As you call into the forest, so the answer returns: The press lives off scandals. It already had one it could live on in Marius Borg Høiby. Then the Epstein files arrived and struck the Royal Family amidships. It was a foretold catastrophe. Mette-Marit herself had made a confession to the public that she had a past of uninhibited partying.
She did not have the restraint to resist and perceive the dangers when she encountered Epstein. New York is alluring. She took liberties that are now exacting a price.
There are certain common traits between mother and son.
The family gathered when Marius was taken into custody before the trial began. Then they stood together. All of them. Haakon Magnus said that his job was to take care of the flock. Then he was there. Mette-Marit did not go abroad.
But the press wants to bring her down. Now they have commissioned an opinion poll showing declining support. Not very much. Ten per cent. Nothing else was to be expected.
Monarchies are millennia-old institutions. They unite the population and are therefore an obstacle to those who live by dividing the people.
Mette-Marit attempted to be accommodating when Debatten’s Espen Aas and Åsa Vartdal on Tuesday addressed a question to the Palace: What did Mette-Marit think of what she had heard from Marina Lecarda?
Mette-Marit tried. But she ought to know that however far she stretches herself, it will not be far enough for the press. They want her on her knees. Begging. The journalists will sit like the emperor in the Colosseum and decide whether to let her live. They want ultimate power.
New poll: Record-low support for the monarchy
Six out of ten say they support the monarchy, down from seven out of ten a month ago, according to a new survey for NRK.
This is the lowest support for the monarchy that Norstat has ever measured for NRK. The survey was conducted in the period 17–19 February, with 1009 respondents and a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
The proportion who want a different form of government increases, from 19 per cent in January to as much as 27 per cent in February.
At the same time, King Harald, who turns 89 years old today, remains very popular. The King receives an average of 9.2 on a scale from 1–10 on the question of how good a representative he is for the Royal Family. Queen Sonja is not far below, at 8.6.
The Crown Prince couple, however, are not equally popular. Crown Prince Haakon receives a rating of 7.9 on average, a good distance down from the average of 8.8 he received the last time the question was asked a year and a half ago. Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s popularity has plunged from an average of 7.4 in the previous survey to 3.7 now.
The Crown Princess has been in rough weather recently following the publication of new documents in the case against the deceased American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which showed extensive contact between the two. At the same time, the criminal case against her son Marius Borg Høiby, who is charged with a long list of offences, including domestic abuse and rape, is under way in Oslo District Court (Oslo tingrett).
The heir to the throne and Princess Ingrid Alexandra has also made headlines after she posted a text on her private Instagram account with 800 followers, in which she spoke out against what she described as personal attacks from the media. Her popularity has also declined, from 8.5 in the previous poll to 7.3 in today’s poll. (NTB)