Ex-Husband of Princess Dies by Suicide on Christmas Day

Ari Behn once accused Kevin Spacey of groping him
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 26, 2019 2:54 AM CST
Updated Dec 26, 2019 6:43 AM CST
Norwegian Kevin Spacey Accuser Takes Own Life
Princess Martha Louise of Norway, with then-husband Ari Behn, arrives at the Royal Chapel before the wedding of Sweden's Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill, in Stockholm Saturday June 8, 2013.   (AP Photo/Soren Andersson)

In Scandinavia, Ari Behn was known as a respected Danish-Norwegian author and artist who was married to Norway's Princess Martha Louise for 15 years. But internationally, the 47-year-old, who took his own life on Christmas Day, may have been best known for alleging that Kevin Spacey groped him. Behn's manager confirmed "with great sadness" Wednesday that the author had died by suicide, Page Six reports. Behn, who was married to the princess from 2002 to 2017 but never had a royal title, was the father of her three daughters, the youngest of which is 11.

In 2017, Behn was among more than a dozen men to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct. He said the actor groped his genitals under a table after the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo. Behn made his debut as an author in 1999 with the short story collection Sad as Hell. In his final book, 2018's Inferno, he wrote about his struggle with mental health issues. In a statement, Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja said Behn was "an important part of our family for many years and we carry warm and good memories of him with us," the BBC reports. "We are grateful that we got to know him," they said. "We grieve that our grandchildren have now lost their beloved father." (More Norway stories.)

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