A case that has gripped Norway ended in a sweeping conviction on Tuesday, as the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon was found guilty of rape and domestic violence and sentenced to four years behind bars after a seven-week trial.
Oslo District Court said 29-year-old Marius Borg Høiby, who became part of the royal family when his mother Mette-Marit married Haakon in 2001, was guilty on two rape counts, including one tied to an assault in the basement of the crown prince’s home.
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He was cleared on two other rape allegations.
In all, Høiby was convicted on 34 of 40 charges, among them domestic violence against a former girlfriend as well as drug possession and drug supply offences.
Prosecutors, who had asked for a sentence of seven years and seven months, argued that the four women who accused him of rape — in both the counts that led to convictions and those that did not — were each too unconscious or otherwise too impaired to fend him off after attending parties.
“The court finds it is proven she was not able to resist the action,” judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad said of the rape in the crown prince’s home as he delivered the unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel.
Høiby denied the most serious allegations throughout the case, though he admitted some lesser offences, including transporting 3.5kg of marijuana, breaching restraining orders and committing traffic violations.
Høiby will appeal the ruling, his lawyer Petar Sekulic told the newspapers VG and Aftenposten.
Prosecutors said they would weigh a possible appeal after reviewing the full 127-page judgment.
“This is a victory for our justice system,” prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø said.
Marius Borg Høiby seen with his mother Mette-Marit
“No one can get away with serious criminal acts based on who they are or who they are related to.”
The royal household, which has previously voiced sympathy for everyone affected by the case, declined to comment further.
“The matter has been considered by the courts, and we have no comment on the outcome,” a spokesperson said.
No other members of the royal family were present during the trial.
The court found Høiby guilty of abusing a former girlfriend between mid-2022 and autumn 2023. During that period, he repeatedly punched her in the face, choked her, slammed a door into her face and hurled objects at her, the court was told.
For medical reasons, Høiby followed the verdict by video link from prison.
He has repeatedly been refused permission to visit his mother, who is living with pulmonary fibrosis and is in need of a lung transplant.
Only one of the women who accused him of rape was in court to hear the judgment.
She wept after the judge upheld her account.
Høiby holds no royal title and carries out no royal duties, but the case has riveted Norway because of his close connection to the heir to the throne.
Like other understated Scandinavian monarchies, Norway’s royal family has long cultivated an image of relative normalcy, with children attending state schools and family members skiing and surfing alongside the public.
But Høiby’s trial, unfolding at the same time as Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s apology over contacts with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has damaged that standing.
A Norstat survey conducted in February, while the trial was underway, found support for retaining the monarchy had dropped to a record low of 60%, although it recovered to 64% in May.
John Christian Elden, a lawyer representing one of the victims, said Høiby’s sentence was consistent with new rules that draw a distinction between rape involving intercourse and rape that does not.
The two rape counts for which Høiby was convicted did not involve intercourse.
Prosecutor Mr Henriksbø said the court had also factored in recent legal practice that considers whether consensual sex had taken place immediately before the rapes, which it said had happened in this case.
