Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, received disappointing news from the Appeal Court of Oslo on Wednesday, June 10, when he was denied release from custody ahead of his June 15 verdict.
He has remained incarcerated since February while facing a grand total of 40 charges involving illegal substances and harming women.
Highlights
- Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been in custody since February while facing 40 charges.
- He sought release ahead of his June 15 verdict so he could be with his mother, who is battling pulmonary fibrosis, but his request was denied.
- Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of seven years and seven months for Marius.
The decision comes as Marius had sought release to be close to his ailing mother, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis — a progressive lung disease — as her condition continues to deteriorate.
Doctors placed the crown princess on a national waiting list for a lung transplant last week, with Queen Sonja describing her condition as “serious.”
“Sitting inside when I know Mum is so sick is unbearable,” he told the court.
The appeals court pointed to the risk of Marius Borg Høiby committing additional offenses if released
Image credits: Getty/Mark Cuthbert
Marius has denied the most serious charges against him, which include taking advantage of at least four women and being aggressive towards his former partners.
On the other hand, he pleaded guilty to charges such as possessing marijuana, driving without a license, and breaking a restraining order during his trial that ran between February 3 and March 19.
Image credits: Getty/Julian Parker
His lawyers, Petar Sekulic and Ellen Holager Andenæs, had repeatedly failed to secure his release until Monday, June 8, when he told the Oslo District Court that being detained while his mother suffered had become unbearable.
The court ruled that while there was a marginal risk of the crown princess’s son reoffending, he had been free of illicit substances in prison, and therefore it would be “disproportionately intrusive” to deny his release.
The Court of Appeal disagreed with that assessment in its ruling.
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“We are very, very disappointed on behalf of our client. One can imagine how he feels,” Ellen Holager Andenæs told Norwegian media following the overturning of the District Court’s order.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of seven years and seven months for Marius.
He is, notably, not a working member of the Norwegian royal family, as Princess Mette-Marit shares him not with Crown Prince Haakon but with Norwegian businessman and financial analyst Morten Borg.
Marius Borg Høiby broke down in court while defending his parents and the crown prince
Nora Haukland, one of Marius Borg Høiby’s former girlfriends, testified on the 14th day of his trial.
She alleged that she once urged Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit to seek professional help for Marius, but was told that his personal struggles were not their responsibility.
Image credits: Getty/Rune Hellestad
Marius fiercely disputed that version, saying, “The story is absurd to hear.”
“Now she’s going to involve my parents,” he continued while visibly tearing up.
“I don’t know anyone who has worked harder for me to be okay. Mom and Haakon have only ever been the kindest people in the world, both to Nora and me. The way they’re being described here makes me incredibly angry,” he added as he struggled to continue.
Image credits: Instagram/norahaukland
Speaking about his biological father, Morten Borg, Marius said he was also “fantastically kind” to Nora.
The court proceedings were halted briefly to allow Marius time to compose himself.
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Haukland’s testimony overall included allegations of manipulation, love bombing, and violence throughout her and Marius’s relationship, which lasted from spring 2022 to summer 2023.
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She detailed several incidents, including one that allegedly took place at Skaugum, the official residence of Norway’s crown prince and princess.
Marius claimed that any aggression in their relationship was mutual.
Prior to this, Marius broke down on the opening day of his trial as prosecutors played a video that showed him forcing himself on a woman.
The footage was allegedly retrieved from his phone.
Before Marius’s case, Mette-Marit’s connection with Jeffrey Epstein cast a shadow on the Norwegian royal family
Mette-Marit’s name appeared in the final batch of Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30.
The documents revealed extensive contact between her and the disgraced NYC financier between 2011 and 2014, long after he had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting an underage girl.
Image credits: Getty/Julian Parker
While it was known that the princess had correspondence with Epstein, the nature of the emails blew apart any suggestion that they were mere associates, as Epstein referred to her as “twisted” and not a “typical royal.”
On February 3, Mette-Marit addressed their connection by providing a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“Jeffrey Epstein is solely responsible for his actions. I must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.
“I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility I must bear. I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all,” she said.
Image credits: Getty/Julian Parker
In this statement, she claimed that “some of the content of the messages between Epstein and me does not represent the person I want to be.”
Netizens have tied both Marius and Mette-Marit’s scandals together, with a detractor writing, “like mother, like son.”
"Incredible," a social media user said about the court's decision to keep Marius detained
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