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Mette-Marit’s son was sentenced to four years in prison. (File photo)
Heiko Junge/NTB Scanpix/AP/dpa
Marius Borg Høiby broke his hand in prison: According to Norwegian media, he struck a cabinet in anger after his request for release was denied.
Nerves on edge: Marius Borg Høiby (29) injured his right hand in his cell. He struck a cabinet in anger and had to be taken to the emergency room. “He became angry and agitated,” according to a prison report presented in court.
According to the report, Høiby refused to speak with officials for an extended period, reports “Dagbladet.” The reason? Shortly before, his request for release prior to the end of the trial had been denied.
A court in Oslo has handed down its verdict against the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Marius Borg Høiby. The 29-year-old was found guilty of 34 different crimes and must serve four years in prison. The Norwegian must pay a total of 580,000 kroner (approximately 48,249 Swiss francs) in compensation to four women, including two ex-girlfriends.
Høiby stood trial in the spring on charges of rape, violence, and drug offenses. These included a total of four counts of rape. He was found guilty of two counts of rape. The court acquitted him of two counts of rape.
The verdict is not yet final. According to Norwegian media, the convicted man is already planning to file an appeal. His client does not wish to accept the conviction for two counts of rape under Norwegian law, nor for the abuse in his relationship with an ex-girlfriend, defense attorney Petar Sekulic told the NTB news agency.
Shortly after the sentencing, Høiby has already filed another request for release from pretrial detention.
Ila Prison near Oslo is one of Norway’s most secure detention facilities. Marius Borg Høiby has been held there in pretrial detention since June 12. It remains unclear whether the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit will remain there following his sentencing to four years in prison.
Previously, Høiby was incarcerated at the Oslo Prison. The Ila facility has limited capacity and high security standards. For a long time, it was primarily intended for violent and terrorist offenders.
The prison became best known for Anders Behring Breivik. The right-wing terrorist, who murdered 77 people in Oslo and on Utøya in 2011, was incarcerated there for years. Since 2023, he has been held at the high-security Ringerike Prison.
In 2001, his mother, Mette-Marit, married Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon (52) and brought her son Marius into the marriage. At the time, both mother and son were welcomed with open arms by the royal family and the Norwegian people, says royal expert Tove Taalesen: “We loved Mette-Marit; she was charming. She was a commoner, the girl next door—and that little boy, so sweet. We Norwegians were completely smitten!”
Little Marius quickly became the center of attention—but that is precisely where the royal expert sees a fateful mistake. She recalls the wedding, when Mette-Marit and Haakon appeared on the balcony together with Marius: “They lifted him up and showed him to the crowd. I think that was the biggest mistake they could have made.”
The royal expert points out: “They had a choice: they could have kept him out of the spotlight, but they wanted to show him off, and I think that was the beginning of all their problems.”
Historian Ole-Jorgen Schulsrod-Hansen also points to the prominent role Marius played in the royal family from an early age, which turned “the boy into a symbol of the modern monarchy,” reports “Teleschau.de.”
