Marius Borg Høiby grew up within Norway’s royal family but now faces the prospect of several years in prison. Police have finally concluded their lengthy investigation of various charges against him, and sent 23 of them to the state prosecutor for pending indictment.
Høiby, the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a relationship before she met Crown Prince Haakon, has now been formally charged with three rapes, seven cases of other violent assaults, vandalism, making threats, five violations of restraining orders, one case of disrespecting a police officer and five traffic violations.
Oslo police have been investigating much the trouble around Høiby since last August, when he was arrested after going on a rampage inside a girlfriend’s apartment in the Norwegian capital’s Frogner neighbourhood. He has admitted to the violence and vandalism he caused in that case, claiming he was under the influence of cocaine. It was then confirmed that the crown princess’ son had a history of both alcohol- and drug abuse, and that he would seek a new round of treatment.
Høiby, age 28, has continued to deny the rape charges against him, along with many of the other charges. One of his defense attorneys told state broadcaster NRK on Friday that Høiby has undergone 14 rounds of police questioning over the past several months, that he takes the charges against him seriously and was cooperating with the police. She said the alleged rapes, according to Høiby, “began with consensual sex.” Several of his alleged victims, meanwhile, have accused Høiby of assault and domestic violence dating back to 2014.
Prosecutors confirmed what they called “good cooperation” with Høiby. Police attributed the length of their investigation to the need to go through “an extremely large amount” of text messages, photos, video and other electronic evidence. While the police declined to characterize the charges forwarded to the state prosecutor’s office, an attorney for several of Høiby’s alleged victims said police “have proposed indictment” on all of them.
Conclusion of the police investigation and pending indictment comes as a relief to many of Høiby’s alleged victims who, according to his own defense attorney, number between 15 and 20. Magazine Se og Hør, which has covered the royal drama closely, reported last week that some of the women involved have complained that the investigation was taking so long, and thought Høiby should be in custody. The magazine also printed recent photos of Høiby on what was described as a holiday in Southern Europe with a glass in his hand.
Prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski said several other complaints against Høiby did not lead to police charges, including those filed by one of Høiby’s earlier partners, model and student Julianne Snekkestad. Her attorney said she was disappointed, but accepted both the police’s lack of evidence and the amount of time that’s passed since the alleged violations.
Kruszewski said at a press conference Friday that no other members of the royal family have been questioned in the case. They claimed the other royals didn’t have much to contribute to the various complaints against Høiby, even though he grew up on the crown couple’s royal estate west of Oslo and continued to live in a house on their property. King Harald V and Queen Sonja have addressed the situation publicly, though, after Høiby’s string of arrests last fall set off a new royal crisis that continued through the year. It also was believed to be behind a decline in public support for the monarchy, but the elderly king and queen remain popular and have received lots of sympathy.
NRK reported receiving only a brief statement from the Royal Palace regarding the charges against Høiby that were sent to the state prosecutor on Friday. In it, palace staff stated that the case is “proceeding through Norway’s legal apparatus” and would be following “normal procedures. We have nothing more to add.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
