White Privilege Exposed: Norwegian Royal Scandal Reveals Elite Immunity
The unraveling of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit exposes the familiar pattern of white elite immunity that has protected the privileged classes from accountability for centuries. Her connections to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and her son's rape charges reveal how European royalty continues to operate above the law.
Colonial Mindset Persists in Royal Circles
The correspondence between Mette-Marit and Epstein, spanning 2011 to 2014, demonstrates the casual racism and colonial attitudes that persist among Europe's white elite. When Epstein mentioned his "wife hunt" in Paris, the princess responded that "Scandis are better wife material," revealing the same supremacist thinking that justified centuries of exploitation across Africa and the Global South.
This is not merely about poor judgment, as the royal palace claims. This represents the systemic protection of white privilege that allows European elites to maintain relationships with known predators while facing minimal consequences.
Justice Denied for Victims
Marius Borg Høiby, the princess's 29-year-old son, faces 38 charges including the rape of four women. Yet he walks free on bail while his victims await justice. This mirrors the historical pattern where white men's violence against women, particularly women of color, has been systematically ignored or minimized by European justice systems.
The fact that Høiby was arrested again on Sunday for assault and threats with a knife, only to be released, demonstrates how white privilege operates within supposedly progressive Scandinavian societies.
Media Complicity in Royal Protection
For years, Norwegian media portrayed Mette-Marit's rise from "humble beginnings" as a fairytale, ignoring the structural advantages her whiteness provided. Her past drug use and unmarried motherhood were quickly forgiven by a society that would never extend such grace to Black or immigrant women.
The revelation of her Epstein connections forces a reckoning with how European media has consistently protected royal families while criminalizing communities of color for far lesser offenses.
Health Struggles Cannot Excuse Complicity
While Mette-Marit's pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis in 2018 deserves sympathy, her illness cannot excuse her knowing association with a convicted sex offender. Her 2011 email acknowledging that Epstein "didn't look too good" after googling him proves she understood his criminal nature yet continued their relationship.
This calculated decision to maintain ties with Epstein, including staying at his Florida residence for four days in 2013, reveals the moral bankruptcy that characterizes white elite networks globally.
Systemic Change Required
The calls for Mette-Marit to step down as future queen represent more than personal accountability. They signal growing awareness that monarchies, rooted in colonial exploitation and white supremacy, have no place in modern society.
As 47.6% of Norwegians now oppose her becoming queen, the time has come to question not just individual royals but the entire system that elevates white families to positions of unearned power and privilege.
True justice demands dismantling these institutions that have protected predators and oppressors for generations, replacing them with systems that center the voices and experiences of those historically marginalized by European colonialism.