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Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway

Mette-Marit
Crown Princess of Norway
Mette-Marit in 2013
BornMette-Marit Tjessem Høiby
(1973-08-19) 19 August 1973 (age 52)
Kristiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2001)​
Issue
HouseGlücksburg (by marriage)
FatherSven O. Høiby
MotherMarit Tjessem
ReligionChurch of Norway
Norwegian royal family
* Member of the Norwegian Royal House

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, pronounced [ˌmɛtːəˈmɑ̀ːrɪt ˈçɛ̀sːəm ˈhœ̀ʏbʏ], on 19 August 1973) is a member of the Norwegian royal family. She has been married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne, since 2001. The couple have two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus, who are second and third in line to the Norwegian throne. A Norwegian commoner and onetime single mother, Mette-Marit was a controversial figure at the time of her engagement to Haakon in 2000. She became a UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador in 2006.

Background and education

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Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby was born in Kristiansand in the southern part of Norway, the daughter of Sven O. Høiby, a former small-scale advertiser and journalist, and Marit Tjessem, a former bank clerk. Her father was also a convicted felon who had twice been convicted of violence.[1] Her parents divorced, and her father later married professional stripper Renate Barsgård.[2] She has a sister and two older brothers, including Per Høiby. Her step-brother, Trond Berntsen, by her mother's 1994 marriage to Rolf Berntsen, died in the 2011 Norway attacks.[3] Most of her ancestors were cotters and small farmers.[4]

After starting at Oddernes upper secondary school in Kristiansand, Mette-Marit spent six months at Wangaratta High School located in North East Victoria in Australia as an exchange student with the exchange organisation, Youth For Understanding. Later, she attended Kristiansand Cathedral School, where she passed her final examinations in 1994. She then spent several months working for the Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce[5] at Norway House in Cockspur Street, London.

By her own admission, Mette-Marit experienced a rebellious phase before she met Crown Prince Haakon Magnus.[6] As a part-time student, she had taken six years, longer than usual, to complete her high school education before going on to take preparatory college courses at Agder College. She then worked on and off as a waitress at the restaurant Café Engebret in Oslo.[7] Mette-Marit was known by the nickname "Sørlandsporten" because she was from Sørlandet and was considered a "party girl" who had a series of relationships with men in Oslo's drug scene.[8][9]

In the 1990s, Mette-Marit was in a relationship with John Ognby, a man convicted of drug-related offenses.[10][11][12][13] Their relationship progressed to the point where they had bought her wedding dress for their planned wedding.[14]

Mette-Marit had a son named Marius Borg Høiby, born 13 January 1997 at Aker Hospital in Oslo.[15] His father is Morten Borg,[16] who is a convicted felon and one of Ognby's close friends.[14] Mette-Marit and Morten Borg were never in a relationship.[17] After Marius Høiby was born, Mette-Marit relocated with her son to her childhood home of Kristiansand. There, she and her then-partner, a local disc jockey, raised Marius Høiby until the couple split in early 1999.[17]

A TV2 documentary entitled Mette-Marit – vår tids Askepott focused on Mette-Marit's past.[11]

Since marrying Haakon, Mette-Marit has taken several university-level courses.[18] During 2002 and 2003, the Crown Princess attended lectures in development studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.[19] In 2012, she obtained a master's degree in executive management.[18]

Marriage, children, and health

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See also: Wedding of Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby

In the late 1990s, Mette-Marit attended the Quart Festival, Norway's largest music festival, in her hometown of Kristiansand. She met Crown Prince Haakon at a garden party during the Quart Festival season. Years later, after becoming a single mother, she met the prince again at another party related to the festival.[20] Haakon and Mette-Marit announced their engagement in December 2000.[21]

When the engagement between Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit was announced, public and media reaction was negative, with many Norwegians being "horrified"[22] and feeling that the Crown Prince's choice of partner was questionable. Mette-Marit's lack of education, previous relationships with convicted felons and socialization in a milieu "where drugs were readily available" were often cited by critics.[23][24] King Harald's older sister Princess Ragnhild said her father, King Olav, never would have allowed the Crown Prince to marry Mette-Marit, and also said she felt sorry for Mette-Marit's son, Marius Høiby, who would not have a royal title.[25]

Mette-Marit and Haakon married on 25 August 2001 at the Oslo Cathedral. Upon her marriage, Mette-Marit acquired the title Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Norway.[26] The couple have two children together: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, born 21 January 2004 at The National Hospital in Oslo and Prince Sverre Magnus, born 3 December 2005 at The National Hospital in Oslo.[27]

In October 2018, Mette-Marit was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.[28] Mette-Marit has dealt with "health challenges on a regular basis", including pneumonia, several instances of norovirus, low blood pressure, falls, concussions, a neck injury and a herniated disc.[29] She indicated that she would undergo treatment for pulmonary fibrosis at Oslo University Hospital.[30]

On 18 August 2025, Marius Høiby was charged with 32 different offenses, including the rapes of four different women as well as acts of violence against two former partners.[31] The media claimed that Høiby and his family have received preferential treatment from police.[32] Mette-Marit has been accused of warning her son about his impending arrest and of evidence tampering and witness tampering.[33][34] The Høiby case has been described in Norwegian media as one of the most extensive rape investigations in recent years.[35] The Høiby case, together with controversies surrounding the King's son-in-law Durek Verrett, has been cited as contributing to a decline in the Norwegian royal family's reputation and increased debate about the future of the monarchy in Norway.[36][37][38][39]

Public life

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon in 2010

Crown Princess Mette-Marit was accepted as an intern at NORAD, the Norwegian government's development organization. The appointment received criticism due to her lack of relevant qualifications.[19]

Crown Princess Mette-Marit is a patron of the Norwegian Red Cross and several other organizations.[40][41] In 2010, Crown Princess Mette-Marit was named Young Global Leader under the World Economic Forum, and in 2012 she became a member of the international Foundation Board of the Global Shapers Community.[40]

In 2012, she attracted controversy for assisting a Norwegian couple with ties to the royal family in procuring surrogacy services in India, despite surrogacy being banned in Norway; she was criticized by women's rights groups who accused her of participating in human trafficking that exploits women in developing countries.[42][43] The next year, the practice was also banned in India as a form of human trafficking and harmful to women and children.[44][45]

In 2015, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Kate Roberts, senior vice-president of Population Services International, established Maverick Collective.[40] On 26 April 2017, the Crown Princess was appointed as ambassador for Norwegian literature in the international arena.[40]

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit established The Crown Prince and Crown Princess's Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to identify and support projects for young people in Norway with the objective of strengthening youth leadership and integration.[46]

In 2019, she attracted controversy for her friendship with the American convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; she met him several times between 2011 and 2013, after his conviction on charges of sex trafficking of minors in 2008 and release from prison. Crown Prince Haakon also met Epstein during one of these occasions while the couple were on a holiday in Saint Barthélemy.[47][48][49] Her friendship with Epstein was revealed by Norwegian media in the context of the scandal involving Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who in that year resigned from all public roles over his longstanding ties to Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse. In a statement, Mette-Marit spoke of her regret in failing to investigate Epstein's past. The Royal Palace's communications manager Guri Varpe stated that she ceased contact with Epstein as he was attempting to use his connection to her to "influence other people."[47][50]

As of 2024, Mette-Marit remains deeply unpopular, with only 27% approving of her as a future queen.[51]

UNAIDS

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit became a UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador in 2006.[52] Her focus as goodwill ambassador is on the empowerment of youth in the AIDS response.[52] The Crown Princess participated in several international AIDS conferences and visited several countries to raise awareness of the work and mission of UNAIDS.[52] In later years, her work with UNAIDS expanded to highlighting the role of young women and adolescent girls in the AIDS response.[53]

During the 2014 United Nations General Assembly, she emphasized how stigma and discrimination are undermining advances in the AIDS response.[54] The Crown Princess highlighted the opportunities offered by social media to empower young people in new areas of advocacy at the youth summit during her visit to Mali.[55] During a visit to Tanzania in April 2016, Crown Princess Mette-Marit said "It is moving to meet mothers who are in good health and caring for children born free from HIV thanks to antiretroviral medicines."[53] She also remarked that it was rewarding to see young skilled people in leadership roles of AIDS response and guiding the country towards an AIDS-free generation.[53] She also opened the Youth Pavilion at the XVIII International AIDS Conference.[56]

Titles, styles and honours

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Titles

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  • 19 August 1973 – 25 August 2001: Miss Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby[57]
  • 25 August 2001 – present: Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Norway[58]

Arms

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[58]

Honours and medals

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See also: List of honours of the Norwegian royal family by country

National honours and medals

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Foreign honours

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References

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  1. ^ Marius Borg Høiby er også en arving, Minerva
  2. ^ Nygaard, Fridtjof (3 November 2005). "Sven O. married today". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  3. ^ Sanchez, Raf (25 July 2011). "Norway killings: Princess's brother Trond Berntsen among dead". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
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