Queen’s son sparks backlash for carrying king’s coffin

Queen Mette-Marit’s son has received backlash after he was seen carrying the coffin of the late king Harald V of Norway.

The rapist stepson of new King Haakon, Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, joined members of the royal family to carry his step-grandfather's coffin from the Royal Palace to the palace chapel on Monday.

He was one of eight lifting the coffin, along with the new King Haakon and his children Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus as well as Princess Martha Louise and her three daughters Maud, Leah and Emma Behn.

Meanwhile, Marius Borg Hoiby’s mother skipped the oathtaking ceremony of his husband at the parliament on Tuesday.

Queen Mette-Marit’s has also been a controversial figure in Norway for her links to former sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier this year, she apologized to the nation for her links to Epstein.

In June, an Oslo ‌court ruled that Marius Borg Hoiby, who joined the royal family when his mother Mette-Marit married Haakon in 2001, was guilty of two counts of rape including one in the basement of the crown prince's home.

Hoiby, nicknamed "Little Marius" since being the blond, blue-eyed four-year-old attending the royal wedding, was found guilty of 34 of 40 charges, including domestic violence against a then-girlfriend and drug possession and supply.

He was sentenced to four years in prison after a seven-week trial that had further dented the royal family's once picture-perfect image.

He is currently serving a sentence under house arrest with electronic monitoring.