and his family to an all-time low, with one survey last month showing trust in the monarch had slumped to 54% from more than 80% when he took over from his mother, Queen Beatrix, in 2013.
Polls show more than 75% of Danes support their monarchy, compared with fewer than half when Margrethe succeeded her father, Frederik IX, with only 15% wanting Denmark to become a republic – and Margrethe, a unifying and resolutely non-political figure, is largely responsible, commentators say. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, with his wife Queen Silvia, has fitted solar panels to the royal palace.Carl Gustaf had a reputation as a bit of a lad with a love of fast cars when he became the world’s youngest monarch at 27. A 2010 biography later revealed rather more, alleging visits to underground sex clubs and an affair with a Swedish singer. The king never denied the allegations, saying only that he and Queen Silvia had “turned the page”.
In 2019, Carl Gustaf announced that to save taxpayers’ money and in agreement with the rest of the family, the offspring of Madeleine and Carl Philip – five of the king’s seven grandchildren – were to be removed from the royal house, meaning they would no longer be entitled to a state allowance.by describing the government’s Covid policy as having “failed” to save lives.
King Philippe of Belgium with his wife, Queen Mathilde, has had to wrestle with Belgium’s colonial past.Despite that role, enthusiasm is limited. A 2017 survey in Le Soir found that nearly two-thirds of Belgians thought the €35m cost of the monarchy was too high, while half wanted to end state payments to Prince Laurent, the king’s gaffe-prone uncle. The family has not managed to avoid scandal.
I’m on the throne right now.
Why are they still relevant? Thieves and murderers.