THE Norwegian royal family has been scandalised by the colourful memoirs of Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s late father, which describe how he was forced to scrape a living until his death earlier this year.

At the time of her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, there were raised eyebrows at Mette-Marit’s wild past. The princess, 34, had a son, Marius, by a convicted drug user.

Her father Sven O Hoiby, a failed advertising executive, soon became known for his antics, including a three-month marriage to a stripper when he was 68.

His autobiography, co-written with Anette Gilje, a journalist, portrays a man who was driven to publicity stunts by a shortage of cash.

In one he dressed up as a woman, supposedly in support of gay rights in Moldova. He also worked as an Elvis impersonator in shopping centres.

The stunts began after he accepted £4,500 from a celebrity magazine so that he could afford morning dress for his daughter’s wedding.

According to Gilje, Hoiby was living on social security and was deeply in debt to the taxman, but members of the royal family made it clear they would not help out.

After his divorce from Mette-Marit’s mother and the break-up of another relationship, he was forced to sell his childhood home and his life went into a downward spiral.

His buffoonish behaviour and heavy drinking gave him the reputation of a kind of “ironic” national hero, an image that was boosted when he was adopted as a mascot by Norwegian “deathpunk” band Turbonegro.

Payments from magazines saved him from penury, but he complained: “The whole family pays a price when one becomes crown princess.”

He claimed to have married stripper Renathe Barsgaard, only three years older than his daughter, as a “revenge” stunt against the press. Although the couple divorced three months later, citing, “lifestyle differences”, she became his best friend and nursed him before he died in March at the age of 70.

Gilje said: “It’s a sad story about a man who lost the most important things in his life: his family and his pride.”

Gilje claims Hoiby harboured a secret dream to be employed as a gardener at the palace. In reality he had a strained relationship with his daughter, who felt increasingly let down by his constant leaks to the press.

Watch a music video featuring Mette-Marit's father

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?