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Marius Borg Høiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian
throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Mette-Marit from a
previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties.
Borg Høiby was arrested late Monday in Oslo on a preliminary
charge of having had “sexual intercourse with someone who is
unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act.” A
preliminary charge comes before a formal charge and allows
authorities to detain suspects during an investigation.
Police did not say when the alleged rape occurred, but only that
“the victim must have been unable to resist the act.” Norwegian
media said Borg Høiby denied the accusation.
Hege Salomon, the lawyer for the woman who was allegedly raped,
said “she is having a hard time.” She told Norwegian broadcaster
NRK that police, not the woman, had brought the case. The woman
was not identified.
The royal palace had no comment, the news agency NTB said.
On Aug. 4, police officers responded to a disturbance in
downtown Oslo and briefly detained Borg Høiby. He faced
preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage and was
released. Details were unclear but police said there was “a
relationship between the suspect and the victim.”
More preliminary charges have since been filed against Borg
Høiby, including violating several restraining orders and
driving without a valid driver’s license. In all, the cases
involve four women and one man.
The case was top news in Norway, where the royals are popular.
Borg Høiby, 27, lives with the royal couple and their two
children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
Norway’s future queen made headlines in 2001 when she married
Haakon because she was a single mother who had lived a
freewheeling life with a companion who had been convicted on
drug charges.
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