King Harald of Norway is widely considered an ideal modern-day monarch. Known for his quiet dignity and humility, he is cherished by his citizens as a relatable family man with a passion for sailing.
His dedication to his wife, Queen Sonja, is particularly noted, as she was initially seen as an unsuitable royal partner due to her non-royal background. Their 57-year marriage is celebrated in progressive Norway as a shining example of matrimonial commitment.
However, as King Harald approaches the 35th anniversary of his accession in the coming January, the esteem for the 88-year-old monarch and the Norwegian royal family seems to be waning.
The restrained respect they once commanded, which other European monarchs aspired to, including the British royals, has recently taken a darker turn with a series of controversies.
Recently, it was revealed that Marius Borg Hoiby, the stepson of the crown prince and considered an ‘honorary’ grandson of the King, faces charges of raping four women along with 28 other allegations such as assault, threats, and vandalism, risking a decade-long imprisonment.
Hoiby is the offspring of Princess Mette Marit, 52, from a brief relationship with a known criminal, prior to her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, also aged 52.
According to the indictment, the alleged victims were attacked when they were ‘incapable of resisting due to sleep and/or intoxication.’ Hoiby, 28, is also accused of abusing two of his former girlfriends and of filming women’s genitals without their consent.
The seven-page document says he subjected his then partner Nora Haukland to ‘repeated violence, threatening behaviour and other abusive acts’ at various locations in Norway and Barbados.
Marius Borg Hoiby, stepson of the crown prince has been charged with raping four women and 28 other offences including assault, threats and criminal damage
Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, a former girlfriend of Hoiby’s, allegedly suffered a torrent of abuse from her ex-boyfriend
The Norwegian royal family has been rocked by the charges. Pictured: A young Marius Hoiby with his mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit and step-father Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
It accuses him of persistently ‘striking her, placing her in a chokehold, kicking her and grabbing her forcefully.’
Prosecutors claim he also ‘threw objects’ at Ms Haukland, destroyed household items, smashing mobile phones and cupboard doors.
Another girlfriend, Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, was regularly put in a chokehold ‘so that she could not breathe’, hit in the face and held down on a bed.
He also allegedly smashed a mirror, pulled down a chandelier and ‘threw a knife into a wall’ after accusing the model and influencer of cheating on him and shouting at her that she was a ‘whore’.
The indictment says Hoiby ‘violated’ Ms Arntsen’s peace by calling her 172 times and leaving ‘numerous messages.’ He is also accused of taking intimate photographs without her knowledge and filming himself performing a sex act on her at a Berlin hotel.
Although the heavily tattooed Hoiby is not a prince and performs no royal duties, the outrage since his arrest last year has taken its toll on the standing of what was once Europe’s most popular and stable monarchy.
Roger Oversveen, a leading royal commentator, says: ‘People all over are shocked by this. When the King and Queen both turned 80 [in 2017] around 80 per cent of the public supported the monarchy. But that was down to 67 per cent last year and that was before this controversy emerged.’
Membership of the country’s republican movement has more than doubled and some surveys have suggested that one in three people would like to abolish the crown.
Certainly the mood among spectators at the changing of the guard ceremony at Oslo’s royal palace was sombre. Sofie Barsness, a 42-year-old researcher, said news of the charges ‘has caused and will continue to cause a lot of disquiet and shock.’
Hoiby is not the only drag on royal popularity. Last year Harald’s daughter Princess Martha Louise, 53, married bisexual adventurer Durek Verrett, 50, who calls himself a sixth-generation shaman whose powers to communicate with the spirit world have won him Hollywood fans including Gwyneth Paltrow.
Lurid stories in Norwegian media tell a different story. They have included recordings of Verrett where he admitted sexual assault and ‘sucking the c***’ of his clients during shamanistic sessions – actions, he claimed, his wife knew all about.
For her part Martha Louise, a mother of three – once tipped as a potential bride for Prince Edward – has boasted of being a clairvoyant with the ability of communicating with animals and angels and described herself as a ‘high sensitivity light fountain.’
But while many have been entertained by the couple’s antics, famously open-minded Norwegians fear they have undermined support for their royals.
Revelations last week have shone a light on a different side of life in one of Scandinavia’s bicycling monarchies.
Where once there was a sense of national pride at the ordinariness of Norway’s first family – there are now questions about whether this so-called relatability was nothing more than a mirage. The sagas of British royals such as Prince Harry and Prince Andrew are no longer something that they chuckle over in Oslo’s smarter drawing rooms.
As the first royal stepson Hoiby was an object of public curiosity and sympathy in his childhood, nicknamed Little Marius after a schoolboy born out of wedlock in a popular Norwegian novel. But it would be hard to fictionalise the story of the real-life Marius.
As a single mother and former waitress, the glamorous Mette Marit has never really been able to escape her past. There were raised eyebrows at the time of the 2001 wedding about her ‘debauched’ time as part of Oslo’s drug-fuelled house party scene. And then there were the escapades of her father, a failed advertising executive.
Aged 68 Sven Hoiby married a stripper only three years older than his daughter and at the time of the royal wedding he claimed to be so hard up he could not afford a morning suit. His toe-curling money-making stunts included being adopted as a mascot by a Norwegian ‘death punk’ band and working as an Elvis impersonator. For all the embarrassments he was, however, permitted to witness his daughter tying the knot – though security guards relieved him of the camera supplied by a magazine to record the event.
His grandson Marius was at the centre of the unconventional ceremony. Here, declared fans, was an example of how blended family life could work even at the very pinnacle of Norwegian society.
Every aspect of the day was choreographed, from the contingent of former drug users and prostitutes invited to be part of the congregation, to pageboy Marius waving to the crowds.
Mette Marit, meanwhile, won over sceptics who feared she was not suitable material for a royal princess. In a pre-wedding interview, she expressed regret at her wild past. ‘I have had experiences for which I paid dearly,’ she said.
For his part King Harald spoke movingly of his new daughter-in-law’s qualities. And of her son he declared: ‘I have met the young master, and he can be assured he will be a full member of the family and will not be ignored.’
When Mette Marit gave birth to two children with Haakon, Marius was christened by the King his ‘bonus’ grandchild. How poignant those words seem today in the glare of unremitting and bad publicity. For years Marius has attracted headlines for the wrong reasons. His playboy behaviour was a fixture of the gossip columns.
After leaving school in 2016 he moved to California and enrolled on a business course at Santa Monica College, but he dropped out in his first term and returned home to become an intern at a fashion company. Drifting into other jobs he worked as a salesman for an app developer and as a motorcycle mechanic. None lasted long.
He is said to receive a monthly allowance of 20,000 Kroner, or around £1,450. It is unlikely to go far in the notoriously expensive Norwegian capital. The Harley Davidson-riding and Rolex-wearing Hoiby has a taste for partying and is a regular at Michaels basement club where bottles of Dom Perignon champagne start at £340.
Heavily tattooed he has ‘1997’, the year he was born, inked prominently on his torso.
In 2017 at the age of 20 he was fined 4,000 Kroner (£290) after being caught with cocaine in the VIP section of a music festival.
The public relationship with its royal stepson became increasingly turbulent amid claims that a girlfriend once posed for Playboy, and another posted nudes on social media and was allegedly a drug user.
Until the last year, he had mainly come to the authorities’ attention through his association with drug dealers. (His natural father has two drug convictions from the 1990s.)
It emerged that police had warned Hoiby after he was spotted with a man linked to a major amphetamine supply network.
It was also claimed that silverware and other valuables disappeared during one of several raucous parties on the Skaugum Castle estate – the official residence of the Crown Prince and Princess – thrown by Hoiby.
This week after the formal indictment, lawyers for Hoiby said he recognised the seriousness of the charges. The royal household said it was now a matter for the courts to decide.
For the ailing King Harald, whose health is poor, the events have taken their toll. To Norway’s monarchists it is a crisis every bit as serious as the annus horribilis which devastated Britain’s Royal Family in 1992.
No wonder they are asking if things can ever be the same again.
