Swedish King says lockdown-free approach has failed

King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf, pictured with wife Queen Silvia. Sweden's king has said his country's lockdown-free approach to battling coronavirus has 'failed' and that people have 'suffered tremendously' as a result.

Carl XVI Gustaf, whose son and daughter-in-law tested positive for Covid-19 last month, used an annual royal Christmas TV special to highlight the growing impact of the virus In a rare intervention from a monarch whose duties are largely ceremonial, the 74-year-old remarked that the number of deaths in the country was 'terrible'.