King Haakon VIII ascended Norway’s throne this week following his father King Harald V’s death, taking over a monarchy that has spent much of 2026 navigating two of the most serious scandals in its modern history.
The Epstein Files
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Haakon’s wife, publicly apologized in February after the U.S. Justice Department’s release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents revealed extensive communication between her and the late convicted sex offender continuing after his 2008 guilty plea. “I was manipulated and deceived,” Mette-Marit said in a tearful interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, adding that she had apologized to King Harald and Queen Sonja for the situation. She has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Her Son’s Conviction
Separately, Mette-Marit’s eldest son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted in June of two counts of rape, along with domestic violence and narcotics offenses, after a trial on charges involving four women assaulted between 2018 and 2024. An Oslo court sentenced him to four years in prison, a lighter sentence than the seven years and seven months prosecutors had requested; he was acquitted of two of the four rape charges. The sentence is not final and can be appealed.
What This Means for the New King
Høiby is not a member of the royal house and has no line of succession claim, but his connection to Mette-Marit through her marriage to Haakon has kept the case tied to royal coverage throughout the year. Haakon takes the throne with his own succession settled, his daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra is next in line, even as the family manages the fallout from both controversies playing out in public.
