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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.
A year and a half after Marius Borg Høiby was arrested over a violent episode at a woman's flat's in Oslo, he appeared in court to hear all 38 charges he faces and to deny allegations of rape.
He is not a member of the royal family himself. His lawyer said he was a young man who deserved a fair trial and the press treatment of him had been anything but normal.
The seven-week trial opened at Oslo district court against a backdrop of almost daily revelations surrounding him and his mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
Mette-Marit, who married the crown prince when her son was four, is facing increasing criticism after it emerged she was cited in hundreds of emails showing extensive contacts with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
She has admitted showing "poor judgement", but the fallout has already begun, with one organisation dropping her as patron for its annual prize.
Her son appeared in court on Tuesday in 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.
On the eve of the trial it emerged he had been detained for a fourth time, in circumstances not unlike his initial arrest, on suspicion of assault, making threats with a knife and violating a restraining order.
As police have placed him on remand for four weeks, he began the trial in custody.
His defence team intends to appeal against the decision.
Heavy court restrictions have been imposed on the trial, with a ban on any photos of the defendant inside or outside court. The judge broke into English at one point to emphasise the rules to international media.
As the charges were read out, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the four accusations of rape, speaking very quietly.
He 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 charges, including violating a restraining order, transporting marijuana and speeding.
At times he fiddled with a bracelet as public prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø detailed the charges against him.
Sitting opposite, to the right of the prosecutor, were some of the women named as victims in the case. The court has banned any detail that might identify the four women involved - a point underlined by the judge as proceedings opened.
The prosecutor set out details of the rape charges, alleging that the first took place during an after-party in December 2018 in the basement of the defendant's parents' house when he was 21.
All four are alleged to have have taken place when the women were either asleep or incapacitated.
Defence counsel Ellen Holager Andenæs said Marius Borg Høiby should be treated as innocent unless proven otherwise, and said it would be strange if someone facing such a "tsunami of negative publicity over such a long time" did not feel they were losing control of their life and destiny.
The royal family will not attend the trial in Courtroom 250 at Oslo district court, which has attracted enormous interest throughout Norway and beyond.
Commentators do not see that as particularly surprising, with King Harald V and Queen Sonja heading to the Winter Olympics in Italy later this week, but it adds to a sense of isolation surrounding Crown Prince Haakon's stepson.
Marius Borg Høiby was born four years before Mette-Marit married the crown prince, and although he is seen as a close member of the family he is not part of the royal family itself and not a public figure.
He faces an array of 38 charges:
Some of the charges involving abuse and threats in August 2024 relate to the so-called "Frogner woman", and it is understood that his latest arrest is linked to her too.
He is expected to give evidence for the first time on Wednesday. The case will be decided by three judges - if they find him guilty he could go to jail for at least 10 years.
His mother suffers from a serious lung condition and has difficulty breathing. But it is not her health that has become the talk of Norway in recent days, rather her name cited in more than 900 emails published by the US Department of Justice late last week.
The tone suggests a future queen of Norway exchanging messages with her guard down, even though she knows she is talking to a registered sex offender who had spent time in jail. It has also emerged she spent four days at his home in Florida when he was not present.
The Sex and Society foundation, which focuses on sexual and reproductive rights, has said it no longer wants Mette-Marit to act as high patron for its annual Shameless Prize, because what had emerged was incompatible with what it stood for.
The crown princess is Norway's future queen, and the decision will come as a blow to her reputation.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre urged Mette-Marit to "explain the extent of the contacts that have taken place".
Caroline Vagle, who is royal expert for celebrity-magazine See and Hear, believes these revelations will follow the crown princess for the rest of her life.
"The Norwegian public is shocked and disappointed, and I have to say I agree," she says. "The only right course of action now is to put all the cards on the table."
Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen, a historian and royal correspondent for Norway's TV2, believes the princess's advisers and wider royal court should have known she was exchanging messages with Epstein and stopped it happening.
"In extension of that you also ask the foreign office. They are in place to protect Norway's standing internationally, and this is hurting that image internationally," he told the BBC.
Norway's royal family remains very popular, with a Norstat opinion poll not long ago suggesting 73% were in favour of it.
However, the leader of Norway's Green Party, Arild Hermstad, who is a republican says the email exchanges point to a monarchy that is not working: "It really puts not only the royal family in a big squeeze, but also for Norway itself, how do you actually solve this? At least she has to be very honest and frank."
By coincidence, Norwegian MPs voted on Tuesday to reject a motion that republicans submit by tradition every few years, a decision that was widely expected. (BBC)
