Mette-Marit, queen of Norway

Mette-Marit, queen of Norway (born August 19, 1973, Kristiansand, Norway) is the queen of Norway (2026– ), wife of Haakon VIII. The couple wed in 2001, despite intense public scrutiny of what was seen by many as her checkered past.

Early life and education

Mette-Marit was the daughter of a journalist and a bank employee. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she lived thereafter with her mother. Mette-Marit was an exchange student in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, during six months of her high school years, and she went on to attend the University of Oslo. During that time she experienced what she called a “youth rebellion.” She had a brief relationship with Moren Borg, who had served time in prison for assault and possession of cocaine. In 1997 they had a son, Marius Borg Høiby, and she subsequently worked to support herself while raising him as a single mother.

Marriage

In 1999 she met Crown Prince Haakon through mutual friends. The two started dating and eventually moved in together. Haakon acknowledged their relationship in May 2000, and their engagement was announced that December. Even in permissive Norway, the prince’s choice of bride—a woman who was not only a commoner but also a single mother—raised eyebrows.

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The objection, however, seemed to be less the issue of descent—her son could never be king—than the people with whom the future crown princess had associated in her former life. Less than a week before they married, the crown prince and his bride-to-be held a press conference in which she apologized for her former life and made her statement serve as both a plea and an object lesson. She hoped to curtail future questions about her past and, without admitting she had used drugs, used the occasion to condemn them. Haakon was supportive of her, as were his parents, King Harald V and Queen Sonja. The king did not stand in the way of the marriage, perhaps because he had had to wait nine years before his father, King Olav V, and the Norwegian Parliament approved his marrying commoner Sonja Haraldsen.

Haakon and Mette-Marit were married on August 25, 2001. Mette-Marit continued her studies after her marriage, focusing especially on HIV/AIDS issues; in 2006 she was made a special representative for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. She is also a patron of such organizations as the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Council for Mental Health. The prince and princess had two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra (born 2004) and Prince Sverre Magnus (born 2005).

Following Harald’s death on August 28, 2026, Haakon became king (Haakon VIII), and Mette-Marit became queen.

Health and Marius Borg Høiby’s legal issues

In 2018 Mette-Marit announced that she had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that can cause lung scarring and shortness of breath. The condition worsened in 2025, and the palace announced that her public duties might need to be adjusted because of her health. Weeks after going on a waiting list in 2026, she underwent a successful lung transplant in June.

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During this time the monarchy also faced a crisis involving Mette-Marit’s eldest son, Marius Borg Høiby. In August 2024 he was arrested on allegations that he had assaulted his girlfriend. Days later he apologized for the incident and noted that he had been under the influence of cocaine and alcohol and would seek treatment. In the ensuing months, Høiby faced rape allegations involving various women, and in June 2025 he was formally charged on multiple counts of rape and sexual assault. His trial began in 2026, and in June he was convicted of two counts of rape and various other offenses. He was sentenced to four years in prison.