Norway’s royal family has been rocked by a stunning criminal verdict after Marius Borg Høiby, the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to four years in prison.
The 29-year-old, who became part of Norway’s royal circle when his mother, Mette-Marit, married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, was convicted by an Oslo court following a seven-week trial that dragged the royal family into one of its darkest scandals in years.
On Monday, the court found Høiby guilty of two counts of rape, including one that prosecutors said happened in the basement of the Crown Prince’s home. He was acquitted of two other rape charges.
Høiby had pleaded not guilty to the most serious allegations, though he admitted to some lesser offenses. Prosecutors had pushed for a prison sentence of seven years and seven months, but the court ultimately handed down a four-year term. He can appeal the verdict.
The trial pulled back the curtain on a deeply troubling side of the royal family’s private world. Evidence included claims about Høiby’s drug addiction, self-recorded videos of sexual encounters, and more than 800 electronic messages.
“The court finds it is proven she was not able to resist the action,” Oslo District Court Judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad said while reading the verdict, referring to one of the assaults at the Crown Prince’s residence.
Høiby watched the verdict from prison by video link, though he could not be seen or heard inside the courtroom.
He had been in police custody since early February. Before the trial began, police detained him on suspicion of assault and violating a restraining order involving an ex-girlfriend.
The case centered on accusations from four women, who alleged that Høiby raped them between 2018 and 2024 while they were either asleep or incapacitated. The women remained anonymous throughout the proceedings.
The only identifiable accuser in court was Høiby’s former girlfriend, influencer Nora Haukland. Høiby was suspected of abusing, hitting, and choking her.
Several of the allegations involved a woman referred to in court as the “Frogner woman,” named after the upscale Oslo neighborhood where she lives. Høiby partly admitted to serious bodily harm and abuse in her case, but denied filming her in a sexually offensive way without consent.
He also denied secretly filming the other women.
The scandal comes as his mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, is reportedly battling serious health issues. Høiby recently asked to be allowed out of custody to visit her, but an appeals court rejected the request.
Mette-Marit, who has long been one of Norway’s most recognizable royal figures, is reportedly on a waiting list for a lung transplant.
Høiby has never held an official royal role. He was born before Mette-Marit married into the royal family, but his close connection to Norway’s future king has made the case an explosive embarrassment for the monarchy.
Royal Bullschitt! Should get at least 20 years! and supervised probation!