The son of Norway’s crown princess has admitted to a series of criminal offences, including transporting large quantities of drugs, while firmly denying accusations that he raped four women, as his high-profile trial opened this week in Oslo. The case has sent shockwaves through Norwegian society, placing intense scrutiny on the royal family and raising questions about privilege, accountability, and consent.
Marius Borg Høiby, 29, appeared before Oslo district court facing 38 charges, among them ten alleged sexual offences as well as accusations of assault, abuse, and threatening behavior involving former partners. He pleaded guilty to at least six criminal offences, including carrying 3.5 kilograms of cannabis, multiple speeding violations, and driving without a valid license. However, he denied all rape allegations, despite prosecutors presenting what they described as extensive digital evidence.
According to the prosecution, police discovered photographs and videos on Høiby’s mobile phone stored in an encrypted application. The material allegedly shows him groping or engaging in sexual acts with several women while they appeared unconscious or unable to consent due to intoxication. Prosecutors said the evidence spans several years and involves four different women.
Høiby is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a relationship prior to her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. Although closely associated with the royal family, he does not hold any official royal role and carries out no formal duties. Nonetheless, the case has inevitably drawn the monarchy into the public spotlight.
The investigation began in 2024 after Høiby’s former girlfriend, Nora Haukland, publicly accused him on social media of physical and psychological abuse. Prosecutor Sturla Henriksbo told the court that once police seized Høiby’s phone, they uncovered images suggesting that Haukland had been assaulted while asleep or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol. Høiby admitted to taking a photograph of himself touching her genitalia but denied that the act constituted rape.
Prosecutors further alleged that similar images and videos were found involving three other women. One of the earliest alleged incidents dates back to late 2018 during a party at the royal family’s Skaugum estate. The court heard that while the woman and Høiby had brief consensual sex earlier that night, later footage allegedly shows him groping her while she lay motionless and unable to resist. The woman testified that she had no romantic interest in Høiby and said she only became aware of the alleged assault years later, when police showed her the evidence.
Another alleged rape occurred during a surfing holiday in the Lofoten archipelago in 2023. Prosecutors said Høiby met the woman through a dating app and that they had consensual sex several times before she fell asleep and later awoke to find him having sex with her. A fourth alleged incident is said to have taken place in an Oslo hotel room in 2024, after a concert, where the woman had initially consented to sex but was later filmed while lying still as Høiby touched her.
In addition to the sexual offence charges, Høiby pleaded partially guilty to four counts of assault and reckless conduct toward Haukland. On Sunday evening, he was arrested again on suspicion of further assault, threats, and violation of a restraining order involving the same woman. The court has ordered that he be held in preventative custody for four weeks while prosecutors consider whether to add the new allegations to the case.
Defense lawyer Ellen Holager Andenaes told the court that Høiby is innocent until proven guilty and argued that he has been subjected to intense and prejudicial media coverage. She emphasized that all the alleged victims had previously engaged in consensual sex with him and described the social environment surrounding the incidents as one marked by heavy alcohol consumption, drug use, and casual sexual encounters.
The trial is expected to last seven weeks. As proceedings continue, the case is likely to remain one of the most closely watched criminal trials in Norway in recent years, testing the country’s commitment to equal justice under the law while unfolding against the sensitive backdrop of the royal family.
