Image: keystone
Mar 18, 2026, 11:51 amMarch 18, 2026, 12:05 p.m
In the trial against the eldest son of the Norwegian Crown Princess, the public prosecutor in Oslo has demanded seven years and seven months in prison for Marius Borg Høiby. The time that Høiby has already spent in custody should be deducted from the prison sentence. According to the public prosecutor’s office, this has so far been 63 days. At the end of their plea on Wednesday, the prosecution also demanded a two-year ban on contact with an ex-girlfriend.
Prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø called for Mette-Marit’s son to be convicted on 39 of 40 charges. Høiby should only be acquitted for violating a contact ban. In this case, he is said to have accidentally called his ex-girlfriend despite the ban.
Rape, violence, frenzy: 40 counts
Mette-Marit’s son is accused, among other things, of four counts of rape under Norwegian law. In three cases he is said to have touched women in the genital area. In one case, penetration with the penis is said to have occurred. “Rape can leave deep scars and destroy lives,” said the public prosecutor, according to the newspaper “Verdens Gang”. The women are said to have been asleep or blacked out during the alleged crimes.
Høiby is said to have filmed her. Photos and video recordings on the Norwegian’s cell phones therefore played an important role in the process. The defendant is said to have had voluntary sex with three of the women for a long time before the alleged crimes – that should have a mitigating effect on the sentence, said public prosecutor Henriksbø.
The 29-year-old also has to answer for numerous cases of domestic violence against two ex-girlfriends. An incident in the apartment of one of the two got the investigation against the Norwegian “Bonus Prince” rolling. There, Høiby is said to have, among other things, choked his girlfriend at the time, known by the Norwegian media as the “Frogner woman” after the Oslo district, tore a chandelier from the wall and stomped on it, and thrown a knife into the wall.
According to the prosecution, the relationship between the two was characterized by Høiby’s “aggression problem”: especially when drunk, the Norwegian lost his temper, was jealous and became violent. During the trial, his ex-girlfriend compared him to the “Hulk” in these situations – a comic character who transforms into an uncontrollable creature when angry.
During the investigation, the two had resumed contact and had seen or spoken to each other almost every day before the trial began. This is also why Høiby is said to have regularly broken a contact ban imposed on him. Half of the 40 charges relate to the “Frogner woman”.
Prosecution: Women are more credible than Høiby
In addition to sexual and violent crimes, the son of the Crown Princess and stepson of Crown Prince Haakon are accused of some less serious crimes. He is said to have driven too fast and given the police the finger. He is said to have transported at least 3.5 kilos of marijuana for a dealer. While he admits some of the crimes, Høiby denies, among other things, the rape.
In his plea, public prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø gave the alleged victims greater credibility than Høiby. During the six-week trial, he often stated that he could not remember exactly.
The defendant not only showed a lack of respect for norms and rules, but also that he sets different standards for himself and others in relationships, Henriksbø said this week, according to the Norwegian newspaper “Verdens Gang”.
While the son of the Norwegian Crown Princess described himself last Friday as a “monster” in the public eye and an “object of hate from all of Norway”, the public prosecutor made it clear in his plea that Høiby was a person like everyone else and should not be punished for who he was, but for what he had done.
Høiby blames media for difficult childhood
Over the past few weeks, Mette-Marit’s son had repeatedly talked about how much it had burdened him to be involuntarily in public since his early childhood. Høiby was still a toddler when his mother married the Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon. On several occasions, Høiby bitterly accused the press of persecuting and exposing him while he defended his mother and stepfather Haakon.
The 29-year-old had to go through the trial without his family: the crown prince couple and Høiby’s half-siblings, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, stayed away from the trial.
The allegations against the “Bonus Prince” are not the only scandal currently affecting the Norwegian royal family. Mette-Marit has had to endure harsh criticism for weeks for her close friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In addition, her health has deteriorated again, as the Norwegian court announced on Tuesday. The Crown Princess suffers from a rare form of the chronic disease pulmonary fibrosis and will soon need a new lung. The 52-year-old has not appeared in public since the end of January.
The situation for the royals is unlikely to ease in the foreseeable future: The Norwegians are still waiting for their Crown Princess to explain in detail about her Epstein contact. And the verdict against Marius Borg Høiby is expected in a few months. Then it will be seen whether the court will comply with the prosecutor’s wishes and put him behind bars for a long time. (sda/dpa)