Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has told a court he does not remember taking videos and photographs found on his phone that prosecutors say show him sexually assaulting a woman at a royal residence. Høiby is on trial accused of 38 crimes, including four rapes and assaults, and faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.
Taking the stand at Oslo district court on Wednesday, Høiby gave his account of an afterparty in 2018 during which he is accused of groping a woman while she was unconscious. The party took place in the basement of Skaugum, the official residence of the crown prince and princess, while they were upstairs, he said. Høiby pleaded not guilty to the most serious offences, including the alleged rapes.
When the judge asked Høiby about the videos and photos found on his phone, he said: “I don’t even remember taking them.” He told the three judges that he and the woman did have consensual sex, but not while she was asleep. “I don’t sleep with women who are not awake,” he said. He added that he believed alcohol and drugs were consumed at the party, but that the evening had not lingered in his mind.
Within minutes of taking the witness stand, Høiby broke down in tears after saying he found it “incredibly difficult to speak in front of so many people”. He claimed the press had “harassed and tormented” him since he was three years old. “I am known for being my mother’s son. Nothing else. I have had an extreme need for validation,” he told the court. “And that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs, and a lot of alcohol.”
The alleged victim told the court she remembered briefly having sex with Høiby earlier in the evening before she stopped it, but had no recollection of the alleged rape until police showed her the footage. She said she had been “completely unconscious” and that learning of it felt like “a betrayal and a shock”. She said she believed she had been drugged. Breaking down in tears, she said: “Unfortunately, I have been [a victim], thanks to Marius Borg Høiby.”
