A Swedish Royal Scandal? Probably not.

As an American I am quite baffled by the concept of royalty. I mean, I get that they have no say politically. But I am unsure why, when facing cutbacks in spending on healthcare, unemployment and other high spending areas that reach a lot of people in need, so few people say 'Why not cut back on the biggest welfare abusers of all – the royal family?'

But this tends not to be the pervasive view of the royal family, and that's ok. The Swedish royals seem a pretty low key bunch.

There is Knugen Carl Gustav and his wife Sylvia (Can you believe she still has a German accent after all these years despite all of those expensive language classes? - can I tell you how many times I have heard people comment about this?). 

There is Crown Princess Victoria and her new hubby, Daniel. 

And the other siblings – Princess Madeline and Prince Carl (I had to look up Carl's name, since he seems so off my radar).

Unlike Great Britain, the Swedish press has largely left their royalty alone. There have been a few brushes with huge Royal gossip incidents. When Princess Victoria's eating disorder became unavoidable, there was a large international discussion about the effects of media on young women in royalty, but she was left alone while seeking treatment in the US. And there was a touch of scandal when Madeleine's fiance was caught cheating (she dumped him).

But now, scandal has come to the Swedish King. At least if you believe the tabloids. It seems some time back in the day he may have slept with a rock star, or something. And he may have partied with some mafia thugs with lots of naked ladies. There may be some photo evidence of this.

To this I only have to say 'meh?' - this supposedly happened so long ago. To be honest I haven't really read a lot of the details. And the King seems like a generally good guy (I haven't had any encounters with the Swedish royal family – but my friend met him on a mountaintop once). And who didn't party with the mafia in the 70's?

The part that surprises me, and saddens me a little is that the King decided to call a conference where he answered direct questions from the press. Seriously? Isn't the King above all this? Isn't that the point? He doesn't really have any power. Of course he should answer to the police. But to the press? And by press I mean Paparazzi.

Anyways, if my tax money continues to go into the pockets of these well-dressed but rather dull royals, I really would like for them to continue just being very expensive ribbon cutters and Swedish Cultural Ambassadors. Let's leave the gossip to the British Royals, they do it on a much grander scale.