Son of Norway’s crown princess should get more than 7 years: prosecutors

Prosecutors in the trial of Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Norway’s crown princess, have requested a prison sentence of seven years and seven months for offences including rape and sexual assault.

On Wednesday, the prosecution said it believes that Høiby was guilty of 39 of the 40 offences with which he was charged, the Guardian reports.

Høiby is on trial for multiple alleged offences with 40 counts against him, including four charges of rape, sexual assault, abuse in a close relationship against one former partner and acts of violence against another, as well as transporting 3.5 kg of marijuana, breaking a restraining order and aggravated assault. Others include making death threats and traffic violations.

One of the offences against Høiby included violation of a restraining order, which has now been overturned.

Høiby, 29, previously pleaded guilty to several minor offences but pleaded not guilty to the most serious charges, including the four counts of rape.

After the final day of the more than six-week-long trial on Thursday, it could take several months for the judges to make a decision.

During the trial last week, Høiby complained about the media coverage of the trial and how he had become “an object of hatred,” the BBC reports.

“I’m not Marius any more, I’m a monster. I’ve become the hate target of all of Norway,” he told the court.

Høiby is the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. Høiby has no royal title or official duties.

During the second week of the trial, a woman testified about an alleged rape that the prosecution said took place on Oct. 3, 2023, following an after-party in an apartment, Agence France-Presse reports.

After consensual sex, the woman said she woke up after Høiby had resumed sexual relations with her, which she said were not consensual.

“I remember waking up when he was already underway. I thought, ‘I don’t understand how someone can have sex with someone who’s sleeping,'” she told the court.

“Then, I mostly had the feeling I was dissociating, leaving my own body,” she said. “It was painful. My body wasn’t ready for it.”

“That’s always been my worst nightmare,” she said, adding that she closed her eyes “so I wouldn’t have to take part in my own assault.”

The prosecution submitted video evidence that was filmed with Høiby’s phone to prove that the sex that took place happened when the woman was not in a state to say no.

Prosecutor Sturla Henriksbro said the five-second video, discovered on Høiby’s phone by police, showed the woman asleep at the time of the alleged assault. They also shared data from the woman’s fitness watch to show that she was asleep at the time.

The woman told the court that the footage captured by Høiby was taken without her knowledge.

Høiby told the court that the woman “was awake when I had sex with her,” before correcting himself and saying, “When we had sex together.”

“I don’t have sex with women who are asleep,” Høiby added.

During the first week of the trial, the court heard testimony from another woman who claimed that Høiby raped her at an after-party in the basement of his parents’ estate outside Oslo in December 2018.

The woman told the court that she “100 per cent” believes that she had been drugged during the after-party, the BBC reports.

The woman said she felt “betrayal and shock” after police showed her videos of Høiby allegedly sexually assaulting her. She said she had no memory of what happened and referred to her memory as a “black hole.”

When asked about the alleged rape in 2018, Høiby told the court that he did not remember taking videos and denied that he had raped the woman. He said they had consensual sex after other people at the after-party had gone to bed.

When asked by the prosecutor if the woman was awake when they had sex, Høiby said, “I don’t sleep with women who aren’t awake.”

Høiby has been under scrutiny since he was repeatedly arrested in 2024 amid allegations of rape and on preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage.

The royal palace said it was up to the courts to handle the case and reach a decision.

— With files from The Associated Press