{"id":3389,"date":"2026-02-07T15:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/3389\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T15:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:15:30","slug":"the-son-of-norways-crown-princess-marius-borg-hoiby-pleads-not-guilty-to-rape-charges-as-his-trial-opens-in-oslo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/3389\/","title":{"rendered":"The son of Norway’s crown princess, Marius Borg H\u00f8iby, pleads not guilty to rape charges as his trial opens in Oslo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0son of Norway\u2019s crown princess\u00a0pleaded not guilty to rape charges <\/a>as he went on trial Tuesday for multiple alleged offenses, opening weeks of proceedings in a case that has cast a shadow on the royal family\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

Marius Borg H\u00f8iby, 29, is the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. H\u00f8iby has no royal title or official duties.<\/p>\n

H\u00f8iby stood for 24 minutes while prosecutor Sturla Henriksb\u00f8 read out the 38 counts against him at the Oslo district court, asking him if he pleaded guilty<\/a>. He replied \u201cno\u201d to each of the most serious charges, including the four counts of rape.<\/p>\n

Marius Borg H\u00f8iby is sitting next to his mother, Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit. NTB\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The charges also include abuse in a close relationship against one former partner, acts of violence against another and transporting 7.7 pounds of marijuana. Others include making death threats and traffic violations.<\/p>\n

H\u00f8iby pleaded guilty to several driving offenses, to an aggravated drugs offense and breaking a restraining order, and \u201cpartly\u201d to threats and aggravated assault. Wearing glasses, a brown sweater and beige trousers, he spoke quietly and conferred regularly with his lawyer. A court official moved the microphone to better pick up his answers.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors have said that H\u00f8iby could face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted in the trial, which is scheduled to last until March 19. Seven alleged victims are expected to testify.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is equality before the law,\u201d Henriksb\u00f8 told the court. \u201cThe defendant is the son of the crown princess. He is part of the royal family. He shall nevertheless be treated in the same way as any other person who is charged with the same offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

International interest<\/p>\n

Borg H\u00f8iby, 29, is the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. Instagram \/ Marius Borg Hoiby<\/p>\n

Reflecting international interest in the trial, Judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad addressed the court in English, warning that it was prohibited to record or take photographs in the courtroom and advising that some witness testimony would be heard behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

The investigation\u00a0began in 2024. Police were first called to an apartment in Oslo\u2019s upscale Frogner neighborhood in early August that year following reports of a violent incident. H\u00f8iby was arrested and later released, but the case expanded as additional women came forward with allegations against him.<\/p>\n

The indictment that prosecutors filed last year centers 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.<\/p>\n

A court sketch of Marius Borg Hoiby during the first day of the trial against him, which is taking place in room 250 of the Oslo District Court, Norway. AP<\/p>\n

H\u00f8iby has no royal title or official duties. via REUTERS<\/p>\n

It was expanded in January, when H\u00f8iby was charged with six new offenses, including possession and delivery of large quantities of marijuana and further restraining order violations.<\/p>\n

He was\u00a0free pending trial\u00a0until Sunday, when police said that he was arrested over new allegations of assault, threats with a knife and violation of a restraining order.<\/p>\n

The Oslo court on Monday granted their request to keep him in detention for up to four weeks on the grounds of a risk of reoffending. Defense lawyer Petar Sekulic said that the arrest followed an alleged \u201cincident\u201d involving another person on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He declined to give details, but said that H\u00f8iby contests his detention and his legal team was considering an appeal as soon as he and the other person can provide statements to police.<\/p>\n

Defence lawyers of Marius Borg Hoiby, Ellen Holager Andenaes and Petar Sekulic arrive at the District Court in Oslo on Feb. 3, 2026. NTB\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Haakon said last week that he and Mette-Marit don\u2019t plan to attend the trial and that the royal house doesn\u2019t intend to comment during the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Royal problems<\/p>\n

King Harald, 88, and the royals are generally popular in Norway, but the H\u00f8iby case has been a problem for the family\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

The trial opened at a particularly sensitive moment for the royal family. Mette-Marit faces\u00a0renewed scrutiny\u00a0over her past contacts with\u00a0Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>, who killed himself in 2019 in a New York jail cell as he faced sex trafficking charges, following the release on Friday of a new batch of documents from the\u00a0Epstein files.<\/p>\n

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 documents, which include email exchanges, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in 2013. Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, which was later confirmed by the royal household.<\/p>\n

Mette-Marit said in a statement that she \u201cmust take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein\u2019s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.\u201d She added: \u201cI showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0son of Norway\u2019s crown princess\u00a0pleaded not guilty to rape charges as he went on trial Tuesday for multiple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[2014,157,156,3569,3593,1161],"class_list":{"0":"post-3389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oslo","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-norway","10":"tag-oslo","11":"tag-rape","12":"tag-royal-family","13":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}