A Norwegian appeal court has ruled that Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, must remain in pre-trial detention despite his mother's deteriorating health, overturning a lower court's decision that had briefly granted his release. The Oslo appeal court concluded on Wednesday that the risk of reoffending remained too high to justify freeing him, just days before a verdict is expected in a sweeping criminal trial.
Høiby has been held since early February, when he was detained on new charges ahead of a six-week trial in Oslo on 40 criminal counts, including four charges of rape, as well as violence, threats, and abusive behaviour within a relationship. The rape allegations involve women who were asleep or incapacitated at the time. He denies the most serious charges but admits some lesser offences, including drug possession and traffic violations. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of seven years and seven months. A verdict is expected on Monday.
The legal dispute over his custody was triggered by a rapid decline in Crown Princess Mette-Marit's health. She was diagnosed in 2018 with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic and incurable condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs, progressively restricting breathing. Last week, her doctors placed her on a transplant waiting list — a step that, under Norwegian medical guidelines, typically indicates a patient has less than a year to live without a donor lung. The crown prince and princess's daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, returned from studies in Australia, and Crown Prince Haakon cut short a visit to Japan following the news. A district court ruled early this week that keeping Høiby detained would be "disproportionately intrusive" given his mother's condition and that the risk of reoffending was marginal. The prosecution appealed.
The appeal court rejected that reasoning, finding the risk of reoffending "virtually unchanged" and noting a clear danger that Høiby could make contact with the primary complainant in the case. In a pointed remark, the presiding judge observed that Høiby's circumstances were not materially different from those of other remand prisoners with seriously ill relatives. His defence lawyers described themselves as "very, very disappointed" and said he is considering an appeal to Norway's Supreme Court.
The case has added considerable strain to the Norwegian royal family at an already difficult moment. Earlier this year, documents made public revealed that Crown Princess Mette-Marit had maintained a three-year friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier convicted of multiple sex offences who died in prison in 2019. Høiby, born before his mother married Crown Prince Haakon, is not an official member of the royal house but was raised within it. King Harald, 89, and Queen Sonja, 88, who have been largely shielded from the turbulence, acknowledged on Tuesday that the situation was "serious".