Prosecutors in Norway have detailed four charges of rape against the son of Norway's crown princess in the biggest case to come to court here for years.
Marius Borg Høiby appeared in court to deny the most serious of the 38 offences he is accused of. The court also heard evidence from a woman he is alleged to have raped in 2018.
He is not a member of the royal family himself. His lawyer said he was a young man who deserved a fair trial and condemned press treatment of him.
The trial comes against a backdrop of almost daily revelations surrounding him and his mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who is facing increasing criticism after it emerged she was cited in hundreds of emails showing extensive contacts with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mette-Marit, who married the crown prince when her son was four, has admitted showing poor judgement, but the fallout has already begun, with one organisation dropping her as patron for its annual prize.
On the first day of the seven-week trial which began in courtroom 250 at Oslo district court, her son wore an ordinary sweater, white T-shirt and olive-green trousers, his blond hair cut short. He later removed the sweater and sat in court in a simple T-shirt.
Heavy court restrictions have been imposed on the trial, with a ban on any photos of the defendant inside or outside court. As the charges were read out, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the four accusations of rape, speaking very quietly. At times he fiddled with a bracelet as public prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø detailed the charges against him.
Høiby partially admitted charges relating to a woman in Frogner in western Oslo in August 2024, admitting bodily harm but denying abuse. He admitted to several other allegations, including violating a restraining order, transporting marijuana and speeding.
The court has banned any detail that might identify the four women involved. All four instances of rape are alleged to have taken place after consensual sex, when the women were either asleep or incapacitated.
Defence counsel Ellen Holager Andenæs stated that Marius Borg Høiby should be treated as innocent until proven otherwise. The royal family will not attend the trial, which many Norwegians do not find surprising.
Public interest remains high, with the mother of the accused embroiled in her own public scrutiny related to extensive contacts with Epstein, impacting her standing as a public figure.
