Sweden's king denies sex club visits

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf is engulfed in a growing scandal over reports of shady associations and strip club visits, royal watchers in Sweden say. In an interview with the Swedish news agency TT, the king flatly denied allegations he visited sex clubs and had indirect contact with organized crime. The monarch also denied the possibility that photographs exist of his visits to sex clubs. At least one Swedish newspaper was skeptical of the king's innocence. "And if there aren't any photos from questionable places, how can one make sense of why the king's close friend Anders Lettstrom tried to hire a major criminal to get hold of pictures that actually don't exist," said Peter Wolodarski, of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper. Political editor PJ Anders Linder of the newspaper Swenska Dagbladet called for an end to speculation. "Now the king has made a clear and unequivocal denial," he wrote. "If you're going to question that denial, more hard evidence and clear proof is needed. It's not enough to keep spinning tales with invisible thread."