The heir to the Norwegian throne has faced growing media pressure in his country after revelations that he spent a long weekend in early August aboard the Mia Elise superyacht. 

In a meeting with journalists during a scouting event in Asker, he would only say that he hadn't paid anything for his stay and that the person who had lent the vessel was one of its owners. 

“A friend invited us on a boat trip and we stayed there for three days. It’s as simple as that,” he said. “I do not think he owes us anything, or that we owe him anything.” 

Haakon went on the trip with Crown Princess Mette Marit directly after the couple attended the wedding of Pierre Casiraghi, Princess Caroline of Monaco’s youngest son, to Beatrice Borromeo. 

Haakon said that staying on such a fuel-guzzling vessel did not mean he no longer took environmental issues seriously. 

“I still believe the climate is important,” he told reporters.  “I fully agree that emissions are a bad thing. We must try to do something.”