Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Norway's Queen Mette-Marit, left house arrest to join the Norwegian Royal Family in events leading up to King Harald's funeral. On Monday, the 29-year-old was photographed at the Royal Palace in Oslo alongside King Haakon, Queen Sonja, Queen Mette-Marit, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus and Princess Martha Louise as the family moved King Harald's bier to the Palace Chapel.
Bier moved to Palace Chapel
The late King will remain in the chapel until his funeral on September 9, where members of the public will be able to pay their respects. The Norwegian Royal Family were accompanied by court staff for the ceremony, which was led by the King's chief of staff, who carried the Crown of Norway on a cushion, and the head of the royal secretariat, who carried the sword of the kingdom.
Høiby took his place at the back of the King's coffin, while his mother Mette-Marit and Harald's widow Queen Sonja held hands as they walked behind the procession.
House arrest and appeal
In June this year, Marius was found guilty of two counts of rape among other offences, and sentenced to four years in prison, after continuing to deny the most serious charges. Queen Mette-Marit's oldest child is currently under house arrest at the royal estate of Skaugum while his legal team works to appeal the sentencing.
Despite the guilty verdict, Marius has been granted permission to leave house arrest under electronic monitoring as King Harald's health deteriorated. He was permitted to leave the royal estate on August 27 to visit his step-grandfather in the National Hospital, then on August 28 to Bygdøy Royal Palace following Harald's death, and again on August 31 to participate in the bier ceremony.
In addition, Marius will again be allowed to leave the royal estate to attend the funeral of King Harald on September 9, according to a police prosecutor. “The public prosecutor deemed that there were grounds to grant the requests for leave submitted by Hoiby in connection with the death,” police prosecutor Oda Karterud told AFP. “Leave has been granted... for the funeral on September 9.”
Queen Mette-Marit's absence
Later today, King Haakon will attend the swearing in ceremony in the Storting, where he will take an oath to the Norwegian constitution. However, he will not be joined by his wife Mette-Marit, who is experiencing 'complications' following her lung transplant surgery.
The queen underwent a lung transplant in June as she continued to battle pulmonary fibrosis, which had worsened in recent months following her diagnosis with the disease in 2018. Now, just hours before the swearing in ceremony is due to begin, the Palace announced that she will be absent, as pulmonologist Are Holm at the National Hospital, who has been overseeing the queen's treatment, said she needs to be observed.
Holm said: “It is not uncommon for complications to occur after a lung transplant. The Queen has had some complications on rare occasions since the operation, including today. As a result, the Queen must be observed throughout the day. The Queen will therefore unfortunately not be able to attend the swearing-in ceremony at the Storting today.”
