OSLO, Norway – A woman today told a court in Oslo that she believed she was drugged before being raped by the son of Norway’s future queen at his parents’ royal estate.
Marius Borg Høiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial accused of 38 crimes, including four alleged rapes and assaults.
He has pleaded not guilty to the most serious offences. He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.
‘A big black hole’
On the second day of the trial in Oslo’s district court, the first alleged victim to testify resumed her testimony from Tuesday about a 2018 after-party at Høiby’s own residence on his parents’ Skaugum estate outside the capital.
She described a brief, consensual sexual encounter with Høiby, telling the court she cut it off.
Police then contacted her years later when they discovered footage and images showing what they described as Høiby raping her whilst she slept – events she had no recollection of, describing “a big black hole”.
“I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that Marius would do something like that to me. It’s a betrayal and a shock,” she said, recalling the moment that police showed her the images.
The prosecution has argued that she was not in a state to defend herself on the night in question.
Pictures and video footage shown to the court were not shared with the media, which has also been restricted from publishing the names of the alleged victim.
“Look at my face: do I look conscious? You can clearly see that I’m totally unconscious. It almost looks like I’m not breathing,” she told the court on Wednesday, referring to the images.
“I suspect that I probably ingested something without my knowledge,” she said.
Asked if she thought she had been drugged, she replied: “That’s what I believe. 100%.”
The defence was quick to point out that she had said the opposite when questioned by police, that she did not think she had been drugged.
Conflicting accounts
The four alleged rapes – one of which supposedly occurred whilst Høiby was on holiday with his royal stepfather in the Lofoten Islands in 2023 – all took place after consensual sex, often following evenings of heavy drinking when the women were not in a state to defend themselves, the prosecution claimed Tuesday.
The defence argued meanwhile that Høiby “perceived all of the acts as perfectly normal and consensual sexual relations”.
“It’s a crowd where there is a lot of drug use, not just alcohol but also illegal substances like cocaine and other things,” Høiby’s lawyer, Ellen Holager Andenæs, said on Tuesday.
“And it has to be said that sex also plays a very important role in what goes on in these circles,” she added.
Royal family under scrutiny
Høiby was expected to testify before the court on Wednesday at 13:00.
Doubts emerged about whether he would be able to take the stand, after appearing nervous and agitated in court on Tuesday.
“We’ll see,” one of his lawyers, Petar Sekulic, told reporters on Wednesday when asked as he arrived at the courthouse whether his client was ready to testify.
The scandal has tarnished the image of the royal family, with experts describing it as the biggest in the history of the Norwegian monarchy.
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Mette-Marit and heir apparent Haakon do not plan to attend the seven-week trial, which has drawn massive media attention.
The palace confirmed on Wednesday that the crown princess had postponed a planned private trip abroad.
Torn between her roles as mother and future queen, Mette-Marit (52) is fighting battles on several other fronts.
She has come under heavy fire over recently unsealed US documents revealing her close friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
She also suffers from an incurable lung disease and will likely need a risky lung transplant in the future.
