King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (pictured) has called for a ban on baths to help save the environment

The King of Sweden has called for a ban on baths to help save the environment.

King Carl XVI Gustaf, who once had a reputation as a lothario and is now a staunch environmentalist, said he realised how much water and energy they used when he was recently staying somewhere without a shower.

The 69-year-old ‘green king’ told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet: ‘It hit me how much water and energy it used.

‘I thought “I can’t believe I’m having to do this”. I felt quite ashamed.’

Apparently in jest, he added: ‘We should ban all baths.’

The Swedish head of state said he now drives an eco-friendly hybrid car, turning around his lifelong reputation as a ‘petrolhead’.

‘When I drive into town, it’s on electricity,’ he said.

Much like the Prince Charles’s overhaul of Highgrove House with ‘eco toilets’, the Swedish king’s residence has been made greener with environmentally-friendly heating and low-energy lightbulbs.

‘We do what we can here at the palace. It’s an ongoing project trying to save energy, but it isn’t easy in an old property,’ he said.

King Carl Gustaf attended the first UN environmental conference in Stockholm and 1972 and is due to attend UN climate change talks in Paris in just over a week.

He said: ‘We have to think that we will do our best. And I think there is a general feeling that we’re going to achieve it.’

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