Marius Borg Høiby and his mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit.Image: keystone
Mette-Marit in the Epstein files, the Crown Prince’s stepson in court: How much more can the royal family withstand?
Feb 4, 2026, 5:22 amFeb 4, 2026, 5:28 am
Niels Anner, Copenhagen / ch media
In Norway these days, everything that is causing a monarchy to falter is coming together. While Marius Borg Høiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son from her first marriage, is on trial on rape charges, revelations about his mother’s close friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are shocking the public. According to surveys, they reacted quickly: support for the monarchy is noticeably declining – and almost half no longer want Mette-Marit to become queen.
The seven-week trial of Marius Høiby began in Oslo on Tuesday, attracting hundreds of journalists and spectators. The 29-year-old is accused of 38 charges, including four rapes, several violent attacks on ex-girlfriends, criminal damage, and drug and traffic offenses. The repetitions over the last few years also have a serious effect. Most recently, Høiby threatened an ex-partner with a knife on Sunday, shortly before the trial began; He was forbidden to approach her.
The “Bonus Prince,” as he is called, admits individual points, such as drug use, which partly explains his freakouts, but denies the rapes that he filmed himself. His lawyer said on Tuesday that he did not know that the alleged victims were asleep or defenseless – the sex was voluntary.
She also warned against public prejudice. Høiby is not officially part of the court, but was always referred to as a member of the royal family, even on official occasions. One of the rapes is said to have occurred while he was on a surfing holiday in the Lofoten Islands with his stepfather, Crown Prince Haakon.
Intimate relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
Now, around the trial, the family is trying to separate private and public roles and stay in the background – while the second crisis escalates at the same time: The Epstein documents show a disturbingly close, even sometimes intimate relationship between the sex criminal and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. According to media research, the two had extensive contact from 2011 to 2014 and met several times. They exchanged information about personal matters, literature, meditation, royal weddings and private health issues that one would think a crown princess would be reserved about.
The tone was often flirtatious, Mette-Marit called it “sweetheart” and “charming,” and described Paris as “good for infidelity.” In 2013, she vacationed at his home in Florida for four days, and Epstein apparently also came by. In an email, an employee then warned Epstein about “inappropriate” images of “Mette”; but it is unknown what can be seen on it.
It was known since 2019 that there were contacts with Epstein, but not the extent of them. Mette-Marit has apologized for her “poor judgment” and said she knew nothing about Epstein’s criminal activities. But this is the most sensitive point: The Crown Princess wrote to him in 2011 that she had googled him: “It didn’t look good :)”. In fact, it was easy to read at the time that the financier had been sentenced to 13 months in prison in 2008 for sexual exploitation of minors. But the Norwegian didn’t seem to care.
The public criticism is harsh. The media and even the head of government are calling for “full openness,” and commentators are asking whether the monarchy will survive the double breach of trust: a criminal scandal by the son – and at least moral transgressions by the mother. The court has no political power, but relies on the trust of the population. And this is now clearly dwindling. (aargauerzeitung.ch)