There are 22 guests around the table, aged 19 to 32, coming from all over the country. This Wednesday, November 6, 2024, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway receive. For once, the photographers were allowed through the gates of the Skaugum mansion, their official residence in the suburbs of Oslo, where the event was taking place: a dinner in favor of mental health. “The theme of this year's World Day [le 10 octobre, ndlr] was to take the time, specifies the palace. Take 8 minutes every day to talk to someone who, according to you, might need it. So make room for free speech where everyone can express themselves, without judgment.
“You are here today because you are experts, you know what works for you, insisted the Crown Princess in her introductory remarks. What is good for one of you can be a source of inspiration for another. Perhaps, together, we can create a slightly larger space, where we feel safe to talk about what is difficult. Words which resonate, to say the least, strangely after the chaotic summer experienced by the royal family, and in particular the “Marius affair”, the scandal in which Marius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit's eldest son, was plunged. Accused of violence by three women – including two ex-girlfriends, Nora Haukland and Juliane Snekkestad – and of death threats by a fourth person, the 27-year-old young man risks a lot.
The investigation is still ongoing. The legal drama, punctuated every week by embarrassing revelations, continues to tarnish the image of the institution, already in free fall in the polls with the marriage of Princess Märtha Louise and shaman Durek Verrett. Especially since to ensure his defense, Marius Borg Høiby did not fail to invoke his addiction problems… and his psychological disorders!
In this context, the Skaugum dinner did not fail to raise questions among the Norwegians. The choice of location is surprising to say the least… Because the tabloids recently revealed that Marius organized alcoholic parties here where very bad crowds flocked. This sequence has, at least, the merit of showing that the crown princess – who suffers from a pulmonary fibroid – is once again ready to fulfill some of her obligations. On sick leave since October 23, she reappeared in good shape, listening to the different testimonies, keen to know more about her interlocutors. However, he will have to take care before a winter which promises to be harsh. And break the ice with public opinion that could give him the cold shoulder.
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