Son of Norway princess charged with four rapes

[Desmond Milligan 0]

The 28-year-old son of Norway's crown princess has been charged with raping four women and several acts of violence, and risks up to 10 years in prison, a prosecutor said on Monday.

Marius Borg Hoiby, who was born from a relationship before Crown Princess Mette-Marit married Crown Prince Haakon, has been under investigation since his arrest on August 4 last year on suspicion of assaulting a girlfriend.

He is accused of raping four women while they were sleeping. In at least three of the cases, he met the women the same day and had consensual sex before the alleged rapes, public prosecutor Sturla Henriksbo told reporters.

Hoiby is also charged with filming their genitals without their knowledge.

Henriksbo said investigators had video clips and photographs as evidence.

The four rapes allegedly took place in 2018, 2023 and 2024, the last one after the police investigation began.

Other charges against Hoiby include domestic abuse against a former partner and several counts of violence, disturbing the peace, vandalism and violations of restraining orders against another former partner.

The only victim identified by the prosecution was Hoiby's ex-girlfriend Nora Haukland, whom he is accused of physically and psychologically abusing in 2022 and 2023.

- 'clenched fist' -

"The violence consisted, among other things, of him repeatedly hitting her in the face, including with a clenched fist, choking her, kicking her and grabbing her hard," the prosecutor said.

The maximum penalty for the offences in the indictment is up to 10 years in jail, he said.

"These are very serious acts that can leave lasting scars and destroy lives."

The palace remained tight-lipped after the announcement.

"It is for the courts to consider this matter and reach a decision," spokeswoman Sara Svanemyr said in a comment emailed to AFP.

The prosecutor said that Hoiby, as a member of the royal family, would not be treated "more lightly or more severely" than anyone else in similar circumstances.

Hoiby has already admitted to assault and vandalism in the August 2024 incident.

In a public statement 10 days after his 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".

A tall blond who cultivates a "bad boy" look with slicked back hair, earrings, rings and tattoos, Hoiby has been in the eye of a media storm since his arrest.

When the rape allegations emerged in November, he spent a week in custody -- unprecedented for a member of Norway's royal family.

After his release, he reportedly went to rehab in London.

- 'Gilded cage' -

Hoiby is the child of a brief romance between his mother and Morten Borg -- who has also been convicted of abuse and drug-related crimes. They were together at a time when the future princess was part of Norway's house music scene, known for its abundance of hash and ecstasy.

He was propelled into the spotlight at the age of four when his mother married Norway's crown prince, with whom she went on to have two more children.

Hoiby was raised by the royal couple alongside his step-siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, now aged 21 and 19.

Unlike them, however, he has no official public role.

"He has been put in a virtually impossible position: one foot in, one foot out. He is not technically part of the royal household but he grew up in it," said Sigrid Hvidsten, royals commentator at the newspaper Dagbladet.

"He has lived in a grey zone, a kind of gilded cage," she told AFP in December 2024.

A cage that has not kept him away from controversy in recent years.

According to media reports, he hung out with gang members, Hells Angels bikers and members of Oslo's Albanian mafia. In 2023, police contacted him to have a cautionary talk after he was seen moving in the same circles as "notorious criminals".

It emerged last year that Hoiby had already been arrested in 2017 for using cocaine at a music festival.

cbw/po/tw

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