching book, Carl XVI Gustaf – Den motvillige monarken (Carl XVI Gustaf – The reluctant monarch) which catalogues his past predilection for wild, alcohol-fuelled orgies and naked jacuzzi parties with models.
The book has caused uproar and dominated the country's media, leading to nationwide soul-searching about the 64-year-old King's role, reputation and right to privacy.
As someone of Swedish heritage (on my mother's side) I must say that I am shocked and deeply disappointed. In fairness to H.M. most of this does appear to be not just "old news" but very old news. As far as I can tell the King's playboy lifestyle ran its course and ended decades ago. Still it is disconcerting. And the Royal Court has not handled this well at all.
Why be "shocked and deeply disappointed"? It seems par for the course when one has enormous wealth and social standing without having to actually earn it. Put it together with the rampant sexual adventures of many people prior to AIDS and it's really no shock. It's not as if royalty has actually shown itself genetically capable of passing on moral virtues of the truly Christian sort in any society for the past 100 years or so (and probably not prior to that either, things were just kept under wraps better).
ReplyDeleteSit down for this one too: young men of just about any social class devote large amounts of time to chasing tail.
ReplyDeleteAG,
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of truth in your comment. Most young men do go through a period of life where standards go by the boards, especially when the subject is sex. Not defending that, but still it is true. And again (it bears repeating) this is very old news. The King by all accounts grew up and abandoned the hedonistic lifestyle a long time ago.
In ICXC
John
I know I did
ReplyDelete[yawn]
ReplyDeleteThis news just in: 1970's were swinging times.
ReplyDeleteI don't see why anyone particularly is shocked or really cares about this. He's reformed his ways as far as I can tell, and like you say, that's extremely old news. If he had engaged in all this, you know, last week, that might be a different matter, but this is something that happened way back when. I doubt there are too many people who came of age in the 60's and 70's that don't have quite a number of skeletons in their closets. As long as he has disavowed the lifestyle and tried to live a better life in the past two or more decades, I don't see why this is such an uproar.