Queen Mette-Marit is in the crosshairs: 37.8% of Norwegians believe that she is not capable of performing that role, compared to 35.8% who think the opposite of the wife of King Haakon VIII, according to a poll released this Wednesday by the newspaper Dagbladet.
In this survey, there are more details that catch the eye: among those who doubt the queen’s suitability, 23.5% consider that she is very poorly qualified, while 14.3% believe that she is not fit.
Among those who hold the opposite view, 20% see her as highly capable and 15.8% believe that she is simply not fit for that role.
26.4% are unsure or prefer not to answer, according to a study carried out on August 31, three days after the death of King Harald V, in which 1,058 people participated.
In a poll conducted last February for the same newspaper, the percentage of Norwegians who did not see Mette-Marit as fit to be queen rose to 44%.
Asked about the confidence inspired by the new queen, 40.3% respond that it is low, compared to 31.4% who claim the opposite and 24.5% who are undecided or prefer not to respond.
Mette-Marit, 53, has limited her public appearances to a minimum over the last year due to the worsening of the pulmonary fibrosis she has suffered since 2018 — which led to a lung transplant in June — and amid the scandal over new revelations about her friendship with the convicted American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, for which she has publicly apologized.
The new queen has also been affected by the trial to which her daughter’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, was subjected, sentenced in June to four years in prison for two rape cases and for abuse of one of his ex-girlfriends, although the sentence is not final, as it has been appealed.
The wedding of Haakon and Mette-Marit in 2001 had already been preceded by controversy due to the princess’s turbulent past, who had Marius with a man who later went to prison for drug trafficking.
