Serious accusations

What Crown Prince Haakon says about Marius’ arrest

Mette-Marit's son Marius was arrested again at the beginning of the week. Now stepfather Haakon has spoken out about the incidents.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/dana / dana press)

The allegations against Marius Borg Høiby are becoming more and more serious: on Monday, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit was arrested again - on a charge of rape. Crown Prince Haakon has now broken his silence on the incidents.

Tuesday was the third time in four months that the handcuffs clicked for the 27-year-old. He is already accused of assault on ex-girlfriends, damage to property and other offenses, and now Marius is also accused of sexual contact with an unconscious or defenceless person. 

Haakon speaks out about the allegations
He denies the new accusations, as his lawyer Øyvind Bratlien told several Norwegian media outlets. The palace did not wish to comment on the new allegations. Crown Prince Haakon did, however, comment on the allegations against his stepson during a visit to Jamaica, where he is scheduled to remain until Wednesday as a special envoy for the UN Development Program UNDP.

"These are serious accusations that Marius is facing," Haakon told the NRK radio station. His thoughts are with all those affected and he trusts that the police and judiciary are doing a good job.

Marius comes from a previous relationship of Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Stepfather Haakon has now reacted for the first time to the recent arrest of the 27-year-old.

(Bild: APA/AFP/NTB/Lise Åserud)

"Perhaps I may add that I would like to be at home with Mette today. I miss her," he said. Crown Princess Mette-Marit has no major official appointments in November.

Is Marius now facing a prison sentence?
The 27-year-old was arrested shortly before midnight on Monday and has been in custody in the Grønland district of Oslo ever since. It is still unclear whether he will be held for longer.

At the same time, the police expanded the allegations once again. The allegations in the original case from August were expanded to include suspicion of abuse in a close relationship, and Høiby is now also accused of violating Section 291, which regulates rape offenses. According to the section, violations can be punished with up to ten years in prison.

Specifically, according to the police, it concerns sexual intercourse with a person who is unconscious or unable to resist the act for other reasons. "What the police can say about the rape is that it was sexual intercourse without sexual intercourse," the investigators said in the statement.

Victim "has a hard time"
The victim - a young woman who has not yet appeared in the investigation and is reportedly not part of Høiby's entourage - is said to have been unable to resist the act.

In the current case, Marius is accused of sexual intercourse with a person who is unconscious or unable to resist for other reasons.

(Bild: APA Pool/Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB)

"She has a hard time," the woman's legal counsel told the radio station NRK. It was not her client who reported the incident, rather the case was opened by the police, said lawyer Hege Salomon. Nevertheless, she wanted to cooperate with the investigators.

Serious accusations against Mette-Marit's son
Høiby was first arrested in Oslo on August 4 on charges of assault and damage to property and was released the following day. In a written statement at the time, he admitted that he had been under the influence of alcohol and cocaine and had been violent towards his girlfriend at the time and had destroyed things in her apartment.

Since then, the allegations against him have been expanded, including abuse in close relationships with two other women. The 27-year-old, who was arrested again on September 13 as part of the investigation, denies this. The police continue to investigate these and other allegations, including driving without a valid license. So far, these are only allegations - Høiby has not yet been charged with any of them.