The son of a Norwegian princess was arrested before his rape case, other charges – National
The eldest son of a Norwegian princess has been arrested, shortly before his trial on charges including rape in a scandal that embarrassed the royal family, police said on Monday.
Marius Borg Høiby was arrested on Sunday evening and is accused of assault, threatening with a knife and breaching a restraining order, the police said in a statement. They asked to be jailed for four weeks on the grounds that they would commit the crime again. His lawyers could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, he will appear in the Oslo district court. The case includes 38 charges, including rape, intimate partner abuse, acts of harassment and transporting 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) of marijuana. Other offenses include making death threats and traffic violations.
Høiby has been under scrutiny since he was repeatedly arrested in 2024 on various charges. He was charged in August, but was free pending trial until Sunday.
Høiby is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. He has no royal position or official duties.
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Charges include four counts of rape between 2018 and November 2024; allegations of violence and threats against an ex-partner between the summer of 2022 and the fall of 2023; and two alleged acts of violence against a subsequent partner, and a violation of a restraining order.
Høiby’s defense team said he “denies all charges of sexual assault, as well as many charges of violence.”
Haakon said last week that he and Mette-Marit do not plan to go to court and that the royal family does not intend to comment during the trial.
He stressed that Høiby is not part of the royal family and that, as a Norwegian citizen, he has the same obligations and rights as everyone else. He said he hoped that all parties involved would conduct the trial in an orderly, fair and just manner as possible.
While the royal family is generally popular in Norway, the Høiby case has cast a shadow over their image. And the case is being opened just as his mother is facing renewed scrutiny over her connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
Friday’s release of the latest batch of documents from the Epstein files shined an unflattering light on Mette-Marit. They contain several hundred statements about the crown princess, who already said in 2019 that she regretted having contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported.
The newly released documents, which include email exchanges with Epstein, show that Mette-Marit borrowed Epstein’s property 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 an emailed statement from the royal family, Mette-Marit said she “must take responsibility for not properly investigating Epstein’s background, and for not realizing quickly what kind of person he was.”
“I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility that I must bear. I showed poor judgment and I regret that I had any contact with Epstein at all,” he said. “It’s just embarrassing.”
He expressed his “deep sympathy and solidarity” with the victims of Epstein’s abuse.
Mette-Marit and Epstein’s contacts and the Høiby case are not the only source of negative exposure for members of the Norwegian royal family. The business of Haakon’s sister, Princess Märtha Louise, has received repeated criticism. In 2024, at the same time Høiby’s case was making headlines, she married an American shaman, Durek Verrett.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
