Princess Märtha Louise condemns Se og Hør for funding Ari Behn’s funeral

Princess Märtha Louise has publicly praised the investigative outlet iNyheter for revealing that the tabloid Se og Hør paid for the funeral of her late husband Ari Behn, calling the disclosure an important step toward transparency.

In a letter to iNyheter published on April 15, 2026, the princess stated that the article published on April 15 provided an accurate account of events following Ari Behn’s death on January 1, 2020, and that she welcomed the fact that Se og Hør’s alleged payment was now coming to light.

She described the media outlet’s reported payment of up to 800,000 Norwegian kroner to Ari Behn’s mother Marianne Behn as cynical, unethical, and an exploitation of vulnerable people, emphasizing that no media organization should profit from a family’s grief.

The princess revealed that Ari Behn’s former manager, Geir Håkonsund, had negotiated the arrangement between Marianne Behn and Se og Hør, and that he had advised her not to allow her three daughters — Maud Angelica, Leah Isadora, and Emma Tallulah Behn — to attend a memorial gathering for Ari Behn at Theatercafeen in Oslo due to the presence of the press, specifically Se og Hør.

She said that as a mother, she found this directive completely unacceptable, and that it forced her to organize a separate memorial for Ari Behn without the children present, a decision she described as deeply painful and difficult for everyone involved.

Princess Märtha Louise added that in such moments of grief, the sense of community in mourning is what matters most, and that Se og Hør’s involvement had disrupted that essential support.

She noted that revisiting these events was emotionally taxing because it echoed her own long-standing experiences with how Se og Hør treats individuals in vulnerable situations, which she said was not an exception but a pattern.

TV 2 reported that Se og Hør’s editor-in-chief, Niklas Kokkinn-Thoresen, declined to comment on the matter in an SMS, stating it was not appropriate to discuss something that had occurred seven years after Ari Behn’s death.

Geir Håkonsund, when contacted by TV 2, maintained that it was incorrect to claim that Se og Hør or any other media had control over or purchased access to the funeral, and noted that aside from NRK and NTB sharing material, no working press was present inside the church, with all media having equal access outside.

iNyheter acknowledged that it had been unable to verify the exact amount spent by Se og Hør on the funeral and related payments, as Ulf Andersen, the editor responsible at the time, refused to share the facts with the public.

The disclosure has intensified scrutiny of Se og Hør’s editorial practices, particularly regarding its coverage of personal tragedies, and has prompted broader discussions about media ethics in Norway.

What specific action did Geir Håkonsund accept that Princess Märtha Louise found unacceptable regarding her children’s participation in a memorial for Ari Behn?

Geir Håkonsund advised Princess Märtha Louise that her three daughters should not attend the memorial gathering for Ari Behn at Theatercafeen in Oslo due to the presence of the press, specifically Se og Hør, which she found completely unacceptable as a mother.

Why did Princess Märtha Louise say revisiting the events around Ari Behn’s death was emotionally difficult for her?

>She said it was difficult because it echoed her own long-standing experiences with how Se og Hør operates, particularly toward people in vulnerable situations, which she described as a pattern rather than an isolated incident.