Marius Borg Høiby's reported romance with former Playboy model Juliane Snekkestad appears to have the royal seal of approval from the 21-year-old's family. The Norwegian Royal Court released a statement after Norwegian news outlet Se og Hør published a story about Princess Mette-Marit's son's relationship with the model. "We consider this to be a violation of privacy and very unfortunate use of headline and layout on the cover page. We know Juliane as both hardworking and skilled. She should have escaped coming to the front of Se and Hør in this way," Marius' mother and stepfather Crown Prince Haakon said in a statement.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit is also a mom to Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, both of whom she shares with husband Crown Prince Haakon Photo: Sølve Sundsbø, Det kongelige hoff
According to Se og Hør, Marius and his girlfriend moved in together last December in London. Juliane is active on Instagram and often shares risqué photos including an image of herself posing topless while covering her chest with a radio for Playboy. Juliane reportedly also shared photos taken at Skaugum, the official residence of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, but the photos have since been deleted. Marius appears to have made an appearance on Juliane's feed. In an picture posted in March of 2017 a young man resembling the future Queen of Norway's son turned his back to the camera wearing a leather jacket that read: "Naughty Models."
In the statement shared on 6 April, the palace noted that the Crown Princess' firstborn — from a previous relationship before marrying the heir to the Norwegian throne — "has on several occasions stated that he does not want the media's attention about his privacy - something he is grateful for the Norwegian press has largely respected."
Last year, Mette-Marit, who is also a mother to Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, penned an emotional open letter about her son quitting his public life to pursue studies in the United States. Recalling the day she welcomed her first child, the royal wrote, "I was 23 years old and got a big responsibility. It has been the greatest gift in my life." The mum-of-three admitted that her eldest son's role in the royal family had "been difficult to define in the public domain," though she said, "He is and remains an exceptionally important part of our family."
Mette-Marit also used the letter to criticize members of the press, who covered his "youthful indiscretion(s)." "I am certainly glad that all my youth rebellion was not followed with argus eyes. It had seen much worse," she admitted. "Life is fragile. And beautiful. If we take it seriously so we try well to see the nuances, and people throughout, with options, instead we try to push them into small rooms of prejudice."
Juliane appears to have shared an image in 2017 with Marius Photo: Instagram/julianesnekkestad
Crown Prince Haakon's wife, 44, showed her support for her son's decision to leave his public life. "Marius does not want to live a life in public. My commitment to him as a mother is to take the responsibility that was given me at Aker Hospital 20 years ago seriously," she wrote, before asking some Norwegian media to let him drop from their radar "as he wants, when he now partly for that reason chose to go abroad to study." Mette-Marit added, "Tomorrow he travels out into the world. A rare beautiful young man, with an open mind. As a mother, I could not have been prouder."
