Crown Prince Haakon of Norway is embroiled in a scandal in Norway. Allegedly, he rented out five flats that had been deemed unsafe to live in on his official estate, Skaugum.
According to The Sunday Times, the heir to the Norwegian throne was ordered to remove petrol that had been stored in the basement of the building containing the flats, which are part of the 1,280-acre estate just 12 miles southwest of the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Eleven estate properties are located on the massive property with only five of them not being licenced to rent.
In 2015, His Royal Highness made £140,000 from renting out his properties at Skaugum. These rented properties had formally been storerooms and servants’ quarters.
His tenants were moved out of their accommodations recently to have fire alarms properly installed. Those renting the flats were moved to a hotel for the time being. The Norwegian inspector has said that the most serious concerns have now been addressed, which means the tenants are now free to move back into their flats on Friday. The Crown Prince has been granted a temporary letting permit.
A spokesperson for the Royal Court said that Haakon will be granted a permanent licence for the said properties.
Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and their children (Marius Borg Høiby, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and Prince Sverre Magnus) live on the country property in the main house.
Unfortunately, this is just the latest scandal to hit the Scandanavian royals. Just last September it was discovered that the Crown Prince Couple had holidayed on a €230,000 a week on a 164-foot luxury private yacht.
Then in June there was a controversy regarding the Norwegian Royal Family using taxpayer dollars to fund the mantience of the royal estates, when the money had been intended for their official duties. It was reported that the cleaning and gardening staff of the estates had been paid out of these funds.
Of course the most well-known scandal occurred when the Crown Prince announced his engagement to Mette-Marit, who had a past which included associating with those in the known drug culture. She also had a young son, Marius, whose father was a convicted drug dealer.
While I have always admired the Norwegian royals, King Haakon needs to be very careful not to be a bad landlord or to use money budgeted for duties on behalf of the nation for the royal family’s personal pleasure. There were serious criticisms about the King of Spain’s excessive expenditures on African safaris, etc., to the point where abolishing the monarchy was raised. He abdicated in favor of the crown prince and princess. That helped enormously. On the other hand, many in Sweden have recently raised the possibility of abolishing the hereditary monarchy because of the expense to the country and the concept of inherited privilege. Even more doubts are being circulated in Luxembourg about the expense of supporting the hereditary Grand Dukedom. I would feel tremendously grieved to see these families deprived of their official positions, because I sincerely believe a constitutional monarchy can add a non-political rallying point for the people, can personify the nation’s values and ideals and can also add much to the image and tradition of a country where so much tradition has been cast off for the sake of pragmatism. That can be a tragedy for the self images of nations and principalities. The whole point is that royals should be exemplary in their work and lives if they wish to survive. “To whom much is given, much shall be required.”