Norwegian Crown Princess's Son Sentenced to Four Years for Rape
The son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been sentenced to four years in prison by an Oslo court for two counts of rape and a series of other legal violations. The case has become the largest scandal to rock the Norwegian monarchy.
Marius Borg Hoiby, aged 29, was accused of 40 criminal offences, ranging from rape to traffic violations. He faced a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.
Hoiby is Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship before she married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. He is not an official member of the Norwegian royal family and does not have a permanent job.
One of the rapes for which he was convicted took place inside the Crown Prince’s official residence in 2018.
The court acquitted Hoiby of two other rape charges, but convicted him of repeated domestic violence against a former girlfriend, as well as traffic violations, making threats, and other legal breaches.
Oslo prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison sentence for Hoiby.
Hoiby denied the most serious accusations, including the rape charge which, according to prosecutors, occurred while the victim was asleep or unconscious, and the domestic violence charge.
His defence team requested that their client serve an 18-month prison sentence for the other charges to which he had pleaded guilty, including possession of 3.5 kilogrammes of cannabis, physical assault, and making threats.
Hoiby, who has been detained since 1 February, was not present in court when the verdict was read out on Monday local time, due to undisclosed medical reasons. He attended the trial via video link.
The trial took place from 3 February to 19 March, revealing Hoiby’s wild and uncontrolled life, which has been in the public spotlight since he was three years old when his mother’s romance with the Crown Prince began.
“I am better known as my mother’s son than anything else. So I have had a very great need for recognition throughout my life. And that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs, and a lot of alcohol,” Hoiby told the court.