Marius Borg Høiby and his mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Høiby, the stepson Crown Prince Haakon - the heir to the throne in Norway - is charged with multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and bodily harm. Photo: Lise Aaserud / NTB via AFP
The son of Norway's crown princess will go on trial in February accused of raping four women, an Oslo court says, a case that could see him jailed for up to 10 years.
Marius Borg Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from another relationship before she married Crown Prince Haakon, was charged on 18 August with four counts of rape and 28 other crimes, including acts of violence against ex-girlfriends.
It is the biggest scandal to hit the Norwegian royal family.
Seven women are listed as victims in the case, four of them of rapes, including one of Høiby's ex-girlfriends, Nora Haukland, and glamour model and pop singer Linni Meister.
The trial will take place in the Oslo District Court from 3 February until 13 March, it said.
Høiby, 28, was arrested on 4 August lst year, suspected of having assaulted his then-girlfriend.
He has admitted to acts of violence in that case, but has denied the other charges against him, according to his lawyers.
In a public statement 10 days after his August 2024 arrest, he said he had acted "under the influence of alcohol and cocaine after an argument", having suffered from "mental troubles" and struggling "for a long time with substance abuse".
The four rapes allegedly took place in 2018, 2023 and 2024, the last one after the police investigation began.
No members of the royal family have been called as witnesses in the case.
"Everyone involved in this case undoubtedly finds this all very difficult and trying," Haakon said on 19 August, the day after the charges against his stepson were announced.
"It is now up to the courts to decide on the final outcome," he said.
Høiby is not technically a member of the royal family, and therefore has no official public role.
Haakon and Mette-Marit have two children together, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, aged 21 and 19.
- AFP
