A survey finds declining trust in the monarchy as crown princess faces mounting scrutiny.

On Tuesday, television channel TV2 released a poll showing that nearly half of Norwegians believe Princess Mette-Marit, the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, should not become queen following recent revelations about her friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

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While 47.6% of respondents oppose that possibility, 28.9% say Mette-Marit should be allowed to become queen. According to the survey, 33.1% of those polled say they have very little trust in Mette-Marit, while 16.8% say they have little trust.

Seventy percent of Norwegians believe the monarchy has weakened over the past year, during which it has faced several scandals, according to the TV2 poll.

Mette-Marit issued a public apology after declassified documents revealed that she visited Epstein’s home in Florida in 2013 — one of the properties where he abused underage girls. The two remained in contact for up to a year afterward.

“Jeffrey Epstein is responsible for his actions, and I must take responsibility for not properly investigating his background and not quickly understanding his character. I showed poor judgment and regret any contact with him. It is truly shameful,” Mette-Marit said in a written statement.

On Monday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre reiterated that he expects Mette-Marit to provide further clarification. Several organizations for which the princess serves as a patron, including the Norwegian branch of the Red Cross, have also convened meetings to address the case.

The publication of the poll coincided with a vote in the Norwegian Parliament on Tuesday on a proposal to change the country’s form of government to a republic. The motion was introduced by the Socialist Left Party and the former communist Red Party but was rejected by a vote of 141 to 26.

In Norway, it is common for the leftist parties to introduce a motion to establish a republic, usually at the start of a new parliamentary term. In the previous vote, held in June 2022, the motion was rejected by 131 votes to 35, far short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution.

Marius Borg Høiby, a 29-year-old man who is Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship before her marriage to Haakon, began trial in Oslo on Tuesday. The charges against Høiby, who is not a member of the royal household, include 38 criminal offenses.

Among them are four counts of raping different partners while they were asleep, six counts of sexually abusive conduct, and additional charges involving assault, threats, drugs, property damage, disturbing public order, and traffic offenses.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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