It’s the beginning of the end for Marius Borg, the eldest son of Princess Mette-Marit whom Haakon of Norway raised as his own. After two years of police and judicial scandal, today the sentence will be announced that will determine what punishment will be applied for the 40 crimes he is accused of, including several sexual assaults. The possibility of an acquittal is practically nil, according to Norwegian media reports. However, this is not the worst of the dramas facing the royal family.
The last days before the awaited verdict in the Marius Borg case have been agonizing for his mother, Princess Mette-Marit, the heir apparent Haakon, and Kings Harald and Sonja. Everything that could happen has happened without a break. In February, the controversial messages between Mette-Marit and Jeffrey Epstein were revealed. In March, Harald was hospitalized in Tenerife, where he was spending a few days on vacation. Additionally, the heir princes had to explain on television their relationship with Epstein.
In April, Princess Mette-Marit reappeared after weeks out of the spotlight and off the royal agenda, with an oxygen nasal cannula, proof that the chronic pulmonary fibrosis she suffers from has worsened. In May, Queen Sonja had to be hospitalized twice for atrial fibrillation and heart failure. This month, it was confirmed that the princess has entered the transplant waiting list and Haakon suspended his official schedule to spend more time by her side.
Paralleling this, the lawyers for Marius Borg requested provisional release for their client before the Court of Appeal, considering his mother’s delicate health. “Being together as a family in moments like this is very important,” the young man told the judges. “Not only for mom, but also for the rest of the family. Knowing that when I am in Oslo Prison I can see her once a week. The last two times she has been sleeping on the sofa because she has no strength.”
Marius Borg Was Denied Temporary Release
Despite the dramatic situation of the family, the Court of Appeal denied him provisional release due to flight risk and also because of his behavior in a previous arrest in which it had indeed been granted. Then, in addition to relapsing, he violated a restraining order with one of the complainants. Perhaps as a result of this denial, Marius Borg was moved from the Oslo prison to a hospital center for reasons that have not been disclosed.
Los príncipes Haakon y Mette-Marit con Marius Borg, en 2024, antes de su primera detención.
There remains one controversy, the most unexpected one, that worsens the dramatic moment the Norwegian royal family is living. It concerns Princess Ingrid, heir to the throne and until recently a student at the University of Sydney. The future queen decided to suspend her university studies to accompany her mother, but the transfer of enrollment from Australia to the University of Oslo was not carried out correctly, according to Norwegian media reports. In fact, the princess’s admission occurred late: one week after the enrollment deadline.
The scandal over possible preferential treatment has jumped to all television networks and media, although the university has tried to quell it immediately. In addition to denying that there was any favoritism, it has been clarified that there is some leniency in cases where students do not arrive on time to complete the enrollment papers within the marked deadline. For all this, it is not surprising that the approval rating of the royal family has fallen to 60%, the lowest in the modern history of the monarchy.
The Controversies of Märtha Louise and Haakon
Two more members of the royal family contribute to the doubts Norwegians now express about the Crown. They are Princess Märtha Louise and her husband, the shaman Durek Verrett, controversial for doing business with their wedding last August: they sold the exclusive to a well-known magazine. They also starred in a scandalous Netflix documentary and, now, they have announced that they will participate in a reality show that revolves around esotericism.
Prince Haakon has not escaped scrutiny and scandal either. In fact, last August Norwegian media reported that he had quintupled his personal fortune thanks to the leasing of several residences located on royal lands, leased by his father. There are about ten properties located on the private estate of Skaugum, the usual residence of the heir, whose upkeep and improvements are financed with state funds.
