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On Monday, an Oslo court sentenced Marius Borg Hoiby, son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, to four years in prison for two counts of rape and 32 other offenses. The case has brought significant attention to the Norwegian royal family and its connection to convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Hoiby, 29, is not officially part of the royal household and does not have a steady job. He faced 40 charges in total, including rape and traffic violations, with a possible maximum sentence of 16 years. He was found not guilty on two other rape charges.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of seven years and seven months. Hoiby's lawyers argued for 18 months, only for the charges he admitted to.
Hoiby did not attend court in person on Monday but watched the verdict by video link. He has been in custody since February.
Prosecutor Sturla Henriksbo called the sentence "lengthy and strict" and said it "fits the seriousness of the crimes that he is convicted of."
"I think this verdict is a victory for our justice system, which shows that no one is beyond the law, despite who you are and who you are related to," Henriksbo told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Defense lawyer Ellen Holager Andenaes said the verdict will be reviewed. "It is only natural to consider appealing the serious charges for which he was convicted and which he did not admit," she said.
The only rape victim in the courtroom broke down in tears when the judge announced the guilty verdict in her case.
Hoiby was found guilty of repeated domestic abuse against a former girlfriend, making threats, a drug offense, traffic violations, and two counts of rape. One of the rapes happened at the crown prince couple's official residence in 2018.
Prosecutors said the rape cases involved consensual encounters that later turned into sexual acts when the women seemed to be asleep or unconscious and could not give consent. Much of the legal debate focused on how aware the women were at the time and what Hoiby could have noticed.
The women did not file rape charges against Hoiby at first. During an investigation in August 2024, police found videos on his phones and computers that they said showed rapes. Officers then contacted the women, who did not know what was in the recordings.
The case became public on August 4, 2024, when police arrested Hoiby for allegedly assaulting his then-girlfriend in her Oslo apartment the night before. Media outlets published photos of a knife stuck in a wall and a broken chandelier on the floor.
After the arrest, one of Hoiby's former partners, influencer Nora Haukland, said he had abused her both physically and psychologically. Prosecutors later called this a "reign of terror."
Hoiby is Mette-Marit's son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon. He became known to the public at age three when his mother started seeing the crown prince.
During the trial, which lasted from February 3 to March 19, Hoiby spoke about the pressures of being in the public eye. "I'm mostly known as my mother's son, not anything else. So I've had an extreme need for recognition my whole life," he said.
"And that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs, and a lot of alcohol," he added.
The rapes he was accused of happened between 2018 and 2024, often after nights of heavy drinking and drug use. Hoiby denied the most serious charges, saying the media had made him "a monster" and "the hate target of all of Norway." During the trial, he admitted that jealousy sometimes made him lose control.
The conviction comes as Mette-Marit faces her own controversy. In March 2026, the crown princess admitted to a past connection with Epstein in comments to Norwegian broadcaster NRK, saying she was manipulated and deceived and expressed regret for his victims.
This disclosure came after the U.S. Justice Department released over 3 million pages of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law in November 2025. The documents confirmed contact between Epstein and several top Norwegian officials, including Mette-Marit and former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland.
In the NRK interview, Mette-Marit said she wished she had never met Epstein and took responsibility for not looking into his background more closely. "It is incredibly important for me to take responsibility for not checking his background more carefully. And to take responsibility for being so manipulated and deceived as I was," she told the broadcaster.
She said she first learned of what she called "serious abuses" in 2019, the year Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. An FBI and Justice Department review later found he died by suicide.
Mette-Marit said she met Epstein through a close friend and trusted mutual acquaintances, and that she only saw adults at their meetings. Documents showed she stayed at Epstein's Palm Beach, Florida, home in January 2013, almost five years after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution. In a 2011 email, she said she had searched for Epstein online and noticed it "didn't look too good," though she did not remember the details.
She also described an incident during her Palm Beach stay in which Epstein put her in a situation that left her feeling very unsettled, prompting her to call Crown Prince Haakon's home. NRK reported that this encounter was not considered an assault. She said this episode led her to end contact with Epstein.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Mette-Marit's comments seemed sincere. "It is clear that she is sincerely apologizing. She is taking responsibility for not examining his background more carefully," Store said.
These two crises have put Norway's royal family under heavy scrutiny. The scandal has led to reduced public support for the monarchy, and recent polls show that most Norwegians do not want Mette-Marit to become queen, although the monarchy remains generally popular.
Mette-Marit, 52, has an incurable lung disease that makes it hard for her to breathe. Her condition has recently gotten worse, and doctors have put her on a waiting list for a lung transplant.
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