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Norway’s royal family is about to face its darkest day yet, with the verdict in the trial of Marius Borg Høiby to be delivered shortly.
But it isn’t only the accusations of rape — including one alleged incident tied to the Crown Prince’s home — that are troubling the once hugely popular House of Glücksburg.
Their beloved King’s health is failing, they have a future Queen Consort battling illness and renewed scrutiny over her past, a princess whose spiritual‑guru husband has already tested the monarchy’s limits and a young future queen who should be enjoying the most problem‑free years of her life studying in Australia pulled back to Oslo.
Individually, these would each be challenges. Together, they raise a far more unsettling question: is the royal household in Norway about to fall?
The ‘little prince’ on trial
For months, the palace has tried to separate itself from Marius Borg Høiby, stressing that the son of Crown Princess Mette‑Marit and stepson of Crown Prince Haakon is a private citizen and not a prince or a representative of the Crown.
But that isn’t how many people see it as he faces dozens of criminal charges in Oslo, including allegations of rape, domestic violence and the alleged filming of women without consent.
“He has grown up living in the palace grounds and that lifestyle with all the access and the privileges that come along with it,” John McDermott, the creator of the Crown and Controversy: Norway – The Trial of Marius Borg Høiby podcast, tells me.
“Maybe that makes him seem as a royal without a portfolio or a quasi‑royal, but I think many people would see him as a prince without a title.”
Indeed, when he was thrust into the spotlight at just 4 — acting as a pageboy in the 2001 wedding of his mother to the heir to the Norwegian throne — the local press dubbed him the “little prince”.
He then went on to become a fixture at family events with King Harald V, Queen Sonja and the Crown Prince couple, including regular appearances at Constitution Day.
Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of seven years and seven months. The verdict will be delivered by a panel of three judges on June 15.
Ahead of his seven‑week trial, which began in early February, Marius, 29, pleaded guilty to several lesser charges, including drug offences, traffic violations and breaching a restraining order.
He continues to deny wrongdoing in the most serious allegations that have been levelled against him.
What has rattled Norwegians most is the proximity. One alleged assault is said to have taken place on the Skaugum estate, the official residence of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette‑Marit, where Marius was raised alongside his half‑siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
That detail alone is enough to shift the narrative from a private matter to something far more uncomfortable for the royal family.
Inside the courtroom, Marius’ testimony has been emotional, contradictory, and at times deeply troubling.
“I am known as the son of Mummy,” he said, referring to Crown Princess. “Which means I have an extreme need for affirmation. A lot of sex, a lot of alcohol.”
Norway is a country that prides itself on transparency, equality and accountability, and these were values the monarchy has long relied on to justify its existence.
A royal‑adjacent rape trial cuts directly against that national self‑image, and it shows.
Recent polls reveal that the popularity of the Norwegian royal family has tumbled to historic lows, with public support dropping to roughly 60%.
The future queen in the fight for her life
As they await the June 15 verdict and brace for what comes next, Marius has been fighting — unsuccessfully — to be released from custody so he can spend time with his mother.
Mette‑Marit, 52, was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis 2018. It is a serious lung condition that has forced her to scale back her royal duties and cancel engagements at short notice.
She is now seen infrequently in public, often wearing a nasal tube connected to oxygen to help her breathe while she waits for a lung transplant, one that may or may not come in time.
“Sitting inside when I know Mum is so sick is unbearable,” Marius told the court. “Every Sunday when we meet in prison, I know that it could be the last time I see her.”
A health battle like the one the next Queen Consort is facing would usually buy some goodwill. But not in the case of Mette‑Marit.
Recent polling suggests that 47 percent of Norwegians do not want her as Queen, after her past associations with Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
Years ago, she apologised for meeting him after his conviction, insisting she had not understood the extent of his crimes.
But newly released documents, including more than 100 emails and messages, suggest a relationship that was warmer and more frequent than previously acknowledged.
“Googled u after last email,” she wrote in October 2011, years after his conviction for sex crimes. “Agree didn’t look too good.”
The timing could not be worse. With her son on trial for rape and the monarchy’s popularity falling, the institution desperately needs stability while she is increasingly seen as a liability.
“It’s a tough call whether her son’s trial or her own relationship with Epstein is really the bigger story in Norway,” McDermott reveals.
The royal reality star
When it comes to royal scandal, Princess Märtha Louise has long been the gift that keeps on giving to the Norwegian press.
Her relationship with American self‑styled “shaman” Durek Verrett has already caused public backlash, accusations of commercialising her royal title and a formal agreement with the palace that she would step back from official duties.
And after her 2025 Netflix docuseries, Rebel Royals, that documented the couple in the lead up to their wedding, the pair are now set to star in their own reality show.
The couple announced they will star in Alternative Norway, a new reality TV show that is described as a “warm, entertaining, and intimate” glimpse into “Norway’s esoteric scene.”
The cast also includes a collection of clairvoyants, animal interpreters, and Magnus Store, who is a “breathing instructor”.
Märtha Louise previously gave up “Her Royal Highness” title in 2002 when she chose to work as a clairvoyant, and agreed in 2019 that she wouldn’t use her princess title for commercial endeavours.
With not much left to take away, the palace can’t control her, and her antics shine a spotlight onto the royal family at a time when they desperately want the negative headlines to go away.
“The Princess and the Shaman are definitely the Harry and Meghan of Norway’s royal family,” explains McDermott. “Whatever they do, it causes a lot of headlines and outrage, but when compared to some of the other stories in the family, it’s more of a fun scandal story.”
The Princess under pressure
Even before she packed up her bags in Australia to head home, Princess Ingrid Alexandra was already showing signs of strain.
“I’m going crazy. When is enough?” she posted on her private Instagram account in February.
In an effort to give her distance from the family’s troubles — and a chance at a normal student life — the second in line to Norway’s throne began university last July in Sydney, about as far from home as she could get.
But with the deteriorating health of Mette-Marit, plans changed.
“She plans to come home soon,” Crown Prince Haakon said on a trip to Japan in June. “It has to do with the family situation. She wants to be with her mother.”
She will now spend the next semester at the University of Oslo as an exchange student. The palace says the princess will return to Sydney to complete her studies though no timeframe has been given.
Her time abroad also hadn’t turned into the escape she imagined. Just short of taking her exams at the end of her second semester, she was suddenly on a flight back to Oslo — the evening before a local man fronted court on stalking charges.
And as her family comes under increasing pressure, Ingrid Alexandra will be required to take on more work to support them.
Young, modern, relatable and widely admired, she is meant to be the fresh start for the family. But at just 22, she’s also navigating adulthood under intense scrutiny and understandly struggling with the pressure.
Her return to Norway has been framed publicly as a recommitment to her future role. But insiders say it’s also a response to the family’s mounting crises.
“Haakon is being looked at as a sandwich king, someone to hold the place until the younger, more popular heir ascends the throne,” McDermott explains.
“But everyone is looking to Ingrid Alexandra as the next generation.”
Could Norway’s royal house fall?
In 1969, Britain’s Prince Philip admitted just how fragile the Crown really is.
“It is a complete misconception to imagine that the monarchy exists in the interests of the monarch,” he said.
“It doesn’t. It exists in the interests of the people. If at any time any nation decides that system is unacceptable, then it is up to them to change it.”
The Duke of Edinburgh would know better than most. Born a prince of Greece, he was smuggled out of the country at just 18 months of age in a fruit crate after the royal family was exiled following a coup.
One by one, royal households across the world — Russia, France, Italy, Germany — have fallen. It is not hard to imagine that the next one to realistically go could be Norway.
King Harald V remains beloved by his people, but he is also 89, suffering from heart and mobility issues, and increasingly absent from public life.
His recent hospitalisations have become almost routine, and Norwegians are quietly preparing for the inevitable.
The real problem is that the monarchy’s moral authority has traditionally flowed from him. Without him, the institution loses its most trusted figure at the exact moment it’s facing its most destabilising scandals.
A transition to Crown Prince Haakon is coming. The question is whether it will be orderly or overshadowed by crisis.
McDermott believes that June 15, the day of the verdict, will be one of the toughest the Norwegian royal family has ever had to face.
“It’s going to be their rock bottom,” he tells me. But after that, he sees a shift.
“I think at this point they are waiting to see that verdict, then afterwards we will see their strategy will change and they will have the younger royals out leading the way to help turn that public perception around.”
Of course, behind closed doors, there is still a lot to be done because monarchies don’t fall in a single moment.
They erode slowly, through silence, scandal and the quiet loss of public faith. And right now, Norway’s royal family is running out of room to stumble.
Listen to Crown and Controversy: Norway – The Trial of Marius Borg Høiby here.
Read more expert opinion and analysis in WHO’s The Royal Verdict with Kylie Walters here.
