Why Are Crown Princess Mette-Marit's Sons Missing from the Norwegian Royal Family's Christmas Picture?

The royal family of Norway is the latest to unveil their Christmas wishes, but speculation has sparked around why Crown Princess Mette-Marit's sons aren't in the picture.

On Dec. 22, the Royal House of Norway shared the 2024 Christmas photo of the royal family to social media. The shot showed King Harald and Queen Sonja seated while Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, smiled and stood behind the King and Queen, with a Christmas tree to their left and chandeliers behind them.

"Season's greetings," said a message shared to the royal family's website with the picture. "Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja, and Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra wish everyone a very happy Christmas."

The formal portrait was taken on Dec. 19 in the Red Salon at the Royal Palace in Oslo, where King Harald and Queen Sonja live, but the picture differed from years past because their grandson Prince Sverre Magnus wasn't in it. PEOPLE has contacted the Royal House of Norway for further comment.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, both 51, are parents to Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20 (who follows her father in the direct line of succession to the throne), and Prince Sverre Magnus, who turned 19 on Dec. 3. Crown Princess Mette-Marit is also the mother of an older son, Marius Borg Høiby, who she welcomed before her marriage to Haakon and who does not hold a royal role.

Hello! reported that the new Christmas picture was the first that Prince Sverre Magnus wasn't featured in, which the Norwegian palace's communications chief said was for a simple reason.

"The prince lives in Trondheim and was therefore not present when the picture was taken," Guri Varpe, the Head of Communications for the Royal House of Norway, told Dagbladet in an update published on Dec. 22.

Prince Sverre Magnus graduated from Elvebakken Upper Secondary School in the spring, and his royal bio outlines that he moved to Trondheim this fall. Trondheim is about six hours from Oslo, meaning that it would have been a long trip for him to be in the picture.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son Marius, 27, was also missing from the frame, but that is not unusual. Dagbladet reported that Marius hasn't been featured in the Norwegian royal family's Christmas picture since 2015, when he was 18. In that image, Marius stood next to his stepfather Crown Prince Haakon as Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus and Queen Sonja sat on a couch together, with King Harald perched beside.

Marius turned 19 the following January, which may have meant that he no longer had to pose for the family's Christmas picture.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit welcomed her son Marius during a previous relationship in 1997, and she married Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne, in 2001. Marius does not hold a royal title or obligation to future duty like his siblings, and it was announced in 2017 that he would lead a largely private life.

In an open letter published before her son's 20th birthday, Crown Princess Mette-Marit said, "Marius has always had a role that has been difficult to define in the public sphere. He is and will be an exceptionally important part of our family. Marius became a symbol of the unusual choice we made when we got married, at the same time he will not carry public duties like his siblings. He will not have a public role and is not a public figure."

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Marius has navigated serious allegations in recent months, and was reportedly arrested in early August after allegedly acting violent toward an ex-girlfriend at her apartment. Two months later, he was arrested on Nov. 18 on suspicion of violating the criminal code "which concerns sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act," a statement said.

He spent a week in police custody before being released, and authorities said then that they were investigating three alleged sexual offenses. No further information has been released.

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