Feb 10, 2026, 4:17 p.mFeb 10, 2026, 4:17 p.m
In courtroom 250 in Oslo on Tuesday, the most serious of the allegations in the trial against Marius Borg Høiby will be discussed: The eldest son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit is said to have raped a woman in October 2023 while the alleged victim was sleeping.
Marius Borg Høiby has to stand trial.Image: keystone
He is also said to have filmed her naked abdomen for almost five seconds.
The two met on the dating app Tinder during a surfing holiday on the Norwegian archipelago of Lofoten. The wife sent a screenshot of the match with Høiby to a friend, as Norwegian media reported. Just for fun, she wrote something like “Now I’m finally going to be a C-list celebrity.” But what started as a date now ends in a rape trial – with the Norwegian “bonus prince” in the dock.
According to the newspaper “Verdens Gang”, the alleged victim said in court that his fame hardly played a role in the match with Høiby – for her and her friends it was more exciting that Crown Prince Haakon accompanied his stepson on the trip to the Lofoten. The now 29-year-old and the woman are said to have first attended a movie night with others and then celebrated in a group before retreating to a room in the apartment that the alleged victim shared with friends.
“I was paralyzed and had my eyes closed.”
The two initially had consensual sex there more than once, the woman says, according to “Verdens Gang”. Høiby left the room several times and dozed off because she was so tired. Once she woke up when he came back into the room – then they had sex again.
But once she only came to when he had already penetrated her. “I remember waking up and getting a little shock,” she describes according to “Verdens Gang”. “After that I just lay there and didn’t do anything. I was paralyzed and had my eyes closed. When I came to, it was over.”
Høiby denies rape – as well as several other serious sexual offenses that he is accused of in the 38-count trial. While the prosecutor questions the alleged victim, the 29-year-old sits between his defense lawyers, Petar Sekulic and Ellen Holager Andenæs. Every now and then he takes notes in a pad.
Then it’s the defense’s turn. When questioning the alleged victim, Ellen Holager Andenæs aims to identify possible discrepancies in the woman’s statement: In an initial conversation with the police, she initially did not consider the incident to be a sexual assault. Only with the help of the person who questioned her did she realize that she had become a victim of a crime, the woman said, according to “Verdens Gang”.
New allegations against Marius Borg Høiby
From the dock, Marius Borg Høiby goes straight back into custody. The Norwegian is sitting there after being arrested again shortly before the trial began at the beginning of February. He is said to have threatened with a knife and violated a no-contact order. According to the NTB news agency, Høiby denies these allegations. However, he is not appealing against his pre-trial detention because he wants to concentrate on the ongoing trial, says his lawyer. It is still unclear whether the new allegations will be part of the trial. The process will run until at least mid-March. (hkl/sda/dpa)