Marius Borg Høiby News & Current Events Part 1: December 2023 -

When I was quite a young woman, I was involved in a turbulent relationship with a young artist who was highly emotional -and jealous. He was initially very pleasant, then controlling, then verbally abusive, then he hit me. That was the end. First, I changed apartment, then I moved to Manhattan. I never saw him again, and I didn’t tell my friends, and I didn’t tell my mother, and I certainly didn’t tell his parents. Many women are embarrassed to be victims.
So I can certainly believe that Marius’ parents didn’t know.

My son is about the same age as Marius, and I don’t know a lot of details about his private life. Thank goodness he seems to be pretty laid back and genial.

Parents don’t always know everything about their grown children. Who’s going to tell them?

ladongas said:

My son is about the same age as Marius, and I don’t know a lot of details about his private life. Thank goodness he seems to be pretty laid back and genial.

Parents don’t always know everything about their grown children. Who’s going to tell them?

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But this is very different - I assume you are not from a public (state funded) family, your son does not live on your property, and you don't fork out the money for his bills because he doesnt have a proper education/job.
If I had a son in such circumstances, I'd know exactly what he was doing in his private life or at least know people who could tell me.

Muhler said:

I believe the NRF will survive this double-crisis, but it will take a lot of very hard work from those dwindling members of the NRF who are not acting as clowns to recover from this, and I'm not sure they can to nearly the same level as today.
And I'm far from certain Haakon and Mette Marit will survive this...

- If more former female associates of Marius turn up with similar or worse stories it gets serious!
If it turns out that the NRF, with Haakon and Mette Marit in the lead repeatedly have ignored warnings and advise it gets really bad!
And if it turns out that they have used their influence try to and cover this up, it gets critical!
It is likely that at some point there will be a public debate as to whether it would be more prudent to simply bypass Haakon.
That's why it's imperative that they deal firmly with Marius once and for all and that they get ML and her Durek under control or kick them out.
Because this is a godsend for republicans in Norway.

Two weeks ago the monarchy in Norway was secure in our lifetime. It isn't anymore.
It sure won't relieve the already considerable pressure on Ingrid.
Her youth was already ending due to the illness of her mother, now she will have to be the one who is mainly responsible for recovering the reputation of the NRF.

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These are the things I was thinking yesterday too. I'm sure the members of Norwegian royal family don't sleep very well these days.

Could we have thought a couple of weeks ago that we would see headline "The psycho who blows up the royal family" at the Norwegian press?
Psykoen som sprenger kongefamilien _ Finansavisen

It can happen in the best families, they say.
Men beating women.
It can happen in the best of families. Now it is becoming more and more obvious that it has happened in what is supposed to be our very best: The royal family.
The problem for Marius Borg Høiby is that it does not stop here. He has opened the closet and now the skeletons are falling out. Their names are Nora Haukland and Juliane Snekkestad.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit's insistence that he does not want public attention regarding his private life has undoubtedly given him better protection than he should have had.
This is not privacy, this is violence.
Marius Borg Høiby has been protected. Now it is becoming more and more clear that it was a mistake.

At NRK's "Fredagspanelet":
Journalism professor Kristin Skare Orgeret:
- Naturally, the head of state must be in control. This is not an ordinary family, this is a public family. The king must actually be in control, and if he is unable to do so himself, he must surround himself with better staff and advisers. I am quite shocked at how bad the advice the royal family has received in this matter.
She believes the Høiby case could develop for the worse.
- I fully understand that these are people and private individuals, but they have a public role and then one can at least hope and expect that they have professional people around them who can advise them in difficult situations. In such a situation and with the public role and vulnerability in which our royal house stands, you must get good advice. This is very serious because it deals with violence against women and it is not a private matter. It is a huge societal problem and must be addressed as such.

VG has reviewed the 27-year-old's long and eventful history in the Norwegian and international public.
Lawyer Jon Wessel-Aas, who has media rights, freedom of expression and privacy as his special fields:
- The Crown Princess can request that her adult son be protected. But she cannot demand that - any more than other parents can demand that their adult children be spared publicity. Marius cannot receive special treatment, even though his mother is the crown princess. With a mother who is a crown princess, he has to choose. As a member of the royal family, he cannot take part in official functions, have expenses covered and at the same time demand to be treated like any private person. As I understand it, he has also partly kept a high profile and sought attention. Then he also has to withstand correspondingly greater interest.

Duke of Marmalade said:

But this is very different - I assume you are not from a public (state funded) family, your son does not live on your property, and you don't fork out the money for his bills because he doesnt have a proper education/job.
If I had a son in such circumstances, I'd know exactly what he was doing in his private life or at least know people who could tell me.

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He lives alone and does not have an escort when he goes out, so I couldn’t possibly know everything about him. In the US, 30 year old adults have both autonomy and privacy.

kalnel said:

I’m really intrigued that you’re not sure H&MM can survive this. Do you mean that Haakon would have to leave the succession or that they would have to divorce? (Or both?) All because of Marius?

It wouldn’t surprise me if MM “went on sabbatical” from royal duties for some time (months? years?) after Marius’ situation gets resolved. That would create some space between Haakon and this situation.

They will also need to announce some measures to demonstrate the family’s commitment to avoiding association with criminals. Drug testing for everyone working or living in the royal residences? Zero tolerance for abusive behavior by anyone connected to the royals personally or professionally? A new program supporting abuse victims? They need something fast.

They have to figure out what to do with Marius after the legal system is finished with him. Welcome him home? Turn their backs on him? No easy solution. Poor Ingrid could still be dealing with the fallout from all this 50 years from now.

Speaking of Ingrid, she’s going to need to keep her reputation spotless, or she’ll be accused of having substance issues like her half-brother. Same with Sverre.

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It depends on whether more women turn up with stories about Marius and whether Haakon and MM covered it up or simply ignored warnings and also whether Marius is decisively dealt with.
Because one way or another Haakon will soon have to take over within the NRF. He wont be able to hide behind his father, so to speak.
And Haakon has a lot less public credit than his father, so so much depends on how Haakon handles this crisis and also ML and her shaman.

King Harald is ultimately responsible, but I'd say it's up to Haakon to get his own family in order and prevent hem from doing anything stupid. And if he can't, it's his responsibility to listen to advise and ask for help. He is second-in-command within the NRF and he could be king any second now, so he needs to step up to that responsibility.

And the NRF are of course not the only ones in trouble here.
We still lack the answers to: Why didn't the police warn the NRF?
And if the police did issue warnings, who did they warn? And what did these persons do?
There are senior police officers, civil servants, courtiers and politicians who needs to answer these questions. So the ultimate questions is: Who will the finger point at in the end? If that turns out to be Haakon, he's got a problem on his hands!

I don't believe Haakon and Mette Marit will divorce. Why should they? And they ought to be able to work this out if they are willing to listen to advise.

What is going on these days isn't even the worst part!
You just wait until this ends up in court and we hear testimony after testimony about Marius and everybody asks: What did Haakon and Mette Marit do?

So I find it more than likely that a debate as to whether how suitable Haakon is as king will emerge. Depending on what happens that debate can end up being very vocal. And from that to asking whether it wouldn't be better to let Ingrid take over and provide with all possible help - or - perhaps Norway should go republic, isn't far.

Speaking of Ingrid, she has so far behaved spotless and I think she would need a lot of help from Magnus. I fear he can forget his dreams about being an airline pilot, or whatever it is. His King and country needs him, literally.

Personally I have to say I don’t get why any of this hugely falls on Harald. I doubt he would have a better understanding of Marius’s behaviour than MM and Haakon and I suspect Marius probably played doting step grandson whenever Harald or Sonja were about. The question IMO is what did MM and Haakon - who by all accounts he “lived with” (even if in his own property on their estate) knew or didn’t know and why they knew or didn’t know that. If they were- as is suggested- in the dark, I din’t see why Harald would or should know more. History suggests the police don’t get involved with who the RF associate with - if so ML wouldn’t have had an affair, Haakon wouldn’t have met MM, MM wouldn’t have hung out with Epstein, ML wouldn’t be about to marry a convicted scam artist and, indeed Marius wouldn’t be associated with dodgy characters. Unless its proved the police warned Harald about all of these and he looked the other way I don’t see him as having done anything directly wrong other than allowing his children more freedom than many parents and most monarchs would. Certainly in the case of Marius it seems Harald and Sonja tried to do the right thing by welcoming the child Marius into their family as a much beloved step grandson.
What I’m intrigued by is what Mette Marit and Haakon knew

Didn't one of Harold's sisters say publicly that it would end in tears if Hakkan married MM. She said she felt sorry for Marius because he would never really fit in the Royal family and that it could lead to resentment and bad behaviour in later life. I think she also mentioned his father being a felon.

Tatiana Maria said:

In Norway, given that even the Crown Princess speaking to her son's victim has many people exercised, it would surely be an even bigger scandal if it came to light that the Norwegian royal house was leveraging domestic or foreign security services to threaten or bully Marius's or Durek's acquaintances into keeping silent about their activities.

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The NRF (just like the DRF) are not in a position to do that themselves. That's through government channels.
They could have threatened Durek with the IRS or an FBI probe. Convincing Durek that it might be a good idea to break off the relationship.
Or simply saying: You wanna marry this dude? Fine, you lose your title and you are on your own. The Norwegian government and Parliament could have taken the responsibility, even if it was really King Harald's decision, that's what they are there for.

My oh my, I thought there was only a wedding to worry about in the family.....

sophie25 said:

Didn't one of Harold's sisters say publicly that it would end in tears if Hakkan married MM. She said she felt sorry for Marius because he would never really fit in the Royal family and that it could lead to resentment and bad behaviour in later life. I think she also mentioned his father being a felon.

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Yes, that was Ragnhild.

I’ve always given M-M some grace because I assumed she did a lot of dumb things while young and was reformed. I didn’t know Marius dad was a felon…what a mess.

Well this is what deviant pathology looks like. The thought that one 27 y/o can bring down a 1,000 y/o monarchy is frightful. IMO the courts, the government and the NRF better get a grip on this guy and reign him in. I don't think Marius stood a chance given his genetics and complicated circumstances growing up. Marius needs to be turned over to professionals and the bank needs to be closed.

tommy100 said:

- if so ML wouldn’t have had an affair,

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If you meant Philip Morris: his wife accused her husband of an extramarital affair with Princess Märtha Louise, but he denied it and a mutual friend publicly backed up his denial, so the alleged affair is not solidly proven, it would seem.

Muhler said:

The NRF (just like the DRF) are not in a position to do that themselves. That's through government channels.
They could have threatened Durek with the IRS or an FBI probe. Convincing Durek that it might be a good idea to break off the relationship.

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Even so, I think the possible role of the royals in initiating such an abuse of government authority would still be questioned. In any event, I hope neither the royals nor the government have/will resort to that sort of abuse of power to solve their very real problems (though given the track record of neighboring royal families, I would unfortunately not be overly surprised if they did).

Tatiana Maria said:

If you meant Philip Morris: his wife accused her husband of an extramarital affair with Princess Märtha Louise, but he denied it and a mutual friend publicly backed up his denial, so the alleged affair is not solidly proven, it would seem.

Martha-Louise Affair

Ok .... in a nutshell ... from what I remember.... Martha-Luise was part of the Norwegian horse-jumping team or otherwise sponsored. While in England, she fell in love - like really in love - with an English rider, who unfortunately was married. For what ever reason, the English guy's wife...

www.theroyalforums.com

Even so, I think the possible role of the royals in initiating such an abuse of government authority would still be questioned. In any event, I hope neither the royals nor the government have/will resort to that sort of abuse of power to solve their very real problems (though given the track record of neighboring royal families, I would unfortunately not be overly surprised if they did).

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Thanks so much for posting this info from an old thread - I’d never heard about this incident with ML.
One question about Article 37: it sounds like to me if royal princes and princesses only answer to the king, it makes it sound like they are above the law. Am I understanding this properly? So, for example, had this been Magnus or Haakan abusing women (heaven forbid!), they would be answerable only to the king???
Surely that can’t be the case???

ladongas said:

He lives alone and does not have an escort when he goes out, so I couldn’t possibly know everything about him. In the US, 30 year old adults have both autonomy and privacy.

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But you didn’t live on your parents’ property and were supported by them and neither does your son live on your property and is supported by you. Marius doesn’t appear to have autonomy from his parents. You were “on your own” and of course your parents didn’t know

Royalist.in.NC said:

One question about Article 37: it sounds like to me if royal princes and princesses only answer to the king, it makes it sound like they are above the law. Am I understanding this properly? So, for example, had this been Magnus or Haakan abusing women (heaven forbid!), they would be answerable only to the king???

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Yes, that's correct. If Haakon or Magnus had committed Marius's actions, they would be protected from prosecution by Article 37 of the Constitution, unless "the King" waived their immunity (there is some debate over whether "the King" in Article 37 refers to the king personally or to the government).

For further information and discussion on Article 37 and royal immunity from the law, please see this thread:

Chimene said:

I’ve always given M-M some grace because I assumed she did a lot of dumb things while young and was reformed. I didn’t know Marius dad was a felon…what a mess.

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This is Marius' info on Wikipedia. I didn't know either that Mette Marit was never even in a relationship with his father and there was a high degree of criminal activity going on in her circles before she met Hakkan.

This article has some information about Marius biological father. It says that both him and MM experimented with drugs and that he got a penalty for possessing cocaine. Although they were separated when Marius was born, later on in life it looks like they were in contact because there is a picture of them together on Marius first day of school. It also says that the ex has married an interior designer and they have more children together. He frequently shares pictures of his children with Marius. "brisant" is a tv program that reports about royals and stars. It is not a "trash" magazine IMO. It might be a little unfair that many papers now are writing that Morten is a convicted criminal, that sounds a little too strong. At least he is not a drug addict who has ended living in the streets or continued to have a criminal career. It looks more like he is living a normal wife, working as a financial analyst with a wife and children. I don't excuse Morten's faults of the past, but there are differences in criminal acts.

Tatiana Maria said:

Yes, that's correct. If Haakon or Magnus had committed Marius's actions, they would be protected from prosecution by Article 37 of the Constitution, unless "the King" waived their immunity (there is some debate over whether "the King" in Article 37 refers to the king personally or to the government).

For further information and discussion on Article 37 and royal immunity from the law, please see this thread:

Constitutional and Dynastic Matters in the Norwegian Monarchy

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1814-05-17 English translation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway https://lovdata.no/dokument/NLE/lov/1814-05-17 The following articles of the Constitution include mentions of the royal family (I am not...

www.theroyalforums.com

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Thank you - this blows my mind!

Although Marius is the one ultimately responsible for his own actions, I have to believe that some responsibility also falls on the shoulders of Haakon and Mette Marit. How can you ignore a 27-year-old young man (with a body full of tatoos ... my personal pet peeve), with no higher education and no job! Didn't they think something was wrong with that picture? After all, Marius was raised within the confines and with the benefits of a very privileged family. No education? No job? Seeming to just wander through life?

Did Mette Marit prefer to just ignore the obvious? Did Haakon not want to upset his wife so he also ignored it?

All very suspicious ... JMHO

Frelinghighness said:

But you didn’t live on your parents’ property and were supported by them and neither does your son live on your property and is supported by you. Marius doesn’t appear to have autonomy from his parents. You were “on your own” and of course your parents didn’t know

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Agree.
I mean am I allowed to drive to the Skaugum estate , say I'm Marius and just be waved through? No checks on who I am or my license plates?
And we know Marius had criminal friends in the estate.
So close to the Crown Prince couple.

I have to believe a report is made and that minimum Haakon sees it. What he did with the information is a question

To me the attitude of Marius was known since a while in Norway , how it comes out only now ? because of Märtha's Wedding with a Shaman whose bad past is known.

I feel sorry for Marius, in many ways, but he has to control his violent tendencies.

maria-olivia said:

To me the attitude of Marius was known since a while in Norway , how it comes out only now ? because of Märtha's Wedding with a Shaman whose bad past is known.

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Because some police officers did their job and made a case out of it - on their own - and because their superiors made sure he was arrested.
So no chance of Marius or Mette-Marit or anyone else contacting the victim and thus result in "a forgive and forget" outcome. Not that I'm saying they've done that before, but the police certainly prevented that possibility.

suztav said:

Although Marius is the one ultimately responsible for his own actions, I have to believe that some responsibility also falls on the shoulders of Haakon and Mette Marit. How can you ignore a 27-year-old young man (with a body full of tatoos ... my personal pet peeve), with no higher education and no job! Didn't they think something was wrong with that picture? After all, Marius was raised within the confines and with the benefits of a very privileged family. No education? No job? Seeming to just wander through life?

Did Mette Marit prefer to just ignore the obvious? Did Haakon not want to upset his wife so he also ignored it?

All very suspicious ... JMHO

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Unless MM and Haakon actively intervened with police to suppress criminal charges or silence victims, they are in no way responsible. As I said in an earlier post, most parents would try to maintain a relationship with their wayward/addicted adult child in the hopes that they could encourage him into rehabilitation or other psychiatric programs. Sure, it looked like Marius had problems, but until this violent behaviour was uncovered, they may have presumed it was solely an addiction or psychiatric issue. For all we know they offered him a place to stay to keep him safe. We have NO idea.

In my view it would be wise to await the results of criminal proceedings before assuming that the future of the NRF is doomed.

In the podcast Mediabobler the editor of VG says that many people belive that the palace has such power that they can call a paper and kill a story. He says that in his time as an editor that has never happened, only one time they called him with a question to an article.

He says that is not how the press works in Norway that the palace can kill stories and that the palace also knows this. He says that in Norway famous people, sportsstars, politicans etc can do many more or less stupid things and the press will not write about it (drink to much, be unfaithful, take drugs etc etc) but something like this which is different.

He also say that it is challenging with social media and forreign press who do not have the same standards (or no standards), but he feels that editor managed press should not be pushed by social media and that it is ok that the Norwegian press makes different choices as to how they cover this story. He also says he belived the norwegian press would write about this story even if Marius was not included in formal deffenition of the royal family.

maria-olivia said:

To me the attitude of Marius was known since a while in Norway , how it comes out only now ? because of Märtha's Wedding with a Shaman whose bad past is known.

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It wasn't widely known, that is why the news as a shock for most.

sophie25 said:

I feel sorry for Marius, in many ways, but he has to control his violent tendencies.

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I’m not sorry for him. I’m sorry for his victims, but I know what you mean though. He’s clearly a troubled soul, and 27 is still young, especially for men, but he needs to receive very strong punishment coupled with treatment, if he’s ever to have a chance at leading a productive life.

At the tax lists for 2022 published in December 2023 Marius Borg Høiby was listed with assets of NOK 2,128,210 (€ 180 000). In 2021 he had only NOK 52,000 (€ 4 400) in assets.
His income was also increased somewhat from 2021 to 2022 - from NOK 30,220 (€ 2 560) to NOK 238,128 (€ 20 150).
Royal expert Tove Taalesen believed Marius' assets had come from the sale of the house he owned with Juliane Snekkestad, his part from the selling price.