In a significant legal development, a Norwegian appeals court has denied Marius Borg Høiby’s request to be released from custody to visit his ailing mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, just days before his trial verdict on 40 serious charges, including rape, is expected.
This decision reverses a previous ruling by a lower court that had allowed the 29-year-old temporary release to care for his mother, who is battling pulmonary fibrosis. This progressive illness leads to lung tissue damage and scarring, and Mette-Marit has recently joined a lung transplant waitlist due to her deteriorating health.
Høiby’s legal team argued that he needed to be by his mother’s side, expressing concerns that any visit could potentially be their last encounter. The Crown Princess had Marius before her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon.
Earlier this month, the Oslo District Court had permitted Høiby’s release under compassionate grounds, considering his mother’s critical health status. However, a higher court overturned this decision on Wednesday, citing a high likelihood of him reoffending, as reported by NRK. The verdict for Høiby’s case is anticipated on June 15.
This development marks another chapter in the tumultuous life of the so-called ‘black sheep’ of Norway’s royal family. Høiby was arrested on August 4, 2024, following allegations of assaulting his girlfriend the night before.
He faces a raft of charges, including rape, assault, making death threats, attacking a public officer, and traffic violations. Høiby has vehemently denied the core aspects of these accusations, maintaining his innocence as the legal proceedings unfold.
At the same time, Mette-Marit has faced backlash after her bond with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light, with the Epstein files revealing that frequent communication between her and Epstein occurred long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting an underage girl.
Additional drama is simultaneously unfolding for the royal family with the upcoming arrival of a second reality TV show by King Harald and Queen Sonja’s eldest daughter, Princess Martha Louise, and her ‘shaman’ husband, Durek Verrett.
Marius Borg Hoiby has been denied release from custody, which he requested to tend to his seriously ill mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit (pictured together in 2022)
The couple’s first Netflix show, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story, took an ‘intimate look’ at the love story between Martha Louise and the Hollywood ‘half-reptilian and bisexual’ shaman.
The film followed the couple as they ‘navigated a swirl of controversy’ and prepared for their wedding, which took place in the picturesque small town of Geiranger in 2024.
In a move dubbed ‘Norway’s Megxit’, Martha Louise relinquished her royal role in November 2022.
Eyebrows were raised when the princess first began dating Verrett, who holds some controversial and pseudoscientific views, including that cancer in children can be caused by ‘being unhappy’.
The couple were introduced by friends in 2019 and have claimed to have known each other in a past life, specifically from ancient Egypt.
Their latest reality TV venture adds to what has been one of the toughest periods for the Norwegian throne in modern times.
Mette-Marit’s eldest son went on trial in Oslo in February for multiple offences, including charges of rape.
He has been under scrutiny since he was repeatedly arrested in 2024 on preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway’s health has deteriorated – and she is on the lung transplant list (pictured in May)
Challenges intensified earlier this year again, when the future Queen’s seemingly intimate bond with her ‘sweetheart’, Jeffrey Epstein, came to light – with one email released in the Epstein Files suggesting she was still in contact with the late paedophile financier just months before his death.
While it was known that the Princess had corresponded with Epstein, the intimacy of the emails blows apart any suggestion that the pair were mere associates, with the late paedophile referring to her as ‘twisted’ and ‘not your typical royal’.
The princess was forced to apologise in February after she faced scrutiny over her contact with the dead sex offender.
Last month, she made a rare public appearance for the constitution parade – one of the first times the royal has been spotted wearing an oxygen mask to aid her breathing at a public event.
Together with her husband, 52, and son, Prince Sverre Magnus, 20, the family watched the children’s parade from their residence, Skaugum in Oslo, Norway.
The couple’s daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, meanwhile, has cut her bachelor’s degree short at the University of Sydney as her mother’s health worsens – and her grandmother, Queen Sonja, was diagnosed with heart failure last month.
The 22-year-old moved to Australia to study a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney. Her degree is focused on international relations and political economy.
She was seven months into the three-year degree and had been staying at the prestigious St Andrew’s College, which costs up to $45,000 a year.
The Princess has maintained a low profile since beginning her studies in Australia, with the Royal House of Norway last year requesting that she have a ‘normal’ university experience.
It is unclear when, or if, Princess Ingrid will return to resume her degree.
