Crown Prince Haakon ‘cancels engagement to accompany scandal-ridden stepson to rehab in London’ – as Crown Princess Mette Marit fills in after sick depart

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway cancelled an engagement to accompany his stepson to rehab, according to local media.

The heir to the Norwegian throne, 51, left his wife, Crown Princess Mette Marit, to host the lunch for the state administrators on Thursday, with the Palace communications manager Guri Varple citing ‘private reasons’ for the royal’s absence.

However, Se og Hor reported a sighting of the royal boarding a flight from Gardermoen to London at 1pm with Marius Borg Høiby, 27, who is said to have now finished being questioned. 

Marius admitted assaulting Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, thought to be his girlfriend at the time, in a booze and drug fuelled attack this summer, in a case which rocked the Norwegian royal family.

The publication claimed that the journey was made to accompany Marius to rehab after Marius’ defender Øivind Bratlien, 44, said in October that the 27-year-old planned to start rehabilitation in the new future.

In a statement issued via his own lawyer last month, Borg Høiby said he suffers from ‘several mental disorders’ and has ‘struggled with substance abuse for a long time’, which he said he is resuming treatment for.

At the same time, medical staff declared Mette Marit healthy, according to Aftenposten, after she went on sick leave due to medicinal side effects associated with her chronic lung disease.

The Crown Princess’ health condition was first made public in 2018, when it was revealed Mette-Marit had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis or the thickening of lung tissue. 

At the time, Mette-Marit issued a statement explaining that the condition ‘means my working capacity will vary’ to accommodate her treatment including ‘periods of time without an official programme’.

‘For a number of years, I have had health challenges on a regular basis, and now we know more about what is involved,’ the mother-of-three said. ‘The condition means that my working capacity will vary.

‘The Crown Prince and I are choosing to make this public now partly because in future there will be a need to plan periods of time without an official programme to accommodate treatment and when the disease is more active.’

Pulmonary fibrosis is incurable and worsens over time, but the Norwegian royal’s doctor, Professor Kristian Bjøro at the National Hospital, said they’d been monitoring her condition for several years and the ‘disease progression has been slow over this period’.

Not much is known about the unusual variant of fibrosis that was detected in Mette-Marit’s lung but, according to the Royal House, ‘there is broad consensus that, unlike other more common types of pulmonary fibrosis, it is not related to environmental or lifestyle factors’.

The fact that the disease was detected at an early stage improves Mette-Marit’s prognosis, as per the Palace’s official statement.

‘Even if such a diagnosis will limit my life at times, I am glad that the disease has been discovered so early. My goal is still to work and participate in the official programme as much as possible,’ the mother-of-three said.

According to the NHS, the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis include shortness of breath, loss of appetite and weight loss, extreme tiredness, a persistent dry cough, and swollen fingertips.

Days after the palace announced that Mette-Marit had resumed her treatment for pulmonary fibrosis, hinting it might impact her schedule, Mette-Marit visited the Nic Waals Institute in Oslo with her husband, the Crown Prince Haakon.

On Tuesday, October 15, she also joined King Harald, Queen Sonja, Princess Astrid, and Haakon in welcoming Finland’s President and First Lady, Alexander Stubb and Suzanne Innes-Stubb, to Norway for a state visit.

After the welcoming ceremony, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess accompanied the Presidential couple for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Akershus Fortress in Oslo.

Mette-Marit married Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, in 2001. They share two children, Princess Ingrid Alexanda, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18.

Mette-Marit’s eldest son Marius Borg Høiby, is from a previous relationship. Since she married into the royal family, Marius has been dubbed the ‘black sheep’ of the institution.

Overcoming her health woes for the time being will no doubt be a relief for the mother-of-three as she grapples with the sensational fallout of Marius’s arrest on August 4. He later admitted to assaulting his  ‘girlfriend’ in a booze and drug-fuelled attack that left her in hospital.

He was taken into custody and held overnight in a prison cell under preliminary charges of causing bodily harm and criminal damage. He faces up to a year in prison if convicted. 

After his arrest, Høiby apologised for attacking Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, whom he referred to as his ‘girlfriend’ (her lawyers have refuted this claim) while intoxicated with ‘alcohol and cocaine’. 

In a statement issued via his lawyer, Høiby said he ‘suffers from severe mental disorders’ and has ‘struggled with substance abuse for a long time’.  

The statement read: ‘I have several mental disorders which mean that throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have had, and still have, challenges. I have struggled with substance abuse for a long time, something I have been in treatment for in the past.

‘The drug use and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment at Frogner on the night of Sunday last weekend. I want to be responsible for what I have done, and will explain myself truthfully to the police.’ 

In the wake of the scandal, the Norwegian Palace confirmed Høiby would not attend the wedding of Princess Martha Louise to self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verett in Geiranger Fjord on August 31.

The Crown Prince’s embattled stepson was also reportedly uninvited from the high-profile wedding of Norwegian businessman Øystein Stray Spetalen’s son, after guests feared his presence would draw unwanted media attention.  

Former motorcycle mechanic Høiby was taken into custody for a second time after he allegedly violated a restraining order granted to Rebecca and contacted her in the wake of the assault. 

Høiby has denied the allegation. 

Reports claimed that the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway were given prior warning that the Princess’s son was about to be arrested on suspicion of assault in August after his ‘girlfriend’ was taken to hospital with injuries she sustained in an attack.

Marius, the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon and eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, was taken into custody and spent the night in a police cell while Ms Helberg Arntsen was treated for her injuries in hospital following the domestic incident, which also resulted in the destruction of the property.

Norwegian media is reporting that the Crown Prince and Princess were made aware ahead of time that Borg Hoiby was going to be arrested on suspicion of assault, after the police notified the Royal Court of their intention to take him into custody.

A spokesman for the Royal Court told VG: ‘The police notified the Royal Court and the Royal Court then informed the Crown Prince couple about an incident involving Marius Borg Høiby and about a possible arrest.

‘As is known, the police also notified Marius Borg Høiby ahead of the arrest. The police chose not to make an arrest at his residence, and have never searched it.’