Let us take a moment to look North. Yes, look all the way up to Norway. It is supposed to be the perfect country, isn't it? We are always told that Norway is the land of peace, oil money, and sensible people. But right now, the curtains are being pulled back on the **Norwegian Royal Family scandal**, and what we are seeing is not a fairytale. It is a disaster driven by the **Marius Borg Høiby trial**. The center of this storm is **Marius Borg Høiby**. He is the stepson of **Crown Prince Haakon** and the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit. He is blond, he is famous, and he is currently facing **38 criminal charges**. You read that correctly. Thirty-eight. This is not a misunderstanding. This is not a young man making one silly mistake on a Saturday night. This is a laundry list of bad behavior that would make a rock star blush.

We are talking about **Marius Borg Høiby charges** that include rape, violence against women, drug use, and reckless driving. It is a full buffet of destruction. And this is the man who grew up inside the palace walls. He has been part of the official family photos for years. He stood next to the future King. He lived the life of luxury that the taxpayers funded, even if he didn't have the official title of "Prince." This situation exposes the absolute absurdity of modern royalty. We keep these families around like expensive pets. We put them in big houses, we give them security guards, and we pretend they are better than us. We pretend they are noble and special. But when you strip away the uniforms and the medals, what do you have? You often have a dysfunctional family with too much time and too much money.

Marius is what happens when you have all the privilege of royalty but none of the responsibility. He didn't have to cut ribbons or give boring speeches. He just got to enjoy the proximity to power. It seems that this proximity made him feel untouchable. Thirty-eight charges suggest a person who thought the rules were for other people. It suggests a person who thought that because his stepfather is going to be King, the police would just look the other way.

For a long time, maybe people did look the other way. You don't get to 38 charges overnight. This kind of behavior builds up like trash in a corner. People whisper. People cover things up. The "glare of the public" is unwelcome now, they say. Of course it is unwelcome. Cockroaches hate the light. The Royal Family wants to be seen waving from balconies, not walking into courtrooms. They want to be symbols of national unity, not subjects of police investigations.

But here we are. The trial is putting everything on display. The media is there, watching every move. And the people of Norway, who are usually so calm and trusting, have to ask themselves a hard question: Why do we support this? Why do we bow to these people? If the Crown Prince cannot even manage his own household, how is he supposed to represent a nation?

The saddest part is the victims. In all the noise about the royals and the scandal, it is easy to forget the women involved. They are the ones who suffered while this "blond stepson" was running wild. The system that protects powerful men failed them. It fails them everywhere, of course, not just in Norway. But it is especially bitter when the man causing the pain is connected to the highest office in the land.

This trial is a tragedy, but it is also a farce. It shows us that the idea of "noble blood" is a lie. There is nothing noble about what Marius is accused of doing. It is ugly, common crime. It is the behavior of a bully. So, as the witnesses take the stand and the lawyers argue, remember this: The shiny image of royalty is just paint. Underneath, the wood is rotten. Norway is finding this out the hard way. The rest of us should take note. Maybe it is time to stop putting people on pedestals just because of who their parents—or stepparents—happen to be. The theater is collapsing, and the actors have forgotten their lines. It would be funny if it weren't so incredibly sad.

### References & Fact-Check * **Original Event**: The high-profile trial of Marius Borg Høiby, stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, involving accusations of 38 crimes including rape and violence. * **Source Authority**: [BBC News: Rape trial puts Norway's royal family in unwelcome glare of public](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2xj3ykpj4o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) * **Key Context**: The scandal has raised questions about the conduct of those close to the throne and the future credibility of the Norwegian monarchy.