King Of Sweden Won't Hand Over To Daughter Despite Sex Party Claims

Sweden's King has insisted he will hang on to the throne as long as possible, despite a series of lurid and damaging allegations about his sex life.

Carl XVI Gustaf, 71, took a hit to his reputation in 2010 with the publication of an unauthorized book, The Reluctant Monarch, that claimed he took part in hot-tub parties in an underground nightclub with naked women and had an affair in the 1990s with Camilla Henemark, a Swedish-Nigerian singer.

But he told Swedish newspaper Aftonblade this week that the question of when he should hand over power was "a matter for God," according to The Times. Asked if that meant he would remain monarch until his death, the King said: "Yes, I'll try, I'll try."

"I will ask God when I die," the King added.

The King chose not to sue the publishers of the Reluctant Monarch, a decision he justified in an unconventional press conference in a forest, still dressed in a wax jacket after an elk hunt.

"I have spoken with my family and the queen and we choose to turn the page and move forward because, as I understand, these are things that happened a long time ago," he said at the time.

Carl came to the throne in 1973 when he was just 27.

His daughter Victoria, who turned 40 on Friday, enjoys huge popularity and was chosen by nearly 50 percent of Swedes as their favorite royal in a recent poll,

The Crown Princess has two children, Estelle, five, and Oscar, one, with her former fitness coach Daniel Westling, who she married in 2010 after an eight-year relationship.

The pair recently made global headlines for their decision to take combined maternity and paternity leave.

The King does not enjoy the same support as his daughter: only one-fifth of the Swedes polled said he was their favorite royal and some two-fifths said that he should abdicate.