Norway's Marius Borg Hoiby was arrested in Oslo (Image: NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Royal family member and son of Norway's Crown Princess arrested over 'rape'

19 Nov 2024, 13:44 by Billy Gaddi, Chiara Fiorillo, https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/authors/william-gaddi/ · Daily Record

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Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit's eldest son has been arrested on suspicion of rape, police have said. The 27-year-old Marius Borg Hoiby is the son of Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne.

He has no royal title or official duties, the Mirror reports. The preliminary charge against Borg Hoiby was "sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act."

He was arrested in Oslo late on Monday. Authorities can detain suspects while they conduct an investigation by filing a preliminary charge, which comes before a formal charge.

Police did not say when the alleged rape occurred, only that "the victim must have been unable to resist the act." Norwegian media said Borg Hoiby denied the accusation.

Hege Salomon, the lawyer for the woman who was allegedly raped, said "she is having a hard time". The woman had not brought the case, she told Norwegian TV NRK. The woman was not identified. According to the news agency NTB, the royal palace had no comment.

Borg Hoiby was briefly detained by police on August 4 when they reacted to a disturbance in central Oslo. He was released after being preliminary charged with criminal damage and bodily harm.

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Police said that there was "a relationship between the suspect and the [alleged] victim," however details were unclear. Since then, Borg Hoiby has been charged with further preliminary charges, including driving without a valid driving license and violating multiple restraining orders.

Four women and one male are involved in all of the cases. In Norway, where the royal family is popular, the case made top billing on the news.

The royal couple and their two kids, Prince Sverre Magnus and Princess Ingrid Alexandra, live with Borg Hoiby. When Norway's future queen married Prince Haakon in 2001, she made headlines because she was a single mother who had led a freewheeling life with a partner who had been convicted of drug offences.