Norway’s Royal Court released its annual report Wednesday on what was one of its most difficult years since World War II. Questions, meanwhile, keep piling up over Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s relations with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and how much the crown couple knew about her son’s alleged criminal offenses.
The Royal Court, charged with managing the royal family’s activities, properties and finances, led off with a predictably upbeat tone. It reported how various royals visited nine countries and 49 Norwegian municipalities last year and hosted nearly 2,000 guests. It also noted how Princess Ingrid Alexandra, second in line for the throne, finished military duty last spring, took part in her first state visit, held her first audience at the Royal Palace (with a children’s panel on climate issues) and began studying at the University of Sydney in Australia for a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, with an emphasis on international relations.
The report went on, though, to report how the royals’ role as a public family inherently “entails strengths as well as vulnerabilities.” It noted, without going into detail, how “events involving individual members of the family have an impact on the nation at large.” That was likely a reference to Crown Princess Mette-Marit and her ties to Epstein, along with her son Marius Borg Høiby, who faces at least seven years in jail after his recent trial on charges of rape, other violent assaults and various drug charges.
“The members of the Royal Family encounter (the impact) in good times … and during more difficult times,” the report continued, “both through public solicitude (concern and anxiety) and through intense media attention.”
There was no mention of how or why all the “intense media attention” arose. It was, however, sparked by one royal scandal after another plus public concern over the health problems faced by the 89-year-old King Harald and 88-year-old Queen Sonja. Much of the burden of royal responsibilities has fallen to Crown Prince Haakon, age 52, who refused to answer more questions last week about his wife’s emails with Epstein, or whether he knew about Epstein’s criminal past during his wife’s friendship with Epstein from 2011 to 2014.
The crown prince responded that he had no intention of “going deeply into that now,” while adding that he “doesn’t read all the emails to my wife.” Newspaper VG had also asked him, during a brief encounter outside a seafood firm in Romsdal, whether he was aware of the charges against Epstein when his wife was friends with him, even staying at his home in Palm Beach, Florida after a family holiday in the Caribbean.
The crown prince said he didn’t want “get into that” either, while also refusing to sit for interviews apart from a brief session he and his wife had with Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) last month. Nor have any members of the royal family disclosed how much they knew about Høiby’s criminal activities, whether they were aware of his drug abuse on the royal estate where he lived with the family or his domestic violence against partners.
Kjetil B Alstadheim, political editor and commentator for newspaper Aftenposten, wrote on Wednesday that Crown Prince Haakon seems to hope the media and the public will forget about his wife’s relationship with Epstein. “But he must answer, he is despite everything the heir to the throne,” Alstadheim wrote. That means Haakon should be held accountable like all other public officials.
The Royal Court itself is also likely to face questions over its report of a financial deficit of NOK 710,000 on operating costs, that will be “covered by previously allocated reserves in accordance with the financial plan.” Expenses for management of the Royal Court also rose last year and accounts ended with a loss of around NOK 2 million. It was attributed to a “planned high level of activity on maintenance and refurbishment projects at the Royal Palace, as well as major investments in digitalization.
That included a major redesign of the royal website. Many former family photos that included Høiby, Crown Prince Haakon’s older and contoversial sister Princess Märtha Louise and her family have been removed.
The annual report and accounts of the Royal Court have been submitted to leadership at the Norwegian Parliament, the ministry in charge of digitalization and public governance and the state auditor general. They may have questions as well.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
