Marius Borg Høiby Norway's Crown Princess Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Rape as Epstein Files Rock Royal Family

Oslo, Norway – Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of rape, domestic violence, and other offences in a closely watched trial that has shaken the Norwegian monarchy to its foundations.

The verdict was handed down by the Oslo district court on Monday morning, nearly three months after Høiby's six-week trial. Judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad convicted him of assaulting his former girlfriend Nora Haukland, the only victim publicly named, and ordered him to pay Haukland and three other women compensation. Høiby was also sentenced to a two-year restraining order against one of his victims.

Høiby faced 40 charges, including four counts of rape and assault, several breaches of restraining orders, as well as drug and driving offences. He was acquitted of two other rape charges. One charge of violating a restraining order was later overturned.

The Verdict: Four Years for Rape and Assault

Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Høiby to seven years and seven months in prison, while defence lawyers had argued that he should be acquitted of the rape allegations and receive no more than 18 months for the offences to which he had admitted.

Høiby, 29, had pleaded not guilty to the most serious accusations against him, including rape, while admitting to some lesser offences. He can appeal against the verdict. He attended court by video link from Ila prison, which his defence said was for health reasons.

The rape charges involve four women between 2018 and 2024. In each case, the women are alleged to have been sleeping or heavily incapacitated when the assaults occurred. The court found sufficient evidence to convict Høiby on two of the four rape charges.

Judge Efjestad, in delivering the verdict, described Høiby's actions as "serious violations of the victims' sexual integrity" and noted the significant impact the crimes had on the women involved.

The Epstein Files: Nearly 1,000 Mentions of Crown Princess

The trial came at an exceptionally difficult time for the Norwegian royal family, which has also been grappling with the serious illness of Høiby's mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit. She faces a lung transplant for pulmonary fibrosis and has also come under intense scrutiny over damaging revelations in the Epstein files about her years-long relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The latest tranche of the Epstein files, released by the US Justice Department, appeared to include nearly 1,000 mentions of Mette-Marit. In one exchange from 2012, she asked Epstein in an email if it was "inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women carrying a surfboard for my 15 yr old sons wallpaper?"

The Epstein revelations prompted fierce criticism of Mette-Marit, including from Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who agreed with her own comments that she had shown "poor judgement" and called on her to provide more information.

On Friday, Mette-Marit released a statement via the royal household expressing her "deepest regret for my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein" and apologising for "the situation that I have put the royal family in, especially the king and queen."

Her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, speaking to reporters, said there was "a lot happening at once" for his family. "We support Marius in the situation he is in, we look after the other children, they must also be looked after, and I have to look after and take care of the crown princess," he said. "Fortunately, she takes care of me, too."

Royal Family Popularity Crashes

Two multigenerational crises have rocked the institution, causing its popularity to dip in polls of Norwegians and bringing a public glare that far exceeds that of previous scandals.

Although King Harald and Queen Sonja remain popular among many Norwegians, the standing of the wider royal family has taken a severe hit. A poll by the newspaper Aftenposten found that support for Norway having a monarchy has dropped from 72% in 2024 to 54% today. A total of three polls have found that close to half of the population believes Mette-Marit can no longer become queen when Crown Prince Haakon ascends to the throne.

As recently as December, there was a public outpouring of support for the crown princess when she revealed that she will probably have to have a lung transplant. Now, some of the organisations of which she is royal patron have said they are considering ending their association with her.

Parliament Votes to Keep Monarchy – But Support Erodes

Despite the apparent rise in republican sentiment and the unusual prime ministerial intervention, the dial hasn't moved on the status of the monarchy among Norway's wider political class. In a strange coincidence, a vote that takes place every four years in parliament on making Norway a republic was held on Tuesday. Just 26 MPs voted in favour of getting rid of the monarchy, against 141 who voted to keep it. Support was in fact lower than the last time a vote took place, in June 2022, when 35 voted in favour of a republic. The measure requires a two-thirds majority to pass.

Kjetil B Alstadheim, Aftenposten's political editor who wrote an article asking "Can Mette-Marit become queen after this?", said the Epstein revelations posed the biggest threat because unlike Høiby – who is not an official member of the family – Mette-Marit has a central role in the institution and its future.

"She is supposed to be queen one day, so that's more difficult," he said. "The others are side stories. Difficult stories but side stories. So it hits the family in a more direct way."

Independent Commission Launched to Investigate Epstein Ties

The Epstein files have shaken Norway's faith in democracy, the head of the Norwegian parliament's oversight committee has said, as a sprawling investigation into the connections between its foreign office and the late sex offender gets under way.

An independent commission to look into information brought to light by the Jeffrey Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice was launched after the Norwegian parliament voted unanimously for it to be set up.

The commission has been instructed to go back more than 30 years, to include the lead-up to the 1993-95 Oslo accords, examining relationships between Epstein and his network and current or former Norwegian politicians and civil servants. The commission will look at whether these relationships had any "consequences for Norwegian interests and security."

It is also mandated to look at Norwegian campaigning for leadership positions in international organisations and the allocation of development aid and other public funding to them.

Per-Willy Amundsen, the chair of the standing committee on scrutiny and constitutional affairs in parliament, which appointed the independent investigation, said Norwegians typically saw themselves as "an open and democratic and well-functioning society without corruption." But the Epstein files had damaged trust in politicians in the eyes of most people, he added.

"So in a sense it has struck us very hard. And therefore we are completely dependent on having to try to build that trust again," he said. "And therefore it is very important to have a completely independent commission that gets very free hands, protection by law, to find the facts and present them to the Storting [parliament]."

Amundsen said: "It is very central people in the Norwegian political establishment [who are named in the Epstein files] and we have to find out how deep this runs. And also find all the facts so that people can rebuild their trust in Norwegian institutions."

'Can Mette-Marit Be Queen After This?'

The commission will not, however, be looking into Crown Princess Mette-Marit's involvement with Epstein, which the constitution stipulates is not a matter for parliament. But Amundsen said their findings may well have political ramifications, particularly for the ruling Labour party.

Speaking last month, Prime Minister Støre said the Epstein files had clearly shown "it is possible to buy and abuse influence if you are rich enough."

Støre said that connections between Norwegians in "trusted and central positions" had been "proven" in the Epstein files, adding: "Reasonable questions have been raised about whether the links are in violation of the law and many aspects of society's ethical regulations."

Vilde Helljesen, a journalist for the state broadcaster NRK, said many Norwegians were waiting for answers from Mette-Marit on the full extent of her relationship with Epstein. "She has said that she regrets her contact with Epstein and that she should have better researched his past and apologised for that," Helljesen said. "However, the recent files have left new questions unanswered."

In practice, she added, the only person who could give and remove royal titles was the king: "As long as Mette-Marit is the wife of the heir to the throne, she will one day be queen – or the title that the king at the time decides. That is the formality."

What's Next for the Royal Family?

How the royal family handles the Epstein files issue will be crucial to "how they are viewed in the weeks and months and years to come," said Alstadheim.

The king's step-grandson, Høiby, who joined the royal family when his mother Mette-Marit married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, has the right to appeal his conviction. His legal team has not yet indicated whether they will do so.

Meanwhile, the crown princess continues to await a lung transplant, with her health situation adding another layer of complexity to an already unprecedented royal crisis. The coming months will determine whether the Norwegian monarchy can recover from the double blow of Høiby's criminal conviction and the Epstein revelations – or whether the institution that has endured for more than a century will face its most serious existential threat yet.