The death of Norway’s King Harald at 89 has brought renewed sorrow to the country’s Royal Family, arriving after a turbulent period marked by damaging public scandals and intense scrutiny of the monarchy.
Harald, who became Europe’s oldest reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, had seen the Norwegian Royal Family engulfed in controversy over his daughter-in-law’s links to Jeffrey Epstein and her son’s guilty rape verdict.
Mette-Marit, the wife of the new King Haakon, has faced mounting questions since the release of the Epstein Files, which showed she stayed at Epstein’s Palm Beach home in 2013 — years after he was convicted of soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.
One of the emails made public appeared to indicate that she remained in contact with the late paedophile financier just months before his death.
Mette-Marit, 53, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, later issued a deeply apologetic statement, saying the emails “do not represent the person who I want to be”.
King Harald nevertheless came to her defence during a public appearance that month, stressing: “We must remember that the Crown Princess has not done anything illegal.
“Unlike some others in Norway, she broke the connection very early. So I think we should give her credit for that.”
The Royal Family was hit by further controversy in June when Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted of two counts of rape and sentenced to four years in prison after a six-week trial that exposed allegations of violence, drug abuse and sexual misconduct.
Norway are today mourning the loss of King Harald of Norway (pictured), whose death at the age of 89 comes following months of scandal for the nation’s Royal Family
Mette-Marit (pictured) has faced increased scrutiny following the release of the Epstein Files, which revealed she stayed at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence in 2013 – after he was convicted for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14
Meanwhile, in June, Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby (pictured), was convicted on two counts of rape and jailed for four years
An Oslo court also found him guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend, Nora Haukland, issuing threats and committing traffic offences, although he was acquitted of two other rape charges.
The 29-year-old had been charged with sexually assaulting four women who were asleep or otherwise unable to resist between 2018 and 2024.
The conviction marked a fall for Høiby, who grew up in the public eye after his mother married then-Crown Prince Haakon in 2001 when he was just four years old.
Although he does not hold a royal title or carry out official duties, he has long been closely associated with the Norwegian Royal Family.
Judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad handed down the sentence after hearing evidence linked to 40 charges, including four alleged rapes, assaults, breaches of restraining orders, drug offences and driving violations.
One charge relating to a restraining-order violation was overturned.
The court heard how Høiby’s drug addiction spiralled in recent years, while investigators presented more than 800 messages and a series of self-made videos of sexual encounters as evidence during the trial.
One alleged rape took place in the basement of the family home, the court was told.
Norway’s new King Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit are seen leaving Rikshospitalet, where King Harald was hospitalised
(From left to right) Norway’s King Harald, Queen Sonja, Mette-Marit and Haakon at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony at Oslo City Hall last year
Høiby, who denied the most serious allegations while admitting to some lesser offences, was not physically present in court for the verdict and instead joined proceedings via video link.
Files released earlier this year showed frequent communication between Mette-Marit and Epstein that occurred long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting an under-age girl.
The princess, the spouse of the former-Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne, maintained contact with Epstein from 2011 to 2014, and stayed at his Palm Beach house for four days during a private trip in 2013, the US files show.
Mette-Marit, who apologised to King Harald and Queen Sonja in a February 6 statement, has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
The death of King Harald comes after he was being treated at Oslo University Hospital for haemolytic anaemia, a disorder which causes red blood cells to be destroyed at an abnormally fast rate.
It came just two years after the Norwegian suffered a similar problem while on holiday in Malaysia. That ordeal resulted in him having a pacemaker fitted.
The monarch had, however, insisted that he would never abdicate from his position due to poor health, arguing that he took a lifelong oath before ascending to the throne in 1991.
‘I stick by what I’ve always said, that I swore an oath to the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) and it is for life,’ he said previously.
However, the palace said his health had ‘deteriorated’ after he contracted an infection, with members of the Norwegian Royal Family rushing to his bedside on Thursday.
‘It is with deep grief that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away,’ Norway’s Royal Court said in a statement.
‘King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet Friday, August 28 at 6.35am.’
On Friday, King Charles III said he has extended his ‘deepest and most heartfelt condolences’ to the Norwegian Royal Family following the death of his ‘dear cousin’.
The pair were second cousins once removed, sharing great-grandparents Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.
‘As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades,’ King Charles III said.
‘The Queen and I extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Queen Sonja and all her family, as Britain shares in Norway’s grief at this time of such heartbreaking loss.’
Born on February 21, 1937, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Martha of Sweden.
He is a great-grandson of Edward VII and his godparents included Queen Mary and her son George VI (grandmother and father respectively of the late Queen Elizabeth).
Harald became Norway’s Crown Prince in 1957 after the death of his grandfather. He married Sonja in 1968 before becoming the monarch 23 years later when his father, King Olav, passed away.
