Death & Funeral of Ari Behn: December 25, 2019/January 3, 2020


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Its tragic for everyone, Ari, especially his daughters, and his family.
He was aware of his problems and spoke openly about it, therefore I assume he had the best help available. But sometimes it's not enough. If somebody is determined to end his life, he will do it, no matter what. Although it appears cruel, I don't think it can be explained with reason.

I've heard from friends that their family member actually seemed happy and healthy a week before, at ease with herself, but only because she must have taken the decision to go.

And this time of the year is very common, my best friend has been a paramedic for almost 30 years, he told me last week that he's had 3 suicides in a week and it will increase over Christmas.
I hope that Ari is at peace now and that his family can make peace with his decision at some point.
 
So shocking, so sad, specially in this time of the year, I can not imagine his daughters, the pain and the feeling of abandonment. My father died when I was 2 in a car accident and even though it was an accident and I knew I always felt this sense of abandonment, it was terrible, specially when i was a teenager and I was in a relationship, I always thought that they were going to abandon me and I used to be so obsessive posses of the person next to me that I would make them to run away. It took me a long time to recuperate until I met my husband who by the way is 30 years older than me, you don't wonder why.... I feel for this girls because the father choose to abandon them even if he was with an illness this girls will se it as abandonment, hope they get the treatment they need asap so they can move forward and not take as long as I did. May his soul rest in peace.
 
amaryllus said:
Fact is for his daughters now the happiest time of the year has turned into the time Daddy chose to kill himself. They will never be able to really enjoy the holidays with their own spouses and children. To do this any day was selfish but right before Christmas? That was cruel.
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It was the day after Christmas as far as I have heard. Very sad anyway for all involved :sad:
 
Very very sad indeed!!I am very sorry for his children and direct family.

He might have been contraversial at one time,but a better person by far
compared to that sick freeky excuse of a "successor".Very sad Ari didn't
see any other solution then to take his life.Extra poignant on Christmas,
as for the children Christmas will always remain connected with their fathers death.

Martha Louise,how will you deal with your children and responsibility towards
them from now on instead of spending time with that freakshow and continue
to be the risée of your House and Country while your children have to watch and have to endure it all???
Wake up woman!
 
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this was most shocking. i feel very sorry for the 3 girls he leaves behind, it always pains me to see how parents of kids would do such a thing, but obviously mental illness is complicated and i don't judge those who feel that suicide is the only way forward. he felt that his depression was hard for his loved ones so this may have been his way of aring for them and to spare them the suffering.

the timing is also most strange indeed, to do this on christmas day. some here mentioned he was spending christmas with the royal family also, so either he changed his mind last minute or retired to be by himself at some point of the day.

to me, the royal statements showed how appreciated ari behn was to the RF members. to outsiders, he was always excentric and a bit much for the RF, but he clearly won a place in the hearts of the king, queen, haakon and MM and also foreign royals like daniel and victoria.
 
I didn't know Ari Behn but I was shocked and saddened to hear the news. I can only imagine how devastating and horrible this news must have come to his young daughters.

My heart goes out for them for their loss. Prayers and fond memories are what we have to remember. May his soul rest in peace. My heartfelt condolences to the family.
 
Very sad. One never knows what is going on or even rages in another person's psyche. I am sure Ari had access to professional care but somehow the suffering seemed so intense. What a terrible and sad news. It looks similar to Queen Máxima's sister Inès: whatever the effort, it seems so hard to help loved ones with this. A broken bone can heal. But a psyche is so complicated. Phew... What a news.
 
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Friends of Ari Behn are now expressing their feelings.
One of them is Jan Thomas, who spoke with Ari Behn a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Among other things he writes:
"It hurts so much and it's totally impossible to take in. That Ari is suddenly gone is just heavy and all-consumingly incomprehensible.
It's not many days ago I spoke with him and there we planned to do several things in the year to come.
It's no secret that Ari also had his heavy periods and that makes this day extra painful. To feel resistance in life can be a personal and heavy journey, where you often isolate yourself. It seemed like Ari would attempt to get through it in mind of the future he has talked about.
I was in contact with him just a couple of weeks ago. That it should be my last conversation with him is totally unfathomable to think of."

To the press he adds:
"I'm just dissolved in tears. I was so fortunate to meet Ari many years ago and today I cannot when I met him for the first time. But for each time we met a totally inexhaustible love between us developed.
He was always one of my nearest and most supporting friends. And I tried always to be the same for him."

Here is a comment from the DRF, via their PR-chief, Lene Balleby:
"The Danish Royal Family is deeply moved over the premature death of Ari Behn and they send their warmest thoughts to the Norwegian Royal Family and the family of Ari Behn.

https://www.bt.dk/royale/den-danske-kongelige-familie-er-dybt-beroerte-over-ari-behns-doed
 
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It is very hard to understand. My best friend suffers severe depression but when you see her: utterly succesful, a devoted handsome boyfriend, amazingly beautiful house, brand new Tesla on the driveway, four holidays a year but still she has intense periods of pain. "But WHAT is the pain?" I tried to understand, but she never could describe it. She says sometimes she steps out of her car, steps into her futuristic kitchen and suddenly feels her legs like being sucked into mud. She feels waves of gloom overcome her and suddenly feels all willpower leaving her and glide into depression. No escape possible. Very hard to understand because objectively there is often no reason. It is easier to say: he has a broken leg, she has a kidney failure, because then one can point to something. With depressions: phew... whát is it? Why is it? How can we help? The illness which is the most difficult to understand because from the outside no one can see.
 
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Johan T Lindwall, the editor-in-chief about Ari Behn's death:
Johan T Lindwall: "Ari Behn was a fantastic person"
Ari Behn is gone. It is inconceivable.
Princess Märtha Louise's ex-husband chose to end her life and we are all equally shocked and sad. I'll say it right away: Ari Behn was an amazing person.
Yes, I can say that when I had the opportunity to meet him so many times throughout the years. Ari Behn was truly an amazing person who brought so much to the Norwegian royal house.
As I said, I had the privilege of meeting both him and Märtha Louise a number of times over the years. Every time he was always just as nice and friendly. Always with a hug and although I could write sharp words about him he had a warm hug.
Johan T Lindwall_ _Ari Behn var en fantastisk människa_ _ Svensk Dam
Translation
 
and people with cancer who choose to die on Christmas Day are selfish, cruel to their families as well, right?
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Comparing Apples with Oranges much ?

Those who take their own lives, do so of their own volition.. those who die naturally do not.
 
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betina said:
It was the day after Christmas as far as I have heard. Very sad anyway for all involved :sad:
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Norway is behind Australia in terms of time and I heard the news before going to bed on Christmas Day here in Australia so it was either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It certainly wasn't Boxing Day in Norway.
 
Christmas will never be the same again in Mauds, Leahs and Emmas life.

So incredible sad.
 
Incredibly sad, for him and especially his daughters. We are only beginning to understand the complexities of the human brain. His daughters will forever be changed but I wish that one day they find understanding and peace with the illness that took their father's life. I wish the same for everyone who has been touched by mental illness directly and indirectly, and to receive no judgment, only compassion from everyone. :sad:
 
wyevale said:
Comparing Apples with Oranges much ?

Those who take their own lives, do so of their own volition.. those who die naturally do not.
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Not necessarly. Most people who commit sucide do not do so with the intention of "leaving" their loved ones.. but because they are in the grip of severe depression which makes them feel that life is hopeless. They may often feel that they are sparing their loved ones the burden of seeing them failing and being unhappy..
 
^ Their death is STILL of their own volition, regardless.. and not the same as a 'natural death'
 
What a tragedy. So sad. I feel so so sorry for Ari’s family - especially his daughters. I cannot imagine what it must feels like to lose your father so suddenly at such young age. I hope the family is able to support and comfort each other in this sad times.

Depressions are a horrible illness. I guess no one who hasn’t suffered from it understands what it feels like If you feel the only solution is suicide. That must be horrible. May Ari rest in peace and may his poor poor girls get all the love, help and support they need. My thoughts are with the family.
 
It is not surprising that someone in the depths of depression should end it on or around Christmas. There is no more lonely or sadder time with TV full of happy families and people enjoying each other's company, even in the Ads.

As I said to my Doctor, Shingles. . . Just what I wanted for Christmas. I couldn't share in our usual Christmas Brunch and time in the pool just chillaxing with my extended family. Too many young babies and those with compromised immune systems.

On Christmas Eve I found myself stalked by the 'Black Dog' and felt so beref thinking of my late sister. I think that is one of the saddest and most painful times I have had since she died. The thought of living in that state perpetually is frightening. It came on unannounced and I was unprepared for such a situation.

Fortunately I had a phone and friends and family and, more importantly, an abiding faith.
 
people often commit suicide at Christmas because of the stress of th time of year, the fact that many are alone or have lost closeness to their family because of a divorce -
Since it appears that ML's new boyfriend thinks that people with cancer "have chosen to die" as well I hope that the little girls are not allowed to think that their father chose to leave them brutally...
 
I thought I had heard Ari was going to spend Christmas Day with the his girls, ML And the King and Queen, If so its sad that despite that he felt alone.
 
His parents are still alive.

Norwegian poet Trygve Skaug released a poem on his instagram yesterday. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6gt7SYlFNf/

My translation.
This is a tribute
to the boys
and the girls who had to surrender
in the fight against the darkness
because they were fine people
those on the front lines
then it got dark there
and it is those we will fight for
with light switches on our knuckles
because it cannot keep going like this
that the black night waltzes around
and takes what it wants
Click to expand...
 
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It’s all very sad, feel so sorry for his girls.
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
Mr Behn was bestowed the Groot Erekruis met ster (Grand Honorary Cross with star) in the Order of the House of Orange, which is worn around the neck plus a breast star. Besides that he had Swedish and Norwegian anniversary medals (here worn on his lapels, next to a miniature of the Dutch Order) : https://g.acdn.no/obscura/API/dynam.../3423552012/1/original/5856745.jpg?chk=E3FED3
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I am surprised he was never awarded a Norwegian order having been married to the King's daughter.
 
Mbruno said:
I am surprised he was never awarded a Norwegian order having been married to the King's daughter.
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Johan Martin Ferner who was married to Princess Astrid since the 60s - got the order of St. olav in 2011...

I suspect Ari Behn the author/artist would have got it long before, if he hadn’t been married into the royal house.

The police got news of the suicide at 16:47 yesterday. The neighbours noted that on the way to house in Lommedalen was quickly filled with alarms from ambulances and police cars.

Crime techs was working in the house for a long while into the night and the main door is still marked by police tape.

The neighbours arrived to light candles outside, and told nice stories of their interactions with him.

https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/naboene-i-sorg-etter-aris-dod/71968346
 
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May he rest in peace and may God be a a presence of comfort and guidance iin his daguthers lives…
 
My heart goes out to Ari's family, especially his daughters. My husband died on Thanksgiving Day (a major holiday in the USA) in 2009. For us, the holiday has been forever changed, as it will be for the Behn family. I hope they will receive much love, support and professional counseling.
 
According to the article, Ari's neighbors said that his house remained in darkness on Christmas Eve. That sounds ominous and heartbreaking...that he was possibly sitting alone in the dark the night before his death.

Has there been any word from Princess ML at all? Even on social media? I can only imagine her sense of shock.......:ermm:
 
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