Son of Norway's crown princess hears details of rape charges in tense trial for royal family
Prosecutors in Norway have detailed four charges of rape against the son of Norway's crown princess in the biggest case to come to court here for years.
Marius Borg Høiby appeared in court to deny the most serious of the 38 offences he is accused of. The court also heard evidence from a woman he is alleged to have raped in 2018.
He is not a member of the royal family himself. His lawyer said he was a young man who deserved a fair trial and condemned press treatment of him.
The trial comes against a backdrop of almost daily revelations surrounding him and his mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who is facing increasing criticism after it emerged she was cited in hundreds of emails showing extensive contacts with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mette-Marit, who married the crown prince when her son was four, has admitted showing "poor judgement", but the fallout has already begun, with one organisation dropping her as patron for its annual prize.
On the first day of the seven-week trial which began in courtroom 250 at Oslo district court, her son wore an ordinary sweater, white T-shirt and olive-green trousers, his blond hair cut short. He later removed the sweater and sat in court in a simple T-shirt.
Heavy court restrictions have been imposed on the trial, with a ban on any photos of the defendant inside or outside court.
As the charges were read out, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the four accusations of rape, speaking very quietly. At times he fiddled with a bracelet as public prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø detailed the charges against him.
Høiby partially admitted charges relating to a woman in Frogner in western Oslo in August 2024, admitting bodily harm but denying abuse. He admitted to several other allegations, including violating a restraining order, transporting marijuana and speeding.
Sitting opposite, to the right of the prosecutor, were some of the women named as victims in the case. The court has banned any detail that might identify the four women involved - a point underlined by the judge as proceedings opened.
The prosecutor set out details of the rape charges, alleging that the first took place during an after-party in December 2018 in the basement of the defendant's parents' house when he was 21.
The woman involved gave evidence at the end of the day during a closed session, which some journalists were allowed to follow from another room.
She said that they had sex for a few seconds before she stopped it. She remembered nothing of what happened next, calling it a "big black hole". Police later found videos on the defendant's phone, allegedly showing her being sexually assaulted without intercourse, which counts as rape in Norway.
All four instances of rape are alleged to have taken place after consensual sex, when the women were either asleep or incapacitated. One charge involved intercourse, the other three involve sexual assault.
Defence counsel Ellen Holager Andenæs said Marius Borg Høiby should be treated as innocent unless proven otherwise, and said it would be strange if someone facing such a "tsunami of negative publicity over such a long time" did not feel they were losing control of their life and destiny.
On the eve of the trial it emerged he had been detained for a fourth time, in circumstances not unlike his initial arrest, on suspicion of assault, making threats with a knife and violating a restraining order.
As police have placed him on remand for four weeks, he began the trial in custody.
His defence team intends to appeal against the decision.
The royal family will not attend the trial, although that is not seen as surprising by Norwegians.
Marius Borg Høiby was born four years before Mette-Marit married the crown prince, and although he is seen as a close member of the family he is not part of the royal family itself and not a public figure.
He faces an array of 38 charges:
- rape with sexual intercourse while a woman was unconscious in October 2023
- three counts of rape by sexual assault on incapacitated women - considered rape in Norway - in December 2018, March 2024 and November 2024
- six counts of sexually offensive conduct without consent - including filming of victims
- causing bodily harm
- repeatedly abusing a current or ex-partner through threats, coercion or violence
- violating a restraining order against him
- transporting 3.5kg of marijuana
- speeding
Some of the charges involving abuse and threats in August 2024 relate to the so-called "Frogner woman", and it is understood that his latest arrest is linked to her too.,
He is expected to give evidence for the first time on Wednesday. The case will be decided by three judges - if they find him guilty he could go to jail for at least 10 years.
His mother suffers from a serious lung condition and has difficulty breathing. But it is not her health that has become the talk of Norway in recent days, rather her name cited in more than 900 emails published by the US Department of Justice late last week.
The tone suggests a future queen of Norway exchanging messages with her guard down, even though she knows she is talking to a registered sex offender who had spent time in jail. It has also emerged she spent four days at his home in Florida when he was not present.
The Sex and Society foundation, which focuses on sexual and reproductive rights, has said it no longer wants Mette-Marit to act as high patron for its annual Shameless Prize, because what had emerged was incompatible with what it stood for.
The crown princess is Norway's future queen, and the decision will come as a blow to her reputation.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre urged Mette-Marit to "explain the extent of the contacts that have taken place".
Norway's royal family remains very popular, with a Norstat opinion poll not long ago suggesting 73% were in favour of it.
However, the leader of Norway's Green Party, Arild Hermstad, who is a republican says the email exchanges point to a monarchy that is not working.
By coincidence, Norwegian MPs voted on Tuesday to reject a motion that republicans submit by tradition every few years, a decision that was widely expected.