The eldest son of Norway’s crown princess has been arrested on suspicion of rape, police have said.
Marius Borg Hoiby is the son of Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon.
Borg Hoiby was arrested in Oslo late on Monday on a preliminary charge of having “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act”.
The 27-year-old has no royal title or official duties. He denied the allegation, according to local media.
Preliminary charges come before former charges and allow police to detain a suspect during investigation.
Police did not say when the alleged rape occurred, only that “the victim must have been unable to resist the act”.
The charge was brought by the police, not the woman who was allegedly raped, according to her lawyer Hege Salomon.
Ms Salomon also told Norwegian broadcaster NRK her client “is having a hard time”.
Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit in June. File pic: NTB/Silje Katrine Robinson/Reuters
It is the second time in three months that Borg Hoiby is arrested as he was briefly detained by police on 4 August following a disturbance in central Oslo, Norway’s capital.
He faced preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage and was released.
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Details were unclear but police said there was “a relationship between the suspect and the victim”.
More preliminary charges have since been filed against Borg Hoiby, including violating several restraining orders and driving without a valid driver’s licence.
In all, the cases involve four women and one man.