NAMES IN THE NEWS : Royal Petticoat Issue Wrapped Up

STOCKHOLM — Swedish Civil Service Minister Bengt Johansson today revealed that after four years he has solved a delicate problem of political protocol involving himself, a princess and a petticoat.

Johansson’s problems started during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, when he found a petticoat under a pillow in his hotel bedroom.

Discreet inquiries revealed the petticoat’s owner to be Princess Lillian, the room’s previous occupant and Welsh-born aunt of Swedish King Carl Gustaf.

His diplomatic solution was in the form of a specially delivered, well-wrapped Christmas parcel containing the missing article, delivered by courier this week to Princess Lillian’s home.