Marius Borg Høiby: Mette-Marit wrote a letter to the Norwegian media

Idyllic photos by the sea, cheerful appearances in traditional costume and harmonious coexistence on the palace balcony: this is how Crown Prince Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit presented themselves in recent years when they posed publicly with their children. There is Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who will one day sit on the Norwegian throne, her younger brother Prince Sverre Magnus, who will soon celebrate his 19th birthday – and Marius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship, whom she is with brought marriage. The 27-year-old has been making headlines for several months and is plunging the royal family into an unprecedented crisis. It’s about assaulting ex-girlfriends, property damage, drug use and rape. Most recently, Borg Høiby spent a week in custody.

Ulf André Andersen, editor-in-chief of the Norwegian magazine “Seg og Hør” now said: “We knew about his drug problems for years, but didn’t write anything about it because it was a private matter. Maybe that was wrong, then they would have known him earlier be responsible for his actions.” In fact, in 2017, on Marius’ 20th birthday, Crown Princess Mette-Marit published a letter asking the Norwegian media to leave her son alone. Their reasoning was that he didn’t want to lead a life in public.

“Marius has always had a role that was difficult to define publicly. (…) Marius became a symbol of the unusual choice we made when we got married. At the same time, he has no public duties to fulfill like his siblings. “He should not play a public role and is not a public figure,” the 51-year-old wrote. Nevertheless, Marius was persecuted by the Norwegian press from an early age, journalists besieged the Crown Prince couple’s house, camera teams filmed Mette-Marit and her son on the playground, and he was the focus of reporting throughout his youth.

Mette-Marit therefore criticized journalists who had put her son under pressure. “A few media outlets have decided to write about youthful carelessness. It would be unnatural if there were no examples of this. In any case, I am grateful that not all the rebellions of my youth were followed like a hawk. That would have looked much worse.”

In her twenties, the Norwegian Crown Princess was considered a party girl who was also active in the drug scene. Marius Borg Høiby’s biological father, Morten Borg, was in prison for cocaine possession. Before her wedding to Crown Prince Haakon, Mette-Marit spoke tearfully about her turbulent past. She admitted that she had previously exceeded “the limits of what was accepted” – and was remorseful. A gesture with which she gained sympathy points from the Norwegians.

Her son, on the other hand, shows no remorse after the allegations of the past few months. After the first incidents in August, the palace released a statement in which Marius confessed to having acted under the influence of drugs and alcohol. “Something happened that should never have happened. I committed bodily harm and destroyed objects in an apartment,” explained Borg Høiby. He suffers from several mental disorders that have affected his life since childhood. Borg Høiby announced that he would seek therapeutic help again.

In contrast to his mother Mette-Marit, he has not yet followed up his words with actions. Recently published chat histories show that Marius even made fun of the investigations against him. The Crown Princess has remained silent so far. Unlike seven years ago, when she tried to take her son out of the spotlight with her letter. The allegations against Marius Borg Høiby are simply too serious.