The former husband of Norway's Princess Martha Louise has taken his own life, it has been announced tonight.
Ari Behn's death has left the palace shocked and family and friends grief-stricken.
The 47-year-old talented author and artist leaves behind three young children, who he shares with the princess, 48.
The couple married in 2002 and divorced in 2017. That year he accused Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey of groping him under a table.
Ari and Princess Martha Louise's first daughter, Maud Angelica, was born in 2003, their second daughter Leah Isadora in 2005, and their third daughter, Emma Tallulah, in 2008.
Geir Hakonsund, Ari's manager, said on behalf of his family: "It is with sadness in our hearts that we, the closest relatives of Ari Behn, announce today that he has taken his life.
"We ask for respect for our privacy in the coming time."
In a statement this evening, King Harald, the princess's father, said: “It is with great sadness that the Queen and I have received the message of Ari Behn’s passing.
“Ari has been an important part of our family for many years, and we carry warm, fond memories of him.”
A statement from the Crown Prince family added: “For us, Ari was a good friend, a dear family member and a wonderful uncle, with whom we shared many of life’s small and big moments.
"It is with great sadness that we have received the message of his passing away.”
No other details about his death have been confirmed.
In 2017, Ari accused disgraced actor Kevin Spacey of allegedly groping him under the table at a Nobel Peace Prize concert.
Recalling the alleged 2007 incident, Ari said: "We had a great talk, he sat right beside me.
"After five minutes he said, 'hey, let's go out and have a cigarette'. Then he puts his hand under the table and grabs me by the balls."
Ari said he put Spacey off by telling him: "Er, maybe later."
Spacey has been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen men and has since been dropped from the Netflix drama House of Cards.
Ari added: "My hair was dark at the time, I was 10 years younger and right up his alley."
Meanwhile, Ari's Instagram is being flooded by fans leaving heart emojis on his last picture, which was posted 17 weeks ago.
Ari was born in Denmark to teacher parents and grew up in Norway.
He attended the Waldorf School in Moss and is baptized in The Christian Community. He achieved a bachelor’s degree in history and religion from University of Oslo.
He wrote three novels, two collections of short stories and a book about his wedding.
His 1999 short stories collection Trist som faen (“Sad as hell”) sold about 100,000 copies and received several favourable reviews.
His books have been translated into Swedish, Danish, German, Hungarian, and Icelandic as well as French, according to the biography on his website.
He has also produced several TV-documentaries with photographer Per Heimly, about their travels to exotic locations around the world questioning serious topics, for which he was awarded the prize for “Best TV-entertainment” in 2011.
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