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Rape trial begins for son of crown princess in tense moment for royal family
03rd February, 2026 02:49 PM
A year and a half after Marius Borg Høiby was arrested by police over a violent episode at a woman’s flat in Oslo, the son of Norway’s crown princess has gone on trial, in the biggest case to come to court here for years.
Høiby pleaded not guilty to four charges of rape, as the public prosecutor read out the 38 charges against him.
The seven-week trial opened at the Oslo district court against a backdrop of almost daily revelations surrounding him and his mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
The crown princess is facing increasing criticism after it emerged that she was cited in hundreds of emails showing extensive contacts with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
She has admitted showing “poor judgment”, but the fallout has already begun, with one organisation dropping her as patron for its annual prize.
On the eve of the trial, it emerged her 29-year-old son had been detained again, in circumstances not unlike his initial arrest, on suspicion of assault, making threats with a knife and violating a restraining order.
As the police have placed him on remand for four weeks, he began the trial in custody.
His defence team intends to appeal against the decision.
Marius Borg Høiby appeared in court wearing a brown sweater and white T-shirt, green trousers and glasses, his blond hair cut short. Heavy court restrictions have been imposed on the trial, with a ban on any pictures of the defendant inside or outside court. The judge broke into English at one point to emphasise the rules to international media.
As the charges against him were read out, he pleaded not guilty to the four accusations of rape, speaking very quietly.
He partially admitted charges relating to a woman in Frogner in western Oslo in August 2024, admitting bodily harm but denying abuse. He admitted several other charges, including violating a restraining order, transporting marijuana and speeding. At times, he fiddled with a bracelet as public prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø detailed the charges against him.
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.
All four are alleged to have taken place when the women were either asleep or incapacitated.
The royal family will not attend the trial in Courtroom 250 at the Oslo district court, which has attracted enormous interest throughout Norway and beyond.
Commentators do not see that as particularly surprising, with King Harald V and Queen Sonja heading to the Winter Olympics in Italy later this week, but it adds to a sense of isolation surrounding Crown Prince Haakon’s stepson.
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 is not a public figure.
