Norway’s royal crisis: Crown princess faces Epstein scrutiny ahead of son’s rape trial

The scandals involving Norway’s royal household just keep on piling up.

On Sunday, Marius Borg Hoiby, the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was arrested, accused of assault, threats with a knife and violation of a restraining order, police said in a statement. Police requested four weeks’ detention on grounds of risk of reoffending. His lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.

On Tuesday, Hoiby is due to go on trial at the Oslo district court. The indictment includes 38 counts, including rape, abuse in a close relationship against one former partner, acts of violence against another and transporting 3.5 kilograms of marijuana. Other charges include making death threats and traffic violations.

Hoiby has been under scrutiny since he was repeatedly arrested in 2024 on various allegations of wrongdoing. He was indicted in August, but had been free pending trial until Sunday.

Hoiby is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. He has no royal title or official duties.

The indictment centres on four alleged rapes between 2018 and November 2024; alleged violence and threats against a former partner between the summer of 2022 and the fall of 2023; and two alleged acts of violence against a subsequent partner, along with violations of a restraining order.

Hoiby’s defence team has said that he “denies all charges of sexual abuse, as well as the majority of the charges regarding violence”.

Haakon said last week that he and Mette-Marit do not plan to attend court and that the royal house doesn’t intend to comment during the proceedings.

He emphasised that Hoiby is not part of the royal house and that, as a citizen of Norway, he has the same responsibilities and rights as all others. He said that he is confident that all concerned will make the trial as orderly, proper and fair as possible.

‘Can Mette-Marit become queen after this?’

While the royals are generally popular in Norway, the Hoiby case has cast a shadow on their image. And the trial is opening just as his mother faces renewed scrutiny over her contacts with Jeffrey Epstein.

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Friday’s release of the latest batch of documents from the Epstein files shone an unflattering spotlight on Mette-Marit. They contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who already said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported.

The newly released documents, which include email exchanges with Epstein, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed a property of Epstein’s in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in early 2013, and the royal house confirmed that she did so through a mutual friend, broadcaster NRK reported.

In a statement emailed by the royal house, Mette-Marit said that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realising sooner what kind of person he was”.

“I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility I must bear. I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all,” she said. “It is simply embarrassing.”

She expressed her “deep sympathy and solidarity” with the victims of Epstein’s abuse.

Over the weekend, Kjetil B Alstadheim, a political reporter for one of Norway’s biggest newspapers Aftenposten, described the scandal as “a direct threat against the [royal] institution itself”.

Depending on how she and the royal household handle the matter “could prove decisive for whether Mette-Marit ever becomes queen”, he wrote.

Mette-Marit’s contacts with Epstein and the Hoiby trial are not the only source of negative publicity for Norway’s royals. The business ventures of Haakon’s sister, Princess Martha Louise, have drawn repeated criticism. In 2024, around the same time Hoiby’s case was making news, she married an American self-professed shaman, Durek Verrett.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)