(Adnkronos) – With the four-year prison sentence for rape and violence of Marius Borg Hoiby, son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, a shadow further darkens the image of the monarchy in Norway. The Crown Princess had already lost popularity and severely strained her relationship with King Harald V and Queen Sonja after the Dagens Naeringsliv newspaper revealed in 2019 that Mette-Marit met the pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein on several occasions between 2011 and 2013. Now comes the axe of the conviction of her son, whom she had with businessman Morten Borg, with whom she had a brief relationship four years before marrying the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. Marius Borg Hoiby was found guilty of 34 of the 40 crimes he had been accused of, in the trial that began on February 3.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja have publicly expressed solidarity with the victims of their grandson’s assaults and declared their full respect for the course of justice. In an interview with the public broadcaster Nrk, the 88-year-old monarch emphasized that the royal family will fully respect the decisions of justice and expressed solidarity with the people who reported Borg Hoiby for alleged harassment, abuse, and acts of violence. King Harald then expressed ”solidarity for all involved” and ”we are close to them and hope they can be well and feel better once the process is concluded”. An attitude that, on social media, has been defined as ”of great empathy”, adding that ”the new generations are not up to par”.
The royal family did not participate in any proceedings in courtroom 250 of the Oslo district court, which lasted seven weeks. Indeed, King Harald V and Queen Sonja went to the Winter Olympics in Italy in February, demonstrating how isolated Crown Prince Haakon’s stepson is. Marius Borg Hoiby was born four years before Mette-Marit married the Crown Prince, and although he is considered a close family member, he is not a public figure, has no titles or official duties. King Harald and the royal family are much loved in Norway, but the Hoiby case has posed a problem for the royals’ image.
Meanwhile, revelations continue to emerge about the princess, regarding her relationship with the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison. Her name appears in hundreds of the new emails released last week by the US Department of Justice. Mette-Marit admitted to having shown “poor judgment”. The princess, who had already said in 2019 that she regretted her relationship with the pedophile financier, stated that she “takes responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s past more thoroughly and for not having understood earlier what kind of person he was.” She then added, ”I regret having had contact with Epstein. It’s simply embarrassing.”
