{"id":17655,"date":"2025-09-12T08:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T08:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/17655\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T08:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T08:40:10","slug":"the-marius-borg-case-takes-a-toll-on-princess-mette-marit-public-support-fading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/17655\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marius Borg case takes a toll on Princess Mette-Marit: Public support fading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mette-Marit Tjessem H\u00f8iby entered Norway\u2019s royal family in 2000 with a past that defied convention. A single mother whose youth was punctuated by parties and friendships far from aristocratic circles, she was greeted with skepticism by both the press and the public. With the quiet backing of\u00a0King Harald and Queen Sonja, however, she reshaped her image. Over the years, she became known as a grounded, discreet, and approachable princess.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Crown\u00a9 Rune Hellestad – CorbisCrown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway <\/p>\n

Her advocacy on social issues, particularly in health and literature, gave her standing. And alongside Haakon, she projected a marriage built on unity and genuine affection. The narrative shifted: she was no longer an outsider, but a future queen. However, the recent Marius Borg case has reawakened old doubts. A recent poll shows Princess Mette-Marit\u2019s image has taken a hit, just as the countdown to her son\u2019s trial begins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A survey conducted by InFact\u00a0for Nettavisen, a Norwegian digital news outlet, found that only 30.2% of respondents believe Crown Princess Mette-Marit is suited to be Norway\u2019s future queen. By contrast, 65.1% view Crown Prince Haakon as highly suitable for the throne, a striking gap between husband and wife.<\/p>\n

\"Marius\u00a9 HAKON MOSVOLD LARSENMarius Borg H\u00f8iby, son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a woman, police said August 7, 2024.<\/p>\n

The outlet links these results to the case against her son, Marius Borg<\/a>, who faces 32 serious charges, including four counts of rape, domestic violence, threats, sexual abuse, and repeated violations of restraining orders. The highly publicized trial, set to begin February 3, 2026, and run through March 13 with 24 hearings in the Oslo District Court, could have unpredictable consequences for the monarchy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Crown\u00a9 Julian ParkerCrown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, and her son, Marius Borg Hoiby <\/p>\n

Other factors also weigh on the princess\u2019s standing: her increasingly erratic official schedule, tied to health issues, has led to several major cancellations. Most notably, she and Haakon had to scrap a planned state visit to the United States, a trip of significant importance for a royal family whose aging king rarely travels abroad anymore.<\/p>\n

While Marius Borg\u2019s actions must ultimately be judged on their own, without assigning responsibility to his mother, the reality is that both the princess and the entire Norwegian royal family are under intense pressure. Officially, they maintain a stance of institutional neutrality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Marius\u00a9 UK Press via Getty ImagesMarius Borg Hoiby on a visit to Trondheim, during the King and Queen of Norway’s Silver Jubilee Tour, on June 23, 2016 in Trondheim, Norway.<\/p>\n

Yet reports suggest Mette-Marit\u2019s name surfaced multiple times during the yearlong police investigation. According to Norwegian outlets such as Se og H\u00f8r, some victims claimed she was aware of what was happening and had even been tipped off about early arrests before they occurred, though she was never formally summoned to testify.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn August, when the prosecutor\u2019s office announced the charges, Prince Haakon said, \u2018Now we know what the charges are, so it will be up to the court to decide how this ends.\u2019\u201d His words underscored that the royal family is bracing itself for what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

\"Marius\"\u00a9 LISE ASERUDMarius Borg sitting next to his mother Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit<\/p>\n

The possible outcomes range widely: a full conviction and prison sentence, a partial conviction, a plea deal, or an acquittal. Each scenario could impact the monarchy differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For now, observers agree this trial represents one of the gravest challenges faced by any European royal family in decades, with consequences that remain impossible to predict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mette-Marit Tjessem H\u00f8iby entered Norway\u2019s royal family in 2000 with a past that defied convention. A single mother…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19471,156,111,139,19470,69,16196],"class_list":["post-17655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-crown-princess-mette-marit","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-norwegian-royals","tag-nz","tag-royals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}