“The Sommerlath affair has negatively affected the royal family”

There have been reports of the “royal relative” being hunted by the police on suspicion of buying sex.
Now Queen Silvia’s nephew Patrick Sommerlath has come forward, but denies any crime.
– What has happened affects the court negatively, says PR consultant Tanja Tabrizian.

The police have searched for a suspected relative of the royal family, but even though they searched friends, family and at Drottningholm – they did not manage to catch him before the crime was time-barred.

It was November 2021 that the suspected sex purchase took place at a Thai salon on Östermalm in Stockholm. The police came across a swish list for the salon, which included Patrick Sommerlath’s number.

It was first in Swedish Lady as he came out and confessed to the crime.

– He first sent over 250 kroner and less than an hour later he swiped over 1,000 kroner. It is precisely this double swish that the prosecutor is referring to as indicating the purchase of sex, says Magda Omerspahic who is online manager at Svensk damtidning.

Patrick Sommerlath claims he absolutely did not buy sex. He justifies the decision to go abroad with the fact that there was a lot of media coverage, and that he wanted to “think in peace and quiet”.

– He also says that he would have acted differently considering how big it was and what pressure it put on the royal couple and the court, says Magda Omerspahic.

“Better to respond to accusations”

The way Sommerlath handled the situation is completely wrong, says PR consultant Tanja Tabrizian.

– It is always better to respond to accusations, regardless of whether they have some basis or are false. The thing to think about is to act quickly. There are several risks in waiting, she says and continues:

– The first is that someone else decides the narrative. You have no control over the story. The second is that credibility decreases the longer you wait.

This event will affect the royal house, believes Tanja Tabrizian.

– What has happened affects the royal family negatively. It is usually called damage by association, that is to say that you are connected with a company or an individual that is connected to a bad reputation or other controversies.

Despite that, she believes many will be lenient.

– Having said that, I think that there are many people who understand that the royal family has not committed this crime and can tell the difference between a person and a person.