Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, , on 19 August 1973) is a member of the Norwegian royal family. She is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the Norwegian throne. A Norwegian commoner and single mother with a disadvantaged past, she was a controversial figure at the time of her engagement to Haakon in 2000. She became Crown Princess of Norway upon her marriage in 2001. The couple have two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus, who are second and third in line to the Norwegian throne respectively. Mette-Marit additionally has a son from a previous brief encounter with Morten Borg, Marius Borg Høiby. In October 2018, she was diagnosed with a form of pulmonary fibrosis. She is being treated at

Oslo University Hospital Oslo University Hospital (; OUS) is a university hospital in Oslo, Norway. With over 24,000 employees it is List of hospitals by staff, the largest hospital organization in Europe. It is affiliated with the University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine, F ...

and has restricted her royal duties.

Background and education

Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby was born in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

in the southern part of Norway, the daughter of Sven O. Høiby, who had been unemployed for some time but who had previously worked as a small-scale advertiser and journalist for a local paper in his hometown of Kristiansand, and Marit Tjessem, a former bank clerk. Her father was also a convicted felon, who had twice been convicted of violence. Her parents divorced, and her father later married professional

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events. Modern forms of stripping m ...

Renate Barsgård. 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 The 2011 Norway attacks, also called 22 July () or 22/7 in Norway, were two domestic terrorism, domestic terrorist attacks by far-right politics, far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik against the politics of Norway, government, the civil ...

. Mette-Marit grew up in

, spending many weekends and holidays in the nearby valley of Setesdal and on the coast, where she learned to sail. During her youth, she was active in the local ''Slettheia'' youth club, where she was also an activity leader. As a teenager, she played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, qualifying as a referee and coach. 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 at Norway House in Cockspur Street,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. When her assignment in London ended, Mette-Marit relocated to Norway. By her own admission, Mette-Marit experienced a rebellious phase before she met Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. As a part-time student, she took 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. In the 1990s she was in a relationship with John Ognby, a man convicted of drug-related offenses. The relationship with Ognby got serious to the degree that they had bought her wedding dress for their planned wedding. A TV2 documentary titled ''Mette-Marit – vår tids Askepott'' focused on Mette-Marit's past. In 1997 she had a son with Morten Borg, who was also a convicted felon and one of Ognby's close friends. 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. Since marrying Haakon, Mette-Marit has taken several university-level courses. In 2012, she obtained a master's degree in executive management. Most of her ancestors were cotters and small farmers.

Marriage and children

When the engagement between Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit was announced, public and media reaction was negative, with many Norwegians being "horrified" and feeling that the Crown Prince's choice of partner was questionable; her lack of education, previous relationships with convicted felons and her socialization in a milieu "where drugs were readily available" were often cited by critics. The couple married on 25 August 2001 at the

Oslo Cathedral Oslo Cathedral () — formerly Our Savior's Church () — is the main church for the Church of Norway Diocese of Oslo, as well as the parish church for downtown Oslo. The present building dates from 1694 to 1697. The Norwegian royal family and th ...

. Upon her marriage, she acquired the title, ''Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Norway''. 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. At the time of their engagement, Mette-Marit was a single mother to a son named Marius Borg Høiby, born 13 January 1997 at Aker Hospital in Oslo, from her brief encounter with convicted felon Morten Borg. Høiby and Borg were never cohabitants or in a formal relationship. Mette-Marit has said of Marius: "Marius became a symbol of the unusual choice we made when we got married (...) he will not have a public role and is not a public figure." In 2017 he moved to the United States to attend an unspecified college. In 2018 media reported that he had falsely portrayed himself as "prince", although he has never held any title and is a commoner, not a royal. He was arrested in August 2024 after assaulting a woman at her apartment. Mette-Marit has been accused of warning her son about his impending arrest and of

evidence tampering Tampering with evidence, or evidence tampering, is an act in which a person alters, conceals, falsifies, or destroys evidence (law), evidence with the intent to interfere with an investigation (usually) by a law-enforcement, governmental, or regula ...

and witness tampering.

Public life and further education

Royal Wedding Stockholm 2010-Konserthuset-389

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 The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, apparently without graduating. She was also accepted as an intern at

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

, the Norwegian government's development organization. The appointment received criticism due to her lack of relevant qualifications. Crown Princess Mette-Marit is a patron of the Norwegian Red Cross and several other organizations. In 2010, Crown Princess Mette-Marit was named Young Global Leader under the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

, and in 2012 she became a member of the international Foundation Board of the Global Shapers Community. In 2015, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Kate Roberts, senior vice-president of Population Services International, established Maverick Collective. On 26 April 2017, the Crown Princess was appointed as ambassador for Norwegian literature in the international arena. 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. In October 2018, she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, which will limit her official programmes. Mette-Marit, who has dealt with "health challenges on a regular basis" (such as pneumonia, several instances of norovirus, low blood pressure, along with some falls, concussions, a neck injury and a herniated disc), will undergo treatment at

UNAIDS

Crown Princess Mette-Marit became a

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS; , ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ex ...

International Goodwill Ambassador in 2006. Her focus as goodwill ambassador is on the empowerment of youth in the AIDS response. The Crown Princess participated in several international AIDS conferences and visited several countries to raise awareness of the work and mission of UNAIDS. She's assisting UNAIDS in its activities around youth program and leadership. In later years, her work with UNAIDS expanded to highlighting the role of young women and adolescent girls in the AIDS response. During 2014 United Nations General Assembly, she emphasized how stigma and discrimination are undermining advances in the AIDS response. 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. 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." She also remarked that it's rewarding to see young skilled people in leadership roles of AIDS response and guiding the country towards an AIDS-free generation. She also opened the Youth Pavilion at the XVIII International AIDS Conference.

Controversies

In 2012, she attracted controversy for assisting a Norwegian couple with ties to the royal family in procuring surrogacy services in India, despite the fact that surrogacy is banned in Norway; she was criticized by women's rights groups for participating in

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

that exploits women in developing countries.Menneskehandel med diplomatpass
, Klassekampen, 10 December 2012 The next year, the practice was also banned in India as a form of human trafficking and harmful to women and children. In 2019, she attracted controversy for her friendship with the American convicted sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...

; 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 Saint Barthélemy, officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. The island lies about southeast of the island ...

.Deres kongelige lukkethet
,

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

Skurrende slottssignaler
, Dagsavisen 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."

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

*19 August 1973 – 25 August 2001: ''Miss'' Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby *25 August 2001 – present: ''Her Royal Highness'' The Crown Princess of Norway

Arms

File:Coat of Arms of Princes and of Princesses of Norway.svg,

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

File:Royal Monogram of Princess Metta-Merit of Norway.svg, Monogram

Honours and medals

National honours and medals

* : Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav * : Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Harald V * : Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V * : Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal * : Recipient of the King Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross, 1st Class of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Balkan Mountains * : Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana * : Grand Cross of the Order of the White Star * : Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland * : Grand Cross, 1st Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

* : Paulownia Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Recognition * : Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great * : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau * : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

* : Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal * : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

* : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

Royal Decree 655/2006
BOE no. 126, 27 May 2006, p. 20011
* : Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

References

External links