The son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit was back in police custody this weekend, after charges against him were further expanded. He’d violated a restraining order issued to protect one of his victims of violence and threats. It’s also emerged that Marius Borg Høiby was viewed by police as posing a threat to the security of the Norwegian Royal Family already last year, because of alleged criminal connections.
Officials at the Royal Palace, meanwhile, continue to all but ignore the drama around Høiby, who was first arrested on August 4, charged with beating a former girlfriend and trashing her home in Oslo. The palace’s official website only featured his smiling mother together with her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, while on a tour of Trøndelag County this past week. Crown Princess Mette-Marit refused to answer any questions from reporters during the tour, claiming her ongoing public silence was “out of respect to those involved.”
Palace staff also refused to answer questions on Saturday after newspaper VG broke the news that Høiby (Mette-Marit’s son from a brief relationship before she met the crown prince) had been arrested again Friday night. Then came news that the number of “those involved” had increased: Police confirmed Saturday afternoon that there are now four plaintiffs in the case including three former girlfriends and another person who was not publicly identified. Høiby also now faces the upgraded and serious charges of “mishandling” in three close relationships, and for making death threats against a fourth person as well.
Høiby himself issued a statement a few days after his initial arrest in which he apologized for his violence on August 4, blaming it on his use of cocaine and alcohol. He admitted at the time that he had “struggled with drugs for a long time.”
Police now confirm that they first “had a conversation” with him in the fall of last year, also because of concerns over possible criminal connections. Høiby, age 27 but still living on the royal estate at Skaugum west of Oslo, had been charged as long as seven years ago with possession and use of cocaine but that had gone unreported in Norwegian media. He has also been active on social media, allowing police to trace his social connections.
That reportedly led to alarm from the national police security agency PST, because all three heirs to the throne also were residing at Skaugum at the time: Crown Prince Haakon and his two children with Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. The princess has since been off on military duty while the prince recently moved to Trondheim after graduating from the equivalent of high school and the first year of college in Norway.
Høiby, their elder half-brother, had been allowed to travel to Italy on holiday after his initial arrest, and was re-arrested Friday night while at a mountain cabin in Gausdal. Police said they kept him in custody overnight back in Oslo but released him Saturday afternoon after he refused to go undergo questioning in the case. He also continues to plead either guilty or not guilty to the mounting charges against him.
Prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski told NRK that even though the charges have been expanded, it was Høiby’s violation of a restraining order against him that prompted his arrest. “He has not abided by the order, which demands that he not contact” the most recent girlfriend whom he attacked last month, Kruszewski said. Høiby contacted her via telephone nonetheless.
Kruszewski said the case has high priority. Police have also denied that Høiby is getting any special treatment because of his close connections to the royal family. Høiby’s defense attorney, meanwhile, claims the police have overreacted and that Høiby denies violating the restraining order. He confirmed that Høiby has still not taken an official position on the other charges against him.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
