Norway: Mette-Marit’s son Marius Borg Høiby is released

The Norwegian princess’s son Marius Borg Høiby (27) has been released after a week in custody. The Oslo police decided not to request any further pre-trial detention against the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit (51). Prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski said there is currently no longer any danger that evidence could be disposed of. Høiby was released from custody later that day, his defense attorney Øyvind Bratlien told the NTB news agency late in the afternoon.

Bratlien had previously not given the police’s work a good thumbs up. It was wrong to take Høiby into custody at all, he told radio station NRK. The release is not a surprise. The lawyer told NTB that “catastrophic misjudgments” had served as the basis for the detention. He wrote to the agency that “calm and sober assessments” will be expected from the police in the future. “We can’t have police contributing to the circus.”

New investigation into sexual crime

At the same time, the police announced that an investigation into another possible sexual offense had been started, without any new allegations being made. No further details were given. Bratlien initially did not want to comment on this because he did not know anything further in this regard.

According to Kruszewski, Høiby was also banned from visiting two women. Nothing changes in the allegations.

Marius Borg Høiby is the eldest of Mette-Marit’s three children. He comes from a previous relationship with the princess, but grew up with her and her husband Crown Prince Haakon (51). Together with heir to the throne Haakon, Mette-Marit has two other children, the Hereditary Princess Ingrid Alexandra (20) and Prince Sverre Magnus (18). Although Høiby belongs to the royal family, he does not have the title of prince and is not an official member of the Norwegian royal family.

The 27-year-old was taken into custody for a week last Wednesday. New allegations of two alleged sexual offenses had previously become known – they represent the most serious allegations against him to date. Høiby denied the allegations.

Long list of accusations

Mette-Marit’s son was arrested for the first time at the beginning of August on allegations of bodily harm and property damage and was released the following day. In a written statement at the time, he admitted that under the influence of alcohol and cocaine he had become violent towards his girlfriend at the time and had destroyed things in her apartment. In the text he also reported that he had been battling mental health problems and substance abuse for a long time.

Since then, the allegations against him have been expanded several times, including abuse in close relationships with several former partners. Last week, the police announced that Høiby had been arrested for the third time and that he was now accused of, among other things, violating Section 291, which regulates rape offenses in Norway. According to the paragraph, violations can be punished with up to ten years in prison.

Specifically, the accusation involves sexual intercourse without sexual intercourse with a woman who is said to have been unable to resist the act. Kruszewski also announced last Wednesday that the 27-year-old was accused of a second sexual offense of this type. The Oslo district court then decided to take Høiby into custody for a week and to ban him from writing and visiting him. The police had asked for two weeks.

What is important in the Høiby case is that all allegations against him so far are accusations – no charges have been brought on any of the counts. Bratlien told NRK that Høiby denies most of the allegations. He only admits one count of bodily harm, one count of criminal damage and one count of threatening.