Marius Borg Høiby, 29, the son of Norway’s Crown Princess, Mette-Marit, has been arrested on suspicion of assault just days before he is set to face trial in Oslo on Tuesday on 38 charges, including the rape of four women.
Police have remanded Høiby in custody for four weeks, citing concerns over the latest allegations, which involve wielding a knife and breaching a restraining order, along with a risk of reoffending.
This marks the fourth time he has been detained since August 2024, when he was first accused of assaulting a woman he had been in a relationship with.
Høiby has denied the most serious charges but admitted to some of the lesser offenses.
The arrest adds to a series of scandals that have recently surrounded the Norwegian royal family.
AFP reported that a 2022 image shows Høiby, a young man with blond hair wearing a bow tie, highlighting his prominence in public media coverage.
He has now been arrested four times in 18 months.
Norwegians are also grappling with revelations that Crown Princess Mette-Marit corresponded with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for three years, from 2011 to 2014.
Mette-Marit acknowledged her “poor judgement” after her extensive contact with Epstein came to light, expressing “deep sympathy and solidarity with the victims of the abuses committed by Jeffrey Epstein” and calling her interactions “simply embarrassing.”
Reports indicate she stayed for four nights at Epstein’s Florida home while he was absent and asked him whether it was “inappropriate” for a mother to suggest to a 15-year-old son wallpaper depicting two naked women carrying a surfboard.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he agreed with her admission of “poor judgement.” Although he did not expand on his comment, the implicit critique of her actions is considered highly unusual.
Questions are now being raised about why Mette-Marit failed to recognize the risks of maintaining contact with Epstein and about the role of her advisers when she was communicating with him through an official royal email account.
“It seems that nobody has been thinking. Where are the counsellors, where’s the royal court and where’s the foreign office?” says Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen, historian and royal correspondent for Norway’s TV2.
He noted that while the monarch has tried to distance itself from the upcoming trial by emphasizing that Høiby is a private citizen, that argument is flawed, “She’s never a private citizen, she’s always the crown princess and what she’s doing in a private capacity or official capacity it will always redirect back to Norway – or ricochet.”
As the future queen of Norway, Mette-Marit holds a high-profile role as patron of several organizations, including the Red Cross.
She is also battling pulmonary fibrosis, and doctors are preparing to place her on a list for a lung transplant.
Høiby was four years old when Mette-Marit married into the royal family. While he is not formally a member of the royal family, he is Crown Prince Haakon’s stepson.
The charges against Høiby span rape and abuse, violating a restraining order, transporting 3.5kg of marijuana, and speeding.
Following his first 2024 arrest, Høiby spoke of struggling with multiple mental disorders and substance abuse.
His previous custodial periods lasted only a week, making the police’s request to hold him for much of the trial’s start a notable change in approach.
The Oslo District Court agreed to the request to prevent repeated offenses, according to a statement quoted by Reuters.
The royal household has sought to distance itself from the case. Last week, Crown Prince Haakon extended his sympathies to those affected, stating: “A difficult time for many of you, and we sympathise.”
