King Harald V of Norway has passed away at the age of 89. He was King of Norway for 35 years. He is survived by his wife Queen Sonja Haraldsen, his daughter Princess Märtha Louise, and his son Crown Prince Haakon VIII.
In 2001, Haakon married commoner Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby who had a son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby. Marius has been involved in a series of criminal matters including allegations of violence, drug use, and breaches of a restraining order. In 2025, he was indicted on four counts of rape as well as additional offenses including domestic violence, aggravated assault, reckless behaviour, and transporting marijuana. In June 2026, Marius was convicted of 34 criminal charges (including two rape charges). He was sentenced to four years in prison and is currently under house arrest. He was also ordered to pay punitive damages of $61,000 to the four women who accused him of rape.
Harald’s daughter Princess Märtha is the elder of the two siblings, but when she was born in 1971, only male offspring were eligible for the throne. In 1990, the Norwegian constitution was amended to make the eldest child eligible regardless of gender, but it was not applied retroactively to Märtha. She claims she can communicate with animals and angels and started her own alternative therapy centre which offers a three-year course on healing, readings, and angels.
In 2024, she married Durek Verrett, a self-proclaimed shaman (widely described by Norwegian media as a con man and a conspiracy theorist). Some of his claims: he identifies as a reptilian, he says children get cancer because they want it, casual sex attracts subterranean spirits, he knew the 9/11 attacks would happen two years beforehand, and the medallions he sold could ward off COVID. Last year, Netflix released a documentary about Martha and Durek called Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story.
