(CNN) Ari Behn, an author and the former husband of a Norwegian princess, died by suicide on Christmas Day, Behn's family's spokesman Geir Håkonsund announced.

"It is with great sadness in our hearts that we, the very closest relatives of Ari Behn, must announce that he took his own life today. We ask for respect for our privacy in the time to come," Håkonsund said in a statement.

Behn, 47, was the ex-husband of Princess Martha Louise, the eldest child of Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and the fourth in line to the throne. They married in 2002 and announced they were separating in 2016, according to Behn's website. The divorce was finalized in 2017.

Two years ago, Behn hit the headlines when he said the actor Kevin Spacey had once grabbed him intimately and suggested they go outside.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, King Harald and Queen Sonja called Behn "an important part of our family for many years, and we carry warm, fond memories of him."

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