A new survey shows historically weak support among Norwegians for their monarchy. Only 40 percent disagreed when asked whether Crown Prince Haakon should be Norway’s last king, and calls are rising for his sister to either give up her title as princess or for their father, King Harald, to take it away from her.
The survey, conducted by research firm Norstat for newspaper Dagsavisen, indicates that 35 percent of those questioned now agree that the monarchy should be replaced by a presidency. That’s up from less than 20 percent just a few years ago. Around 25 percent of Norwegians are unsure.
The results mark a sharp change from earlier surveys that traditionally reflect strong support for the monarchy. They come after weeks of controversy over the arrest of Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son from an earlier relationship, and charges that Princess Martha Louise has once again exploited her royal title by allegedly “selling her wedding” over the weekend to commercial interests including a British and Spanish celebrity magazine and Netflix.
King Harald was clearly annoyed, given an announcement from the Royal Palace that both he, Queen Sonja, and other members of the royal family would not allow their photos to be taken unless other press photographers were also present. By Sunday, commentators were suggesting that Martha Louise had set the stage for a chaotic situation during which she all but ordered press photographers to step aside when her bridal party finally emerged from the “private” wedding ceremony with round 300 guests. Netflix could then presumably film all the commotion for an upcoming show about, and sanctioned by, Martha Louise and her groom, self-professed shaman Durek Verrett. It’s expected to revolve around their alternative lifestyles and how unfairly they feel they’ve been treated in Norway.
“The princess was born into a gilded cage that it now seems she’s never liked,” wrote commentator Therese Sollien in Norway’s largest newspaper of record, Aftenposten, on Monday when things were settling down after the wedding weekend. “What’s great is that she can fly right out of it. There’s all reason for her to give up her ‘princess’ title. Enough is enough.”
That’s what royal historian Trond Norén Isaksen and several other commentators proposed months ago. Martha Louise has earlier refused to do so, later agreed to stop the exploitation, failed to follow through and then, in 2022, finally entered into a formal agreement with her father and brother to halt her commercial exploitation of her title. It had “become difficult” for the royal family, Crown Prince Haakon said, but her violations continued.
Her father, King Harald, has so far remained quiet about all the violations. No one at the palace would comment last summer, when public opinion polls had already begun to sink, on Martha Louise’s violations of the agreement two years ago. It’s ultimately up to King Harald to demand enforcement of it. Some royal watchers think he wanted to wait until the wedding was over. Others are disappointed: “Norwegians in general are fond of King Harald for good reason,” Isaksen told Aftenposten, “and many are angry that his daughter and her partner (Verrett) publicly humiliate the king by showing that they don’t respect his authority.”
Others have compared Martha Louise to the likes of Great Britain’s Princess Margaret and Prince Harry, and even to her step-nephew Marius Borg Høiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s troubled son who’s now stirred up serious trouble for himself and his family. He was arrested just weeks before the wedding on charges of assaulting his girlfriend, trashing her home and making threats. It’s especially an embarrassment for his mother and step-father, the crown couple, who have made a point of supporting crisis centers and help for battered women.
“Money, partying and position can be a potent cocktail,” wrote commentator Lars West Johnsen in newspaper Dagsavisen over the weekend. Johnsen drew parallels between the 27-year-old Høiby and his 52-year-old aunt Martha Louise. Both are first-born and “have grown up royal,” he wrote, without having any clear role.
Martha Louise, for example, “has never known any other life” than one of privilege and commanding attention. At the same time, both she and Høiby “are in but out.” Martha Louise was born into royalty but her younger brother Haakon was destined to become monarch, not her. Marius Borg Høiby was just three years old when his single mother married Crown Prince Haakon. Both of Høiby’s siblings have royal titles, with his half-sister Princess Ingrid Alexander still destined at present to become queen some day. Høiby has no title and no career, after also dropping out of college.
Johnsen went so far as to describe the current situation by borrowing the title of one of the books written by Martha-Louise’s first husband Ari Behn, who committed suicide a few years after their divorce: Trist som fæn, which roughly translates as “Sorry as hell.”
Many will be sorry if the monarchy collapses, but that’s what the Socialist Left Party (SV) is now proposing. SV has long opposed the monarchy, and plans to put forth a formal proposal later this month to change Norway’s form of government from a constitutional monarchy to a republic with a president.
“All these cases (of royal controversy) illustrate some of the challenges with a monarchy in principle,” Andreas Sjalg Unneland, a Member of Parliament for SV, told Aftenposten during the weekend. “Must we wait for a scandal that’s so huge that we abolish the monarchy, or shall we just bring it to a worthy end?
“We believe that democratic values should be reflected at all levels of society,” Unneland added. “That’s especially important when it comes to who will be our head of state.”
Crown Prince Haakon, who holds high-level college degrees and currently carries out not only his own royal duties but also many of his elderly father’s, is widely respected and most think he’ll be a good king. Historian Theodor Jørgen Lund notes, however, that even Haakon has been part of distancing the new generation of royals from the Norwegian people. Norway’s monarchy has long enjoyed a reputation as being “folksey,” with royals riding the tram, photographed out skiing and among the people. The crown couple’s unpopular decisions to pull their children out of public schools, to holiday on board a Cayman Islands-registered yacht in the Mediterranean just as thousands of refugees were drowning in the same sea, and also take their children to the jet-set holiday location of St Barts broadened the gap between the royals and most other Norwegians.
Trond Nordby, a professor emeritus in political science, has long opposed the monarchy but as a matter of principle. “It’s the institution I’m against, because in principle it can’t be defended in a democracy,” Nordby told newspaper Klassekampen on Saturday. He thinks it has survived as long as it has because of the “fine figures” holding the role of monarch. He also thinks Crown Prince Haakon could “take over in a good manner. It’s those on the periphery of the family who are the problem.”
Like many others, though, Nordby doesn’t think the monarchy will actually be abolished. “No, I think it will instead rot from within,” he said, “for example if Ingrid Alexandra can’t stand it any longer.”
Unneland of SV also notes that the monarchy relies on “a genetic lottery, in which you depend on clever and sympathetic people taking over the throne.” The recent controversies involving Martha Louise and the crown princess’ son make the problem more acute for his party.
He and others also worry about the lack of openness at the Royal Palace, where those in charge of communications seemed unprepared for the storm of controversies during just the past month. They kept quiet during Høiby’s arrest and Martha Louise’s wedding plans, only acknowleding the wedding publicly after it was over, publishing just the one photo of the wedding party that was released (external link) along with two sentences and a headline reading “Congratulations!”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
