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Calorouga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Crown and Controversy
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Norway the weekly addition I Am Your Palace Intrigue host
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Mark Francis. It has been another extraordinary week in Oslo.
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The trial of Marius borg Wabi continues its relentless progress
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through week six, producing testimony that was by turns devastating, intimate,
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and deeply strange. While outside the courtroom, the pressure on
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Crown Princess Meta Marie continued to mount from multiple directions.
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A scouting organization called for her removal as patron, a
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doctor defended the timing of a December press conference, a
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bookstore built a display, and somewhere in the archives of
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European history, a century old question about the royal bloodline
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itself quietly began stirring again. Let's take it from the top.
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When Monday arrived, there was no court session, but the
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case still moved. Hoeby's defense team used the pause to
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submit a formal request for his release from pre trial detention.
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He had been held since the day before the trial
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opened on February third, after prosecutors accused him of violating
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a restraining order and threatening the woman known in court
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as the Frogner woman with a knife. His lawyer, Ellen
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Hodger and Danaeus confirmed the petition had been sent to
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Oslo District Court. The prosecution's response was immediate and unsupportive.
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Police prosecutor Andreas Koshski confirmed the state to decided not
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to release Hoyby on his own initiative and would let
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the court decide. Under Norwegian law, a defendant detained when
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a trial begins can remain in custody until the verdict
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and for weeks afterward. On Tuesday, the court issued its
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ruling Hoybe stays. The judges found that a strong probability
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still exists that he could commit new criminal offenses if released.
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Offenses carrying potential sentences of more than six months. The
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legal grounds for continued detention, the court determined remain firmly
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in place. Also on Monday, Norwegian news organizations held what
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was described as a crisis meeting after five violations during
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the trial. Three involved prohibited photography inside the courtroom to
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involving publication of a protected victim's first name. Riijan Kyelling Neuber,
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Secretary General of the Norwegian Editors Association, issued a clear
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warning if outlets that have already commissioned violations. Make new mistakes,
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they risk the entire newsroom losing accreditation. We cannot tolerate
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more mistakes, she said. Tuesday and Wednesday produced at some
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of the most emotional testimony of the entire trial. A
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close friend of the frognant woman took the stand and
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described the night she first heard what happened. Around two
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or half past two in the morning. She said, I
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called her on speaker. She could hear the frognant woman
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in the background, her voice shaking. Can I come sleep
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at your place? Marius has trashed my apartment and beaten me.
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When the friend arrived at the apartment the following day
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and saw herself, the scale of destruction became real. Glass everywhere,
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the chandelier torn down, the mirror above the makeup table
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hanging loose and broken. A second friend described picking up
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the frognant woman that night. What met me was a
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sister I didn't recognize. She told the court. She was
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emotionally numb, very distant. The frognant woman was at the
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same moment receiving calls from friends of Hoybe urging her
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not to go to the police because of his reputation.
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The friend who collected her eventually gave her an ultimatum.
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If she was going to stay with her, there could
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be no contact with Marius. The frognant woman stayed for
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roughly three months. One witness delivered the detail that perhaps
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best captured the emotional logic of the relationship. She testified
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that the frognant woman at once said to her, I
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can handle being hit. I can take it as long
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as he's okay. It's something I can live with. The
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witness said, she responded immediately, that's not how it's supposed
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to be at all, but the statement had clearly stayed
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with her. Another witness testified about an incident allegedly just
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days before the trial began. According to her account, the
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frog no woman had told Hoiby she needed to leave
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his apartment because the proceedings were about to start. Weiby panicked.
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Winner said he pushed her into a door, and then
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she testified, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and
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threatened to harm himself if she left. More crown and
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controversy in just a moment. The court also heard from
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a man who had received what the indictment describes as
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a death threat from Hoibi via Instagram during the same
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August twenty twenty four night. The message read you are
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an effing dead man. The man said he wasn't frightened.
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He thought Hoiby was drunk. I didn't really feel threatened
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by it, he told the court. I wasn't afraid. I
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didn't think it was anything more than a message. There
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were important evidentiary developments midweek as well. A neighbor named
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Ingrid Meyer, who lived in the same building at the time,
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told the court she had recorded two videos on her
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phone after hearing loud arguing and shouting. She later decided
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they were relevant and sent them to the police. The
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prosecutor said the recordings were made at seven fifteen in
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the morning and five point fifteen in the afternoon on
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the same day. When asked whether the shouting voice on
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the recordings was his, Weeby's response was telling I still
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can't hear what is being said, but it's probably me.
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The prosecution also returned this week to the question of consistency.
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Audio played in court included the Frogner woman accusing Hoyby
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of lying in police interviews about taking intimate photographs of
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her without consent. Weyby's response on the recording, yes, I
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lied about it fine. In court, he explained that he
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had yet been charged with sexual offenses. Everything was leaking
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to the press and he didn't want to read about
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it the next day. The prosecution used this to argue
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a pattern. Weaby has only admitted things when confronted with
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evidence he can no longer deny. His own lawyer is questioning,
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and the frog Woman's lawyer, met Yvonne Larson's cross examination
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repeatedly exposed the same quality. In his testimony, he drifted
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back to his own feelings, his own jealousy, his own perspective,
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while prosecutors tried to center the impact on her. At
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one point, I asked how she must have felt identifying
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intimate images of herself in a police interview. He eventually
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said it must have been completely awful. When asked about
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the August fourth violence, he ultimately said, I think she
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had it completely awful. One message read in court illustrated
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where his head was in the aftermath after the violence.
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He sent a photo of her clothes with the lion
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there go all the ugly dresses of an unfaithful whore.
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Asked if he thought in that moment about what he
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had done to her. Hoiby said at that moment, I
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didn't think about it. It was pretty blurry on the
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subject of intoxication, which has been central to his account.
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Blood tests from August fourth showed no alcohol by the
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time samples were taken, but did show cocaine, MDMA and THHC.
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When asked how intoxicated he felt, he said, I didn't
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feel much other than I was very sad and very
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frustrated and angry. Threading through the week and into Thursday
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and Friday was the reading aloud of private messages exchanged
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between Hoibi and influencer Norah Hauckland. Prosecutors say the archive
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spans more than eight hundred pages. Court officials read both
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sides of the conversations, allowed so judges could hear the
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full exchanges over several days. The messages revealed a relationship
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that swung constantly between warmth and hostility. Early in the relationship,
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the tone was affectionate. I don't want to completely let
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go Weaby wrote in one message. How Con replied, WE
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don't have to. But as how CON's public profile grew
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through reality television and social media, the pressure on the
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relationship intensified. Webby was alarmed by her participation in the
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military style program company Lauritsen. We both know it's going
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to crush our relationship, he wrote, everything will go to hell.
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How came pushed back. I have changed myself for you.
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I behaved differently on social media, I dress differently. I
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said no to Farman even though I really wanted it.
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But there I have to draw a line. You have
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to choose whether you want to be with me or not.
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At times, the arguments escalated sharply. F you, Marius f
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Uugh Halkland wrote in one exchange. His response, well, f
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you too. In another message, Howayby wrote, if you ever
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walked past me on the street, spit you in that
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disgusting face of yours. In one message that receives particular
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attention in court, Hoyby wrote about his own identity. I
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was buried into a public family against my will, and
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it has been incredibly difficult to stand in the public
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eye without having anything to be proud of. For the prosecution,
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the messages illustrate a pattern of jealousy, emotional pressure, and volatility.
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For the defense, the same exchanges show a complicated mutual
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relationship in which both parties argue, both used harsh language,
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and both continued reaching out after it ended. The trial
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is entering its final phase. Prosecutors will begin closing arguments
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on Monday the fifteenth. Victims lawyers follow later in the week.
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Defense closing arguments are expected to conclude around the eighteenth.
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Then the judges withdraw to deliberate more crown and controversy
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in just a moment. While the trial dominated the week's proceedings,
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the broader royal picture in Norway remained deeply complicated. The
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Fredericks Starred Scout District made headlines by publicly calling on
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the national leadership of the Scouting movement to suspend the
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Crown Princess Metamora from her role as patron. The local
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organization said it had lost patients with what it sees
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as hesitation from the national leadership, and that in the
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wake of Epstein related revelations and the ongoing trial, the
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time for waiting and watching had passed. The Crown Princess's
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appearance in court. Coverage took a new turn Thursday when
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a witness testified that friends of the Froglan woman had,
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on the night after the violence, attempted to contact Metamrite
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about the damage to the apartment the Royal household declined
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to comment, and then on Friday, a detail emerged directly
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from Hoyby's own testimony earlier in the trial, gained renewed attention.
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He said his mother had called him shortly before his
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first arrest to warn that police had been in contact
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with the family. She reportedly told him jump in the
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shower and put on clothes that don't smell like alcohol.
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Weeby's lawyers have been careful to note this does not
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suggest any wrongdoing, but the detail has proved difficult to
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move past. The Palace confirmed this week that Metamora has
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not appeared on the official royal calendar since late January.
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Palace communications chief Guri Varper explained that the Crown Princess
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now has an increasing need for adapted training, rest and recovery,
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and that her program is being adjusted to match a
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medical condition has announced in December. Doctors are also preparing
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to evaluate her for a possible lung transplant. That December
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announcement was itself the subject of renewed scrutiny this week.
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That press conference revealing the deterioration of Metamora's lund disease
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was held on December nineteenth, the same date that Epstein
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related documents were released in the United States, among which
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was previously a known correspondence involving the Crown Princess. Observers
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had questioned whether the timing was deliberate. The physician who
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spoke at that press conference, lung specialist ra martin Holm,
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addressed the question directly. He told the publication journalist and
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that the date was determined by his own schedule. The
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timing was adjusted to when I had time, he said,
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explaining that in week fifty one, the week of the
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press conference, he was only available on the Wednesday and
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the Friday. He also emphasized that the gravity of what
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was shared for patients with severe lung disease beginning to
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talk about lung transplantation is dramatic. We never take that lightly.
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The explanations have not fully quieted the questions. Pauling released
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this week showed support for the Norwegian monarchy has fallen
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from seventy percent to sixty percent in the space of
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a single month. King Harald continues to command extraordinary personal approval,
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scoring nine point two out of ten when respondents were
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asked how well he represents the Royal House. Metow Marie
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scores three to seven, down from seven to four. Anti
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corruption campaigner and former judge Eva Jolie, who says she
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retains great respect for the kingdom of the queen, was
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not gentle about the generation below them. The heirs are
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not as worthy. She said, it is difficult to see
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Metamory becoming queen when she has lived in the same
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house where two thousand girls were abused. Political commentator hahns Angle, however,
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was direct about the constitutional reality. Public opinion, however, negative
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cannot change the line of succession. You cannot abolish the
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constitution because opinion polls show that she is deeply unpopular.
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He said. If the public mood is that people do
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not want Meta Marita's queen, it would require either that
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she withdraws herself, that the couple divorces, or that the
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constitution is amended. The legal framework, he noted, is the
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same as Denmark's. When the throne becomes vacant, the spouse
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ascends immediately. The formal ceremony can wait, the status cannot.
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Two final items that say something about the particular moment.
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Norway's royal family finds itself in a Norley bookstore. In
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Oslow's set, up a display this week titled Epstein Island
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guest List, featuring books linked two figures mentioned in the
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ongoing coverage, among them a twenty year old biography of
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Crown Princess Meta Marie, published long before her Epstein contact.
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The employee who created the displays that it came from
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the fact that the story has dominated the news cycle,
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and added bluntly that those who didn't want to be
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associated with Epstein have themselves to think. The book's co
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author called it a bit special and declined further comment.
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And then there is the story that arrived at perhaps
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the worst possible time for the monarchy. A forthcoming biography
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of Queen Maud is expected to re examine one of
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the most explosive theories in Scandinavian royal history. Historian tour
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Bowman Larson has previously suggested that when Queen Maud struggle
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to produce an air in the early nineteen hundreds, she
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may have turned to a pioneering fertility procedure in London,
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and that the donor may not have been King Hearken