Son of Norwegian crown princess convicted and sentenced for rape
Marius Borg Høiby is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit but not a member of the royal family
The son of Norway's Crown Princess has been found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to four years in prison.
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Marius Borg Høiby, 29, is the son of Mette-Marit, who married the Crown Prince of Norway when Høiby was four. Although he grew up within the family he is not himself a royal figure.
Høiby had pleaded not guilty to the most severe accusations against him, including those of rape, while admitting to some lesser ones, and can appeal the verdict.
However, the three judges at Oslo District Court cleared him of two other counts of rape, but found him guilty of raping two women, including one on the Crown Prince's estate at Skaugum in 2018 and another involving a woman in Oslo in 2024.
All four rape charges involved women who had been either asleep or incapacitated at the time.
The seven-week trial has brought renewed scrutiny on the royal family's once picture-perfect image and further dented their popularity and once very positive reputation.
It coincided with Crown Princess Mette-Marit's apology for "poor judgement" in maintaining contact with the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted in 2008.
Høiby could not be seen or heard in the courtroom, but joined the session via video link.
Prosecutors had sought seven years and seven months in prison.
The case has exposed Hoiby's drug addiction, self-made videos of sexual encounters and more than 800 electronic messages entered into evidence.
"The court finds it is proven she was not able to resist the action," Oslo District Court Judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad said of the rape at the crown prince's home, while reading the verdict.
Only one of the women accusing him of rape was in court to hear the verdict.
She cried after the judge said Hoiby was guilty of raping her and dabbed her eyes with a tissue her lawyer gave her.
The verdict was delivered amid difficult personal circumstances for Mette-Marit, Hoiby's mother, who needs a lung transplant for pulmonary fibrosis.
A Norstat survey out on February 21 - during the trial - showed a fall in the number of Norwegians favouring keeping the monarchy to a record low of 60%, from 70% in January, and a rise to 27% from 19% in those wanting a different system of governance.
In May, the royal family recovered somewhat in popularity, with 64% polled by Norstat supporting the monarchy and 23% wanting a different system of governance.
