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

If this is true I can't see the Norwegians wanting Mette-Marit as their queen. Whether the case end up in court or not the fallout from it will prove disastrous for the Royal family and the standing of the monarchy.

This will be interesting to follow…

If it can be proven that Mette-Marit has helped Marius ”white wash” evidence (wich it is not yet) then they are in serious trouble…

That’s the most pressing thing here to me… The telephone call to Marius is not that important to me as Marius clearly accepted to get arrested and met the police at the agreed place…

M-M may very well have been informed by a police protection officer or by the head of security at the palace…

But did she hastily clean Marius house that day and if so of what and why ? These are the most pressing questions here…..

If we even want to know the answers

Incredible. If this is true, that MM helped her criminal son cover up his traces, she has to step down. Excuses won't be enough. Too ill to perform duties, but able to clean her son's house?
Poor Harald, after a life of service this is what he's left with.

Hannelore said:

Incredible. If this is true, that MM helped her criminal son cover up his traces, she has to step down. Excuses won't be enough. Too ill to perform duties, but able to clean her son's house?
Poor Harald, after a life of service this is what he's left with.

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In this context "ryddet" most likely translates more as "clear out" than "clean". As in Mette-Marit didn't mop the floors but cleared out things from Marius' house.
I do agree in your assessment. A future queen can't be suspected of hindering a criminal investigation.
With this, the surrogate case and her association with Jeffrey Epstein one begins to wonder about her level of common sense, her moral judgement and if she really understands what people expect from a member of the Royal family.

Nora Haukland's lawyer John Christian Elden said about VG's information to Se og Hør:
- If this is true, it is sensational, since the police at the same time decide to arrest in order to prevent the destruction of evidence.
Se og Hør's royal expert Caroline Vagle read VG's new information about Mette-Marit with disbelief.
- If this is true, I find it shocking. Simply very poorly thought out. I can certainly understand her instinct as a mother, but as a crown princess she should stay far away. This matter will never end, and is very serious for all parties involved, including the royal household. I also think it is unfortunate that the Palace makes itself unavailable in connection with this matter.

It seems that the media is tired about the slowness of the investigation of Marius' case.

Nettavisen's columnist Jan Bøhler, former member of the Storting (Parliament) for 16 years, who also was the deputy chairman of Storting's justice committee for two parliamentary terms and worked a lot with criminal gangs and child and youth crime, writes at his column among other things:
It has now become impossible for the Royal Palace to continue to remain silent in this case. There is no turning back.
(..)

Press manager Unni Grøndal in the Oslo police confirmed to Aftenposten that Marius currently doesn't have a driver's license.
According to Aftenposten, it must have happened after an incident in the city in August, only a few weeks after he was arrested by the police and charged with bodily harm and damage. Mette-Marit alerted the health service about the incident. It was this that led to Marius being stripped of his driver's licence.
Guri Varpe, communications manager at the Palace, has not yet answered Aftenposten's questions about the matter on Thursday morning.

NRK has looked up Marius in the Public Road Administration's driving license register. There it emerges that he has no valid driver's licence. He has previously held driving licenses for motorcycles, light motorcycles, medium-heavy motorcycles, mopeds, cars and vans, according to NRK's investigations.

JR76 said:

In this context "ryddet" most likely translates more as "clear out" than "clean". As in Mette-Marit didn't mop the floors but cleared out things from Marius' house.
I do agree in your assessment. A future queen can't be suspected of hindering a criminal investigation.
With this, the surrogate case and her association with Jeffrey Epstein one begins to wonder about her level of common sense, her moral judgement and if she really understands what people expect from a member of the Royal family.

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"Ryddet" means tidy up...

There are people who are socio- or even psychopaths who simply are this way. Most don't turn murderous criminals, but they could at any moment. They are manipulative and without remorse. And that's what makes them so scary. Especially if they are loved relatives or part of a close-knit family. I don't think we can understand what life has been in the RF if Marius is really one of those. Especially as MM has to feel guilty, as it is known (IIRC) that drugs can do that to an unborn baby.
As for her to "tidy up", she probably just helped her son to pack a few things for prison. If she is such a helicopter mum, she surely thought he needed her to organize that and that he should not be seen in the prison institution without properly packed things. It was stupid from here, but I believe she wanted to do the "right" thing and didn't realise how it would look if presented that way.

Mette-Marit may have been trying to protect and help her son. But there are things a crown princess and future queen cannot do.
I believe this is a difficult one for Mette-Marit.
The Royal House has to say something about this situation. Everything needs to be clarified.

Blog Real said:

Mette-Marit may have been trying to protect and help her son. But there are things a crown princess and future queen cannot do.
I believe this is a difficult one for Mette-Marit.
The Royal House has to say something about this situation. Everything needs to be clarified.

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Yes, the pressure from the media is getting stronger and stronger. I'm sure many Norwegians have questions very similar to Nettavisen's columnist Jan Bøhler's six questions, which are at the article I posted previously today. The Royal House can't remain silent forever.
The members of the Royal family and the staff of the Royal House must be quite horrified every morning when they open the news "what are they writing now".

And now Marius' lawyer Øyvind Bratlien comments to Dagbladet about Marius' driver's license:
- There has been great concern at times about Høiby's health and endurance. The case and the accusations have been an enormous burden for him. The prejudgment is massive. The media pressure is indescribable. For his own sake, both weapons and driver's license are therefore no longer in his possession. The driver's license was taken on the recommendation of a doctor. Høiby has agreed to both parts and contributed to it.

This just keeps getting worse. 20 years ago I was so annoyed with Raghnild's public comments about Haakon's relationship with Mette-Marit, but I fear she was correct.

Wow, this development may prove to be the most significant thing that has happened yet! Could MM be compelled to testify in court? Could the police bring charges against her?

But, MM could have been removing things not directly related to Marius' situation. For instance, if he had family photos that they wouldn't want to go public or something along those lines, I can imagine her wanting to get those out before they became part of a police investigation. (Especially if the younger children could be affected.)

Who knows?

kalnel said:

Wow, this development may prove to be the most significant thing that has happened yet! Could MM be compelled to testify in court? Could the police bring charges against her?

But, MM could have been removing things not directly related to Marius' situation. For instance, if he had family photos that they wouldn't want to go public or something along those lines, I can imagine her wanting to get those out before they became part of a police investigation. (Especially if the younger children could be affected.)

Who knows?

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Yes, but if it is true, that Mette-Marit went to Marius' house, it causes many questions.
Like this PR strategist writes:
"Questions are no longer just about what a more peripheral member of the royal family has done, and what the Royal House thinks about it. Now questions can also legitimately be about what a central person in the Royal House has done. "Where was Mette-Marit when the phone was broken?" And so on."

Mette-Marit has chosen her son over the Kingdom

LadyFinn said:

Yes, but if it is true, that Mette-Marit went to Marius' house, it causes many questions.
Like this PR strategist writes:
"Questions are no longer just about what a more peripheral member of the royal family has done, and what the Royal House thinks about it. Now questions can also legitimately be about what a central person in the Royal House has done. "Where was Mette-Marit when the phone was broken?" And so on."

- Kronprinsparets PR-apparat må bli mer fremoverlent

- Kommunikasjonssituasjonen har endret seg, skriver PR-rådgiver Ole A. Winther.

kampanje.com

Mette-Marit has chosen her son over the Kingdom

Mette-Marit har valgt sønnen over kongeriket

Trangen til å beskytte Marius overgår ansvaret for å beskytte monarkiet.

www.nettavisen.no

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Exactly! It draws her in further, and that is a disaster. Even if she was just being a protective mother, it's bad news.

Two other things occurred to me. First, how do they know she cleaned out his house? I doubt Marius would have said, "My mom came over to collect everything incriminating." MM wouldn't have had a reason (that we know of) to tell the police, either.

Someone would have had to witness it or make it up. Are her protection officers leaking to police? What's going on?

The other thing is it now makes a lot more sense how Marius had Bratlien's phone number. I can imagine the police calling the palace or the CP couple's office, which got Bratlien's name and number from their own legal counsel. MM probably relayed that info to Marius when she went to his house.

JR76 said:

In this context "ryddet" most likely translates more as "clear out" than "clean". As in Mette-Marit didn't mop the floors but cleared out things from Marius' house.

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Snowangel said:

"Ryddet" means tidy up...

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Thank you for the clarifications. I continue to wonder how the police came to learn that the Crown Princess had tidied or removed items from her son's house. Was she accompanied by bodyguards who subsequently disclosed her actions to the police? Was the house under surveillance?

LadyFinn said:

Press manager Unni Grøndal in the Oslo police confirmed to Aftenposten that Marius currently doesn't have a driver's license.
According to Aftenposten, it must have happened after an incident in the city in August, only a few weeks after he was arrested by the police and charged with bodily harm and damage. Mette-Marit alerted the health service about the incident. It was this that led to Marius being stripped of his driver's licence.
Guri Varpe, communications manager at the Palace, has not yet answered Aftenposten's questions about the matter on Thursday morning.

Høiby fratatt førerkortet etter at kronprinsessen skal ha varslet

Marius Borg Høiby (27) er fratatt førerkortet. Det bekrefter Oslo-politiet til Aftenposten.

www.aftenposten.no

Mette-Marit varslet helsevesenet: Høiby fratatt førerkortet

Oslo-politiet bekrefter til Aftenposten at Marius Borg Høiby (27) er fratatt førerkortet.

www.nettavisen.no

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I wonder whether we will be receiving more leaks about this "incident" that led to the loss of his driving privileges. It seems that on this occasion Crown Princess Mette-Marit acted responsibly.

kalnel said:

Wow, this development may prove to be the most significant thing that has happened yet! Could MM be compelled to testify in court? Could the police bring charges against her?

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Technically, the police may bring charges against any royal, but under Article 37 of the Constitution, they may be immune from being tried or compelled to testify by the courts.

There is a notable absence of clarity as to whom is covered by Article 37. It is indisputable that Article 37 applies to Haakon, but less clear whether it applies to Mette-Marit.

See this thread for information about Article 37.


Possible immunity aside, tampering with evidence is a crime under Section 160 of the Penal Code (I express no opinion about whether the Crown Princess or Marius has done so).

VG has got information:
- The Oslo police district notified the bodyguard service (PST) about the arrest. We routinely notify of all circumstances that may affect the security arrangements around the Royal Palace. The police's situation center in the Directorate of Police was also routinely notified, says police inspector Martin Strand to VG.
When the police made contact with Marius by phone at 15.37, it was agreed that they should meet outside the royal gates, at Jansløkka school nearby.
There he was arrested at 16.10 and taken to the detention center. Upon arrest, the police seized his mobile phone, which at the time was broken, switched off and missing a SIM card.
When the police called him 33 minutes earlier, the phone worked so they could talk to him.

Blog Real said:

Mette-Marit may have been trying to protect and help her son. But there are things a crown princess and future queen cannot do.
I believe this is a difficult one for Mette-Marit.
The Royal House has to say something about this situation. Everything needs to be clarified.

Click to expand...

Let us not forget from previous discussions that, although she is not in the line of succession, M-M seems to have immunity under the Norwegian constitution. The King may choose to waive her immunity, but, unless he does so, I don’t think M-M can be prosecuted or even forced to testify.

Hannelore said:

Incredible. If this is true, that MM helped her criminal son cover up his traces, she has to step down. Excuses won't be enough. Too ill to perform duties, but able to clean her son's house?
Poor Harald, after a life of service this is what he's left with.

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But what exactly does "step down" mean here? She has already cut back on her Royal duties for health reasons. Unless there is a divorce(I seriously doubt that Haakon will divorce his sick wife) she will always live at Skaugum and benefit from Royal perks

CEO's and politicians step down. ... wives and mothers can't.

So the security police, the Ministry of Justice and the social services for family affairs were all noticed prior to the arrest.
This time I suspect the leak, at least indirectly, came from the police bodyguards.
The bodyguards must have stood by, watching MM rushing into Marius house and seen/heard the commotion only to learn later that crucial evidence was destroyed or attempted to be destroyed, because the wording in this as well as other articles says that the condition of the phone, smashed up and the sim card removed, made it difficult for the police to restore the content on the phone - which suggests that the police, at least partially, were able to reconstruct the content.

It is extremely serious if bodyguards leak about those they protect - if my suspicion is true - but on the other hand as police officers for a future queen, it must have been almost unbelievable for them to watch.

What's next?!? Another leak, saying that MM exited the house carrying a bag that she placed in the booth of her own car? - I can hardly believe this thought has even crossed my mind!

This accusation is so serious and so damaging that the NRF simply has to come out and deny it, if it wasn't true. This simply cannot be ignored. We are after all talking about accusations about the Norwegian Crown Princess openly doing something very illegal. She is among the top ten highest ranking people in Norway, it must be denied if it isn't true.
After all knowingly taking part in destroying evidence and obstructing justice is something ordinary Norwegians are likely to end up in prison for.

Mbruno said:

Let us not forget from previous discussions that, although she is not in the line of succession, M-M seems to have immunity under the Norwegian constitution. The King may choose to waive her immunity, but, unless he does so, I don’t think M-M can be prosecuted or even forced to testify.

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That remains an open question. The authorities have not clarified their interpretation. I personally am of the opinion that Article 37 of the Constitution only grants immunity to persons in the line of succession. Again, see this thread for information and discussion on royal immunity under Article 37 of the Constitution.

Moonmaiden23 said:

But what exactly does "step down" mean here? She has already cut back on her Royal duties for health reasons. Unless there is a divorce(I seriously doubt that Haakon will divorce his sick wife) she will always live at Skaugum and benefit from Royal perks

CEO's and politicians step down. ... wives and mothers can't.

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The only was she can step down is to retire from all royal duties and all public royal appearances. And if this is true, and especially is it emerges that she has also attempted to "persuade" Marius girlfriends from reporting him, that's what she IMO should do.
She can be a mother all she want behind the palace-walls but she cannot be a criminal and a crown princess.

As is true 99.9 per cent of the time Muhler, I agree with you. But in the case of MM she is already retired from her duties to the point where she is one of the least visible Royal women. All that is left is for MM to promise to never wear Royal bling or appear at a State occasion or official photograph.

She is to live a life of high bourgeois comfort and zero responsibility which to be completely honest is the life that I suspect she has always wanted from the start.

I never bought into the MM "fairytale" of August 2000. I suspected that Haakon was being pig headed and short sighted. But Harald and Sonja were backed into a corner when Haakon threatened to pull an Edward VIII on them and here we are.

This my dear friends is why Royal spouses need to be vetted to the hilt. In the old days it might have been more about snobbery and "Royal blood" .

But now it's down to the prestige and viability of the institution itself.

I read that when Marius was in College in the US, he claimed he was a Prince and an heir to the throne, showing off his pics with the RF. But it was proven to be lies (of course) and he left college. It is not clear to me if Marius was in fact the origin of these claims or if someone just took what he said and made up a story about the throne about it! None-the-less, he should have been trained from childhood never to say anything about the Royals that could hurt them. Yes, Haakon and MM should have done something for him then - now it's surely too late. The Norwegians seem able to forgive experimentations with drugs (if it ends well), but not rage attacks that lead to physical and psychic violence. Marius should seek medical help and accept his punishment (if there is one.) I doubt they have secret courts like in Britain, where they can keep information about the RF private, but it is as it is and Marius should have been aware where his money, lifestyle and privileges come from. Yes, I think they should support him to finance the kind of lifestyle he grew up in, but he is an adult and should be able to lay the basics for this life himself. These "friendships" with motorbike gangs and drug smugglers have to end, he has to remain quiet (at least as much as Fergie managed in the UK) and probably life in a different part of Norway or the EU. But as it is, I think it will end up with him playing the "rebel" forever and can only hope that only the papers are interested in him, not the people. And that they still love the RF.

There are trials in Norway where the press and public can be barred entry, or where the press cannot write in any details about it. But that's usually cases that involves children, national security or where methods or informers may be exposed.

It's difficult to justify such a trial where the names of those involved are already well-known and all of them are adults. Also because it will lead to accusations of a cover up.

All Norwegian medias have sent questions to the Palace and the Palace hasn't answered to them.

Criticism to the Police of the arrest
Former police chief Torstein Holand believes the police should have arrested Marius at a time when he didn't expect it. The purpose of a search is to secure evidence. Marius could have been arrested using a civil approach on the street. Then they had made sure to get access to an intact phone.
The Police Academy's associate professor Ingvild Bruce says it is unfortunate if evidence has been destroyed as a result of the police alerting Mette-Marit. If Marius' phone is destroyed after he was notified by the police, then it is unfortunate and a type of evidence destruction that could have been avoided by not notifying. Bruce points out that such notification is outside normal practice. That the accused's mother is notified is highly unusual. If the accused is a minor, then the situation is different.

According to statements from the Prime Minister's office and the Ministry of Justice this evening, no one from there notified the court or the Crown Princess that Marius Borg Høiby was to be arrested on 4 August.

This is all so terrible and unimaginable. Obviously if the police talked with Marius on his phone 30 minutes before the arrest, he tried to destroy his phone and who knows what MM did while “tidying up” which sounds ridiculous- who cleans up for the police? Destroy evidence - yes. Wash the dishes -no. Unless she knew his place was all torn up and she wanted that impression to be mitigated. But you don’t mess with someone’s house when you know they’re about to be arrested.

And that was ridiculous too - if the palace, MM, and Marius not been notified, the police would’ve had Marius’ phone intact.

I’m concerned about Harald and the effect it must be having on his health, and indeed, on MM’s health too. I agree that she should step down or totally retire which would be more like Andrew in the BRF. But what happens when Haakon becomes king? MM doesn’t become the queen?

LadyFinn said:

VG has got information:
- The Oslo police district notified the bodyguard service (PST) about the arrest. We routinely notify of all circumstances that may affect the security arrangements around the Royal Palace. The police's situation center in the Directorate of Police was also routinely notified, says police inspector Martin Strand to VG.
When the police made contact with Marius by phone at 15.37, it was agreed that they should meet outside the royal gates, at Jansløkka school nearby.
There he was arrested at 16.10 and taken to the detention center. Upon arrest, the police seized his mobile phone, which at the time was broken, switched off and missing a SIM card.
When the police called him 33 minutes earlier, the phone worked so they could talk to him.

Politiet: Varslet livvakttjenesten om Høiby-pågripelse

Oslo politidistrikt avslører hvem som ble varslet om den forestående pågripelsen av Marius Borg Høiby (27).

www.vg.no

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Weird they would notify the PST since they don't protect the royal family and this didn't happen at the Royal Palace.

Royalist.in.NC said:

I agree that she should step down or totally retire which would be more like Andrew in the BRF. But what happens when Haakon becomes king? MM doesn’t become the queen?

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The Constitution does not provide an official role for the monarch's spouse, and the monarchy has functioned in the past without having a monarch's consort performing duties (King Olav V was unmarried over the course of his reign from 1957 to 1991). So there would be no particular constitutional issues if, hypothetically, Mette-Marit retired permanently (and indeed, that possibility must have been in everyone's minds since her diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis was announced).

Royalist.in.NC said:

This is all so terrible and unimaginable. Obviously if the police talked with Marius on his phone 30 minutes before the arrest, he tried to destroy his phone and who knows what MM did while “tidying up” which sounds ridiculous- who cleans up for the police? Destroy evidence - yes. Wash the dishes -no. Unless she knew his place was all torn up and she wanted that impression to be mitigated. But you don’t mess with someone’s house when you know they’re about to be arrested.

And that was ridiculous too - if the palace, MM, and Marius not been notified, the police would’ve had Marius’ phone intact.

I’m concerned about Harald and the effect it must be having on his health, and indeed, on MM’s health too. I agree that she should step down or totally retire which would be more like Andrew in the BRF. But what happens when Haakon becomes king? MM doesn’t become the queen?

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Then Ingrid will have to step in. And basically take the glamorous role of "queen."
The irony is that the search warrant apparently only included Marius phone, not searching his home. There would of course always be the risk of the police getting a search warrant for Marius' home, while there was a police guard outside.

Not too long before newspapers and the media start doing public polls on all this mess.

Muhler said:

Then Ingrid will have to step in. And basically take the glamorous role of "queen."
The irony is that the search warrant apparently only included Marius phone, not searching his home. There would of course always be the risk of the police getting a search warrant for Marius' home, while there was a police guard outside.

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And Queen Sonja is still working, isn't she? Assuming her health remains good, perhaps she could continue as "lead queen" until Ingrid completes her education and starts a family.

The real problem would be if something happens to King Harald before the Marius situation has been settled and dropped off the radar. If Haakon had to take the throne now, while his sick wife is implicated in the mess, his children are still in school, and his sister is married to whatever that guy is, he'd have no support, other than his 87-year-old mother and his 92-year-old aunt.

My guess is that the palace will say nothing about the MM accusations. They certainly wouldn't want to add fuel to the media fire, and they wouldn't want to risk inadvertently implicating her in all this.