BY: DM
Published 5 hours ago
Norway just got a little queerer — and a lot louder in love. Maud Angelica Behn, the 21-year-old daughter of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and the late author Ari Behn, just stepped into her truth publicly. Behn’s coming-out continues a long, though often hidden, tradition of queer relationships among royals.
Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I, was openly gay in 19th-century Vienna and famously refused marriage proposals from European princesses because of his sexuality, per Tatler. King Umberto II, Italy’s last king, was outed by Mussolini’s regime and was known to have male lovers. Princess Isabella of Bourbon-Parma, an 18th-century duchess, reportedly exchanged passionate love letters with her sister-in-law in the Habsburg court, hinting that she was bisexual.
Now, Behn is joining the collection of queer royals. And while she isn’t a working royal, Maud is still very much in the public eye as the granddaughter of Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja.
Maud Angelica Behn has come out as bisexual.
Behn publicly came out as bisexual at the Oslo Pride parade. The royal, who is fifth in line to the throne, posted a series of colorful Pride photos on Instagram dressed in purple, fuchsia, and blue — the colors of the bisexual flag. Her mother, Princess Märtha Louise, and the princess’s husband, author Durek Verrett, joined Behn at the parade. After the Pride events, Louise reposted photos of Maud Angelica on her own Instagram and gushed about her daughter’s message. The princess wrote that “love is never wrong” and praised her child’s courage.
“During Pride, I see a deep capacity for love — love that doesn’t ask for permission or explanation,” Louise wrote. “There’s something profoundly beautiful about daring to love who you love, even when the world tells you to be quiet, to shrink, or to hide. But love isn’t meant to be hidden. It’s meant to be celebrated, lived, and shared in all its wonderful forms.”
Reactions on social media were overwhelmingly positive. “Rooting for you. You are an important voice for many,” one person wrote. While another added, “Imagine the day when we can all just be ourselves. It’s gonna be a good one. Rooting for you, Maud.”
Maud Angelica Behn is the first Norwegian royal to come out as LGBTQIA+.
By speaking out, Maud Angelica Behn became the first member of Norway’s royal family ever to publicly identify as LGBTQIA+. Her announcement in Oslo makes Norway’s young princess one of the few European royals to have done this in modern times, but she is not alone on the continent.
In the UK, Lord Ivar Mountbatten — a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II — became the first British royal to come out as gay in 2016, Tatler reports. In India, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil — nephew of the late Maharaja of Rajpipla — came out in 2006 and went on to become an outspoken LGBTQIA+ rights activist. These stories remind us that LGBTQIA+ love has always existed within royal circles, even if earlier generations kept it hidden.
Do you think royal institutions should do more to support LGBTQIA+ representation publicly? Comment below!
