Four years in prison for Marius Borg Hoiby
Oslo District Court found Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son guilty of two rapes, abuse of a former partner and a string of other offences. The unanimous four-year sentence falls short of the prosecution's demand but above what the defence sought.
June 15, 2026
Ila Prison, Norway. Photo by Kjetil Ree, Wikipedia Commons
The Verdict and the circumstances
Marius Borg Hoiby, the 29-year-old eldest son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was today sentenced to four years in prison by Oslo District Court. The unanimous judgment, running to 128 pages, was read out by judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad. Hoiby, who has been held in pre-trial custody since 2 February, was not present in the courtroom; he followed the proceedings by video link.
Last week was Hoiby transferred from Oslo Prison — now being emptied and closed for demolition — to Ila Detention and Security Prison in Baerum. Ila is one of Norway's highest-security facilities.
Hoiby has repeatedly sought release from custody: in early June the district court agreed to free him so that he could be with his seriously ill mother, who is on the waiting list for a lung transplant, but the prosecution appealed and the court of appeal overturned that decision.
Through his defence, Høiby again requested release after the judgment against him was handed down today, but it is not yet known whether Hoiby will appeal today's verdict.
Acquitted on four counts
Hoiby was charged with 40 offences in all and was acquitted on four counts. Two of these were rape charges: an alleged assault in Lofoten in the summer of 2023 and one at an Oslo hotel in the autumn of 2024.
On the Lofoten count, the court found that there was reasonable doubt, which had to benefit the defendant, while at the same time accepting that the complainant had testified truthfully to her own recollection of the events.
Hoiby was also acquitted on two counts of breaching a restraining order.
Convictions, sentence and damages
On the remaining counts, Hoiby was convicted. The two rapes he was found guilty of took place at Skaugum in Asker in 2018 and in a woman's apartment in Oslo in the spring of 2024 respectively.
Hoiby was further convicted of abuse in a close relationship against Nora Haukland and of a series of offences against a former partner referred to in the press as "the Frogner woman", among them assault, sexually offensive conduct, harassment, criminal damage and breaches of a restraining order.
The convictions also covered an aggravated drugs offence, threats, several traffic violations and insulting a police officer.
The court imposed a two-year contact ban protecting the Frogner woman, the loss of his driving licence for one year and eight months, and the confiscation of three iPhones, a MacBook, a Snapchat account and two iCloud accounts.
Hoiby was ordered to pay NOK 170,000 in damages, plus NOK 60,000 for lost income, to the woman in the Skaugum case. NOK 200,000 in damages to the woman in the Oslo case, NOK 100,000 to Nora Haugland and NOK 110,000 to the Frogner woman.
The prosecution had asked for seven years and seven months; the defence had argued for about a year and a half.
The 153 days Hoiby has already spent in custody are deducted from the sentence.
Update
A few hours after the verdict was handed down, Hoiby's defense stated that he is appealing, as he believes he was wrongly convicted of two rapes and of abuse in a close relationship against his former partner.
SOURCES
Aftenposten
NRK
VG