King Carl Gustaf of Sweden reveals he tried to visit friend Prince Philip one last time

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, who couldn't attend the recent funeral of Prince Philip due to coronavirus-related restrictions, has revealed that he had tried to visit Britain's Prince Consort for one last time in his final days.

The Swedish monarch made the revelation during an interview with the podcast "Värvet" to mark his 75th birthday on April 30th. Expressing regret at not being able to attend Philip's funeral ceremony which only had 30 guests, Carl Gustaf said that he had to watch it on CNN like many others.

"It was a very emotional and beautiful funeral. Different, of course. I had wanted to visit and attend the funeral," he said.

The 75-year-old confessed that he was afraid that these were going to be the last days for Prince Philip who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year, and therefore made numerous attempts to pay him one last visit.

"We had already started making contact a year ago, and tried to get the opportunity for a visit. I was afraid this would happen. Now Prince Philip was almost 100 years old, which in itself is wonderful," the monarch said.

King Carl Gustaf also revealed that he remembers every little detail of his first meeting with the Duke of Edinburgh, which happened when he was just a teenager. He recalled: "He was a wonderful person, warm and cordial. Very humorous and always had a certain funny touch in what he said."

"We were out sailing together, then of course tourists came and stood at the edge of the harbour and looked down at us. Then Prince Philip said: 'Now I know what it feels like to be a butterfly in a museum,'" the Swedish royal added.

The Swedish royal court had drawn their flags at half-mast on the day Prince Philip was buried at the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel, and a ceremony was also held in his respect at the Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm as he was the recipient of the Order of the Seraphim.