King Carl Gustaf loses popularity

Dagens Nyheter (external link) today publishes an opinion poll about the Swedish monarchy, which shows that only 51 % think King Carl Gustaf should remain on the throne, while 31 % hold the opinion that he should abdicate in favour of Crown Princess Victoria (13 % are undecided and 5 % left the question unanswered).
This is a rather dramatic change from February this year, when the same poll showed that 64 % thought the King should stay on the throne and only 17 % supported his abdication (with 16 % undecided and 3 % unresponsive).
The poll gives no reason for this abrupt change in opinion, but one might suspect that it has been at least partially caused by the uproar over the scandalous biography Carl XVI Gustaf - Den motvillige monarken, published earlier this month, which caused huge headlines with its claims about extramartial affairs and wild partying, claims which the King gave the impression of confirming when he said that these were old stories which he had moved on from.
Another possible reason could be that the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel this summer generated so much good PR around them that many now want the young and popular crown princessly couple to take over sooner rather than later.
The opinion poll also shows that 70 % of the Swedes support the monarchy, while 17 % are in favour of abolishing it, with 11 % undecided and 2 % not having responded. Last year the same poll showed 74 % in favour of the monarchy, 19 % supporting a republic and 7 % undecided, while the 2005 results were 80 % monarchists, 16 % republicans and 4 % undecided.
The poll was carried out by DN/Synovate on 16-22 November by telephone interviews with 1,011 persons over the age of 18.
The results of this poll correspond rather well with the findings of a poll carried out by Demoskop for Expressen between 13-17 November, which found 69 % in favour of the monarchy.