The son of the Crown Princess of Norway will be imprisoned for one week as he was remanded in custody following a second accusation of rape since Tuesday.
Marius Borg Høiby, 27, is also banned from having visitors and letters during this period due to the risk of tampering with evidence, as police believe they have uncovered another rape, NRK reports.
His lawyer Øyvind Bratlien has this morning confirmed they will not be appealing detainment.
Earlier this week authorities said in a statement that Marius who was born from a relationship prior to his mother’s 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, had been arrested Monday evening.
‘What police can say about the rape is that it concerns a sexual act without intercourse.
‘The victim is said to have been unable to resist the act,’ police said.
Yesterday, he faced a second accusation of rape without intercourse with a woman who is unable to resist the act.
Bratlien told Norwegian publication VG that his client denied the claims and that he was cooperating with police during their investigation.
Borg Høiby was detained on August 4 following a night-time row at a woman’s apartment in Oslo and accused of causing bodily harm to the resident, with whom he was having a relationship, police said.
Norwegian media reports said police found a knife stuck into one of the walls of the woman’s bedroom at the time.
He was arrested again in September for violating a restraining order.
According to police, when he was arrested on Monday he was in a car with the alleged victim from the August incident.
On Tuesday, police also said the suspicions relating to the August incident now included domestic abuse.
Earlier this week Crown Prince Haakon told NRK that he ‘would have liked to be at home with his wife’ – but is currently in Jamaica, in his role as goodwill ambassador for the UN’s development programme.
‘I miss her,’ he told the outlet, adding that Marius is now facing ‘serious charges’.
‘Today, of course, we are thinking of all those affected,’ he continued.
The prince also told NRK the police and legal system should now ‘be given room to do their job’, which he ‘trusts’ will be done in a ‘good way’.
Høiby was born in 1997 from a relationship prior to Mette-Marit’s 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne.
He and his step-siblings – Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20 and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18 – were raised together by Mette-Marit and Haakon.
Unlike them, he has no official public role.
The Norwegian royal family was rocked by Høiby’s first arrest at the beginning of August, after a woman – Rebecca Helberg Arntsen – was left in hospital with her injuries following the attack.
A week after his arrest, Høiby admitted to the assault on Rebecca, whom he referred to as his ‘girlfriend’ (her lawyers have refuted this claim).
In a statement issued via his own lawyer, Høiby said he suffers from ‘several mental disorders’ and has ‘struggled with substance abuse for a long time’, which he said he is resuming treatment for.
The statement read: ‘Last weekend something happened that should never have happened. I committed bodily harm and destroyed objects in an apartment in the intoxication of alcohol and cocaine after an argument.
‘I have several mental disorders which mean that throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have had, and still have, challenges. I have struggled with substance abuse for a long time, something I have been in treatment for in the past.
‘The drug use and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment at Frogner on the night of Sunday last weekend. I want to be responsible for what I have done, and will explain myself truthfully to the police.
‘For me, the most important thing is to say sorry to my girlfriend. She deserved neither what happened that night, nor the extreme pressure from both the Norwegian and foreign press afterwards.’
Mette-Marit’s eldest son also apologised to his family for his actions that have ‘greatly affected you’.
Weeks later, the 27-year-old was taken into custody after breaching a restraining order.
The restraining order in question was for the protection of Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, whom Høiby admitted to assaulting, in a booze and drug-fuelled attack on 4 August, which saw him arrested for the first time and held in a police cell overnight.
It comes as on Monday, his mother – Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway – stepped out looking stylish to attend a concert as she resumed her royal duties following a bout of illness.
The 51-year-old was snapped arriving at a concert for the 50th anniversary of record label Kirkelig Kulturverksted in Oslo on Sunday evening.
She looked cheerful and radiant despite her recent health struggles and her son’s situation.
Mette-Marit opted for a full-length cross-patterned blue coat over a chic pair of navy trousers and simple heels.
She clutched a small embellished Prada handbag, kept her makeup minimal and wore her blonde locks down her shoulders.
The appearance comes just days after Mette-Marit made a visit to the Army’s Engineer Battalion, where her daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, has been serving, signalling the princess is in better health.
Mette-Marit has been gradually returning to her official royal duties after she fell ill due to medicinal side effects associated with her chronic lung disease.
In late October, the Norwegian Royal Court confirmed to Femail that she was taking some time off, saying: ‘H.K.H. The Crown Princess is on sick leave.
‘Due to side effects of the medication that Her Royal Highness is using for her chronic lung disease, she is on sick leave, initially for a week. Her official program during this period will be cancelled or postponed.’
Earlier that month, the court warned that Mette-Marit’s current course of treatment for pulmonary fibrosis may interfere with her planned duties over the coming weeks.
The Crown Princess’s health condition was first made public in 2018, when it was revealed Mette-Marit had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis or the thickening of lung tissue.
At the time, Mette-Marit issued a statement explaining that the condition ‘means my working capacity will vary’ to accommodate her treatment including ‘periods of time without an official programme’.
‘For a number of years, I have had health challenges on a regular basis, and now we know more about what is involved,’ the mother-of-three said. ‘The condition means that my working capacity will vary.
Pulmonary fibrosis is incurable and worsens over time, but the Norwegian royal’s doctor, Professor Kristian Bjøro at the National Hospital, said they’d been monitoring her condition for several years and the ‘disease progression has been slow over this period’.
Not much is known about the unusual variant of fibrosis that was detected in Mette-Marit’s lungs but, according to the Royal House, ‘there is broad consensus that, unlike other more common types of pulmonary fibrosis, it is not related to environmental or lifestyle factors’.
The fact that the disease was detected at an early stage improves Mette-Marit’s prognosis, as per the Palace’s official statement.
