The China Mail - Son of Norway's crown princess admits excesses but denies rape

Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to heir apparent Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial accused of 38 crimes, including four rapes and assaults against ex-girlfriends.

He has pleaded not guilty to the most serious offences. He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.

Hoiby broke down in tears as he addressed the Oslo district court for the first time.

Dressed in jeans, shirt and a sweater, he lashed out at the media, saying the press had "hassled" him since the age of three when the relationship between his mother and the prince became public and thrust him into the spotlight.

"I'm mostly known as my mother's son, not anything else. So I've had an extreme need for recognition my whole life," he told the court.

"And that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs, and a lot of alcohol," he said.

Hoiby was raised by the crown prince couple alongside his step-siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, now aged 22 and 20, but unlike them has no official public role.

He neither works nor studies and admitted in August 2024 to struggling "for a long time with substance abuse".

Norwegian media have previously reported that he hangs out with gang members and moves in the same circles as "notorious criminals".

- 'Big black hole' -

Earlier Wednesday, the first alleged victim to testify claimed he raped her at an after-party in the basement of the royal Skaugum estate outside Oslo in December 2018, when, according to Hoiby himself, his parents were upstairs.

She said they had a brief, consensual sexual encounter, which she cut off.

Police then contacted her years later when they discovered footage and images on his phone showing what they described as Hoiby raping her while 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.

Pictures and footage shown to the court were not shared with the media, which has also been restricted from publishing the names of the alleged victims.

"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.

"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 percent."

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.

Hoiby meanwhile testified that he did not recall the exact events of that night but said the sexual relations with her had been consensual.

"I don't remember taking them (the pictures), but, like, we had sex fully awake and willingly," said the woman.

"I'm not in the habit of having sex with women who are not awake," he insisted, acknowledging nonetheless that the woman appeared to be asleep in the images.

His testimony was to continue on Thursday.

- Opposing views -

The four alleged rapes 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 has argued that Hoiby "perceived all of the acts as perfectly normal and consensual sexual relations".

The scandal -- the biggest in the history of the Norwegian monarchy, according to experts -- has tarnished the image of the royal family and plunged it into turmoil.

Mette-Marit and 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 lung transplant in the future.

O.Yip--ThChM