The son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been arrested in Oslo on allegations of raping a woman, his third arrest in recent months, according to authorities. Marius Borg Hoiby, 27, who is the stepson to the future King, was taken into custody by authorities in Oslo on Monday evening.
He is accused of violating a section of the criminal code "which concerns sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act," the statement said. Marius was born from a relationship before his mother's 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, according to reports. Police did not reveal when the alleged rape took place.
Royal Shame
"What police can say about the rape is that it concerns a sexual act without intercourse. The victim is said to have been unable to resist the act," police said.
"She is having a hard time," said the accuser's lawyer, Hege Salomon, adding that it was the police, not the woman herself, who brought the case.
According to Norwegian media, Borg Hoiby has denied the allegations. Authorities said that he was in a car with his girlfriend at the time of his arrest.
Borg Hoiby was arrested on August 4 after a late-night argument at a woman's apartment in Oslo, where he was accused of injuring the woman, with whom he had been in a relationship, according to police.
Norwegian media reported that authorities found a knife lodged in one of the bedroom walls during the incident.
He was taken into custody once again in September for breaching a restraining order.
Borg Hoiby now faces several more preliminary charges, including violating multiple restraining orders and driving without a valid license. According to police, the cases involve four women and one man.
Authorities confirmed that he was with the same woman from the August incident when he was arrested on Monday.
In Big Trouble
On Tuesday, police revealed that the August incident now also includes suspicions of domestic abuse. They are yet to determine whether he will be placed in custody.
Hoiby, born in 1997 from a relationship before Mette-Marit's 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, was raised alongside his step-siblings—Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18—by Mette-Marit and Haakon.
Unlike his step-siblings, he does not hold an official public role.
The Norwegian royal family was shaken by Hoiby's first arrest in early August, following an attack that left Rebecca Helberg Arntsen in the hospital with injuries.
A week after his arrest, Hoiby admitted to assaulting Rebecca, whom he referred to as his "girlfriend" (a claim her lawyers have denied).
In a statement released through his attorney, Hoiby acknowledged that he has "multiple mental health disorders" and has "struggled with substance abuse for a long time," adding that he is now undergoing treatment again.
In 2001, Norway's future queen made headlines when she married Haakon. The union was seen as controversial because she was a single mother who had previously lived an unconventional lifestyle with a partner who had a criminal record for drug-related offenses.
