Approval of Norwegian royals tumbles after repeated scandals

Approval of Norwegian royals tumbles after repeated scandals

Princess Mette-Marit appears multiple times in the millions of pages released by the US justice department, revealing unsuspected ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Crown Prince Haakon (right) and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway arrived at Oslo City Hall for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. (AFP pic)
OSLO:
The Norwegian royal family’s popularity has fallen to its lowest ever after a series of scandals, according to a poll published today by public broadcaster NRK.

Just 60% of Norwegians support the royal family, down 10 points from a month earlier, a level “that has never been so low”, according to NRK.

Princess Mette-Marit, who married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, appears multiple times in the millions of pages released by the US justice department, revealing an unsuspected complicity between her and the convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Her son, Marius Borg Hoiby, born from a brief relationship prior to her marriage to Haakon, is on trial for 38 charges, including four counts of rape and violence.

The 29-year-old, who is not a member of the royal family, denies the most serious accusations.

In another opinion poll published by TV2 at the end of January, 47.6% of respondents said that Mette-Marit should not become queen, while only 28.9% said she should.

King Harald, who turned 89 today, remains the most popular member of the royal family, according to the poll, which was conducted by the Norstat institute on a sample of more than a thousand people.

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