XPost: alt.fan.countries.norway, soc.culture.jewish, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   Norway’s royal family were battling scandals on multiple fronts this week,   
   with charities moving to cut or review ties to the Crown Princess for her   
   past contact with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while others   
   question her suitability to the role of future queen.   
      
   The first controversy is that of the 29-year-old son of Crown Princess   
   Mette-Marit, Marius Borg Høiby, who earlier this week broke down in tears   
   during his first day of testimony as he denied four counts of rape in an   
   Oslo court.   
      
   Høiby sits outside the line of succession as he was born before his mother   
   married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001.   
      
   Haakon reaffirmed Høiby’s status as a commoner in a rare statement ahead   
   of the rape trial starting on Tuesday, saying his stepson was “not a   
   member of the Royal House of Norway and is therefore autonomous.”   
      
   But his efforts to safeguard the Crown’s reputation were overshadowed when   
   a second controversy erupted, this time implicating his wife and Høiby’s   
   mother, the country’s future queen.   
      
   New Epstein files released by the US Justice Department show extensive   
   correspondence between Mette-Marit and the late sex offender – something   
   the princess has since expressed regret over – years after Epstein pleaded   
   guilty to soliciting sex from a minor.   
      
   On Friday, Norway’s royal house said Mette-Marit “strongly disavows   
   Epstein’s abuse and criminal acts” and is sorry for “not having   
   understood   
   early enough what kind of person he was.”   
      
   “Some of the content of the messages between Epstein and me does not   
   represent the person I want to be. I also apologize for the situation that   
   I have put the Royal Family in, especially the King and Queen,” Mette-   
   Marit said in a statement.   
      
   Challenges on multiple fronts   
   It has sparked an open public discussion in Norway about whether Mette-   
   Marit should become queen, experts say.   
      
   “Confidence in the Crown Princess has fallen sharply,” said Tove Taalesen,   
   a royal correspondent for news outlet Nettavisen. “A majority still backs   
   the institution, but that support is weaker, and uncertainty is growing.”   
      
   The controversy raises uncomfortable questions about Mette-Marit’s   
   position within the clan, particularly given the advanced age of King   
   Harald V, who at 88, is Europe’s oldest monarch. Harald’s physical health   
   has deteriorated in recent years, requiring Haakon to act as regent on   
   occasion.   
      
   Mette-Marit is not facing an immediate end to her time as a working royal   
   just yet, Taalesen cautioned, but she said one option would be for her to   
   withdraw from royal duties citing health reasons, and leaving the crown   
   prince to one day rule on his own.   
      
   Mette-Marit was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic, progressive   
   lung disease with a poor prognosis, in 2018 and will likely need a lung   
   transplant, according to the royal palace.   
      
   Other royal commentators agree. Kjetil Alstadheim, the political editor at   
   Norway’s influential newspaper Aftenposten, said many Norwegians are   
   disappointed by the revelations and have less confidence in the princess   
   as a result.   
      
   “They question what her judgment will be like in the future,” Alstadheim   
   told CNN.   
      
   Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen, a royal commentator for Norway’s broadcaster   
   TV2, added: “We need to wait until the dust has settled to see how much it   
   has really affected the monarchy.”   
      
   A modern monarchy   
   Mette-Marit became Crown Princess in 2001 after she married Haakon at Oslo   
   cathedral in front of 800 guests and a TV audience of millions. At the   
   time, Mette-Marit’s openness about what she described as a “wild life” in   
   her youth was well-received, particularly among younger generations.   
      
   “It mobilized the younger generations who felt this was a modern monarchy,   
   and they could identify with that,” Alstadheim said. “She managed to build   
   trust and be respected.”   
      
   Amid the recent furore, that trust and respect seem to be all but fading.   
      
   This week, Norway’s largest sexual health center, Oslo-based “Sex and   
   Society,” announced it would cut ties with Mette-Marit as it said the   
   latest revelations were incompatible with the group’s ethos.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)