Norwegian magazine retracts AI-generated prison photo falsely depicting royal family member

The Norwegian gossip magazine Se og Hør has apologized for publishing an AI-generated image it claimed showed Marius Borg Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, enjoying a prison pool, the newspaper Dagbladet reports.

The image, titled “shock photos from Oslo prison,” depicted three men in an inflatable pool behind prison walls. Within minutes of publication, the magazine removed the story after readers noted inconsistencies: the subject had extra fingers and toes, missing nipples, and tattoos not previously seen on Høiby. A search using OpenAI tools suggested the image was AI-generated.

In a revised statement, Se og Hør acknowledged the error: “We believed the person on the right was Marius Borg Høiby. We regret this mistake.” Editor-in-chief Niklas Kokkinn-Thoresen confirmed the correction but declined further comment.

Høiby, 29, has been in pretrial detention since February following new charges related to his case involving a woman from Oslo’s Frogner district. His lawyers have requested he serve his sentence under house arrest at the royal estate Skaugum, citing harsh isolation conditions in Oslo prison.

Oslo prison and Høiby’s defense attorney René Ibsen have not responded to requests for comment.