LONDON — A rape and assault trial against the 29-year-old stepson of Norway’s crown prince opened in Oslo on Tuesday, a case that has embroiled a stoic Scandinavian monarchy already buffeted by its connections to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The stepson, Marius Borg Høiby, who holds no royal title or official duties, is accused of 38 offenses, including four counts of rape, domestic violence, assault, drug possession and related charges connected to incidents between 2018 and late 2024. Prosecutors have painted the case as one of the most serious and complex rape investigations in recent Norwegian history.
Two days before the start of proceedings, police detained Høiby on suspicion of armed assault and violating a restraining order in connection with a separate incident, prosecutors said. The Oslo District Court ordered him held in custody for at least a month.
The trial is expected to last into March. If convicted, Høiby could face up to 16 years in prison. His lawyers entered not-guilty pleas for the most serious charges, including the counts of sexual abuse and violence. They acknowledged guilt on traffic offenses and some nonviolent infractions, including possessing more than three kilos of marijuana.
Høiby was born in 1997 before his mother, Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, married Crown Prince Haakon, who is in line to become Norway’s next king.
Marius Borg Høiby’s life-of-privilege progression from a shaggy young blond member of the royal wedding party to a tattooed, bad-boy regular of the European clubs scene has been fodder for Norway’s tabloid press for years.
He was an admitted drug user whose fall from grace took a dark turn in August 2024, when police responded to calls of disturbance at an Oslo apartment. Officers found a knife embedded in a wall and began investigating Høiby on suspicion of choking and threatening a female victim. Other accusers came forward, eventually resulting in dozens of charges, including that he sexually assaulted women when they were asleep.
Several of Høiby’s accusers were in court Tuesday and were expected to testify during the trial.
Høiby’s mother and stepfather have said they would not attend the trial nor comment while proceedings are underway. Previously, they had emphasized that Høiby, as a private citizen, is subject to the same laws as any other Norwegian.
The case has thrust Norway’s royal family into an uncomfortable spotlight just as other revelations have dominated headlines, including his mother’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Last week’s release by the Justice Department of millions of pages of files tied to Epstein showed Mette-Marit exchanged more than 100 messages with the late convicted sex offender in the early 2010s and stayed at least one time at his house. Her name appears repeatedly in the trove of emails and documents, including after Epstein’s 2008 conviction on soliciting sex from a minor.
The crown princess has publicly expressed “deep regret” for her judgment at the time and sympathy for Epstein’s victims. Those revelations are part of a wider European reckoning with Epstein-era contacts among elites across — including royals, models and politicians — from London to Madrid to Amsterdam.
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