Queen Mette Marit’s controversial eldest son, Marius Borg Høiby, might not be a member of the Norwegian royal family, but he was granted permission to attend the funeral of his step-grandfather King Harald V on September 9. Høiby, 29, was convicted of 34 charges—ranging from two counts of rape to drug crimes and restraining order violations—in June and is awaiting an appeal trial, but was allowed to leave house arrest for Wednesday’s services at Oslo Cathedral.
Høiby was born to Queen Mette-Marit and her former partner before she met King Haakon and does not hold a royal title or any official role in the monarchy. While he didn’t walk in the funeral procession, he arrived with his step-cousins Maud Angelica Behn and Leah Isadora Behn, the daughters of Princess Märtha Louise.
Queen Mette-Marit’s son has been serving his house arrest at the Norwegian king and queen’s official residence, Skaugum, and Høiby’s detention has been extended from September 7 to October 7 as he awaits his appeal.
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Marius Borg Høiby is pictured with Princess Märtha Louise’s daughters, Maud Angelica Behn and Leah Isadora Behn, at King Harald’s funeral on September 9.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Høiby (back left) carries King Harald’s casket alongside his stepfather, King Haakon (front left), stepsister Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra (front right), stepbrother Prince Sverre Magnus (second row, left), aunt Princess Märtha Louise (second row, right) and step-cousins Maud and Leah Behn.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Høiby was just four years old when his mother married the future King Haakon in 2001, and grew up as another grandchild of King Harald and Queen Sonja. His stepsister, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, will become the future queen of Norway one day, and Marius also has a stepbrother, Prince Sverre Magnus.
The queen’s son also left house arrest to visit King Harald in the hospital a day before he died and served as a pallbearer when the king’s coffin was carried through the Royal Palace in Oslo on August 31.
Along with Marius’s legal troubles, Queen Mette-Marit has also been suffering from complications due to her recent lung transplant. She was forced to miss King Haakon’s swearing-in ceremony in front of Norway’s parliament on September 1 and was briefly hospitalized later that evening for observation. T
he new Norwegian queen, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, received a lung transplant in June and was discharged from the hospital in July. Although it was unclear if she’d be well enough to attend Wednesday’s funeral, she traveled with mother-in-law Queen Sonja by car rather than walk in the procession.
