King Diamond (real name: Kim Bendix Petersen; KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL
FATE) has released a statement in response to an article that was
published late last month on the Danish web site BT.dk which focused
primarily on King's relationship with his 24-year-old Hungarian wife
Livia Zita.

King, who is 52 years old, says: "I'm writing this in order to set the
facts straight with regards to the interview I did for a Danish
newspaper just before Christmas.

"When I read the article it became obvious that this particular
journalist had an agenda of his own. At least half the article was
false, twisting the facts to suit his 'agenda.'

"First of all, Livia and I have no plans for having kids in the near
future. We certainly love kids but it doesn't fit in our working
schedule at this point. I don't know where the journalist got this
thing from, but we do appreciate all the nice words you had regarding
this subject even though it's not true. Also, Livia and I do not look
forward to Christmas like little kids every year. It's a cozy time,
sure, but again the journalist's choice of words are completely twisted.

"Just for your info, the Christmas tree in the picture [see below] is
THE ONLY Christmas decoration inside or outside our house and it stays
up year round cause I don't want to bother taking it down and it looks
pretty cool. Check the goat skull right next to the tree. I can see
that if I open the door to my private life just a tiny bit, things
quickly get twisted out of context, and that's why in the past I have
always kept my private life and business very separate.

"The second rumour that's floating around, which is that MERCYFUL FATE
has started writing new material, I really have no idea where it
originated from.

"The present status of MERCYFUL FATE remains unchanged, meaning that
we have not started writing new material. For that to happen, MERCYFUL
FATE's recording contracts have to be renegotiated first. We certainly
would love for this to happen so that we can finally make our
long-overdue 'masterpiece.' Both Hank [Shermann, MERCYFUL FATE
guitarist] and I are ready to go if that scenario presents itself, and
who knows, that might happen this year.

"So... for this year, you will see a double DVD of old private KING
DIAMOND video recordings and a double DVD of old private MERCYFUL FATE
video recordings which I am working on as we speak. Andy [La Rocque,
KING DIAMOND guitarist] has finished remastering 'The Graveyard',
'Spider's Lullabye', 'Voodoo', and 'House of God', all of which should
also be available this year. And then there is 'the big surprise' (not
little King babies with horns on their foreheads or MERCYFUL FATE
writing new songs, at least not as we speak) but something that could
lead to renegotiations of the MERCYFUL FATE recording deals. We'll
see. Be patient.....

"On a personal note, I do feel reasonably confident that the MERCYFUL
FATE masterpiece will see the light of day."

Stay Heavy!
Phil