Crown Princess of Norway’s son arrested on suspicion of rape

The Crown Princess of Norway’s eldest son and stepson of the future King has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

Marius Borg Hoiby, 27, was detained late on Monday over a charge of having “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act”, Norwegian police said on Tuesday.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit was a single mother when she met and married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001.

Mr Borg Hoiby was raised by the heir apparent from the age of three but has no royal duties after stepping back from public life when he was 20.

It is the third time Mr Borg Hoiby has been arrested in recent months over cases that involve four women and one man.

He was arrested on August 4 after a row at a woman’s apartment in Oslo. He faced preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage and was released.

Police said Mr Borg Hoiby was in a relationship with the alleged victim, who was discharged from hospital the next day after being diagnosed with a concussion.

Local media reported that a knife stuck into one of the walls of the woman’s bedroom.

The Crown Princess’s son was arrested again in September for violating a restraining order by allegedly contacting the woman.

According to police, when he was arrested on Monday he was found in a car with his alleged victim from August.

The details are unclear, but local media reported that Mr Borg Hoiby was lending his car to his alleged victim before going abroad to attend a rehabilitation clinic in London.

On Tuesday, police also said the suspicions relating to the August incident now included domestic abuse. They said they had yet to decide whether he would be remanded in custody.

Øyvind Bratlien, Mr Borg Hoiby’s lawyer, said his client denied the charges.

“He cooperates well with the police, and wants to explain himself,” he said.

Police brought the rape charge, not the alleged victim, according to her lawyer, Hege Salomon.

“She is having a hard time, and it is heavy,” she added.

In August, Mr Borg Hoiby issued a statement saying he had “struggled with substance abuse for a long time”. He said he would “resume” treatment for the problem and “take it very seriously”.