In 2004, the King made a state visit to the Sultanate of Brunei. The visit gave rise to a crisis within the Swedish monarchy. The king was criticized for praising the royal family.
— Brunei is a very open country, the sultan has a colossal closeness to the people, said King Carl Gustaf about Sultan Hassanal Bolikiah to Swedish Radio during his visit.
The trip was controversial even before the visit. The country, located on the northwest coast of Borneo, is a dictatorship where power is inherited and the sultan rules via decree. The country is also criticized by the Swedish government for showing shortcomings in terms of human rights.
The Social Democratic government chose to keep a low profile by commenting on the king’s actions, but strong criticism of the statement came from all other parties.
Now, almost 20 years later, King Carl Gustaf describes the crisis and the criticism as “a total misunderstanding”. In the documentary Sweden’s last kings, he stands by his judgments about the sultan.
— He traveled around and was very close to all the people. Once a year on the national day or equivalent, he invited 30,000 people to his castle. You can’t get any closer, says the king to SVT and continues:
— Then that it is a different structure when it comes to the political itself. He was a “ruler” in a different way than in a democratic state. But he was very open. It was a total misunderstanding.