Oslo : The eldest son of Norway’s crown princess was arrested on suspicion of rape on Monday, the authorities in Oslo said, the latest accusation in a scandal that has roiled the country’s royal family.
Marius Borg Hoiby, a son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was taken into custody on a preliminary rape charge on Monday evening, the police in Oslo said in a news release. The authorities offered few details but said he had violated a section of Norway’s penal code that applies to “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act.”
His lawyer, Oyvind Bratlien, said in an email that Mr. Borg Hoiby was not guilty of the rape accusation.
Mr. Borg Hoiby, 27, has no title or official duties in Norway’s royal family; his mother married Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, in 2001.
Mr. Borg Hoiby, who was 4 when his mother married into the royal family, was once known affectionately as “Little Marius.” In recent years, his behavior toward women has come under scrutiny, including accusations that he abused three women with whom he had been in relationships.
He was arrested in August on charges accusing him of bodily harm and damage in an episode involving a different woman. After that arrest, Mr. Borg Hoiby issued an apology to NRK, in which he admitted to causing bodily harm and destroying objects in an apartment while he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. He said he would seek treatment for substance abuse.
Two other women have also publicly accused Mr. Borg Hoiby of physically and psychologically abusing them while they were dating him.
Hege Salomon, a lawyer representing the woman whom the authorities have accused Mr. Borg Hoiby of raping, said that the police initiated the case, and that her client was cooperating with the investigation. Ms. Salomon said that the woman, who was in her 20s, had not previously known Mr. Borg Hoiby.
“She is going through hard times due to this case,” Ms. Salomon said in an email. “She is not a public person and hopes to keep her privacy.”
Mr. Borg Hoiby is being detained, the police said, adding that the authorities had searched his residence in Skaugum, an estate that is the official home of Norway’s crown prince and crown princess. The family was not notified of the arrest beforehand, Crown Prince Haakon said on Tuesday while on a visit to Jamaica as part of a United Nations program. He said his stepson was facing “serious charges,” adding that he trusted the authorities and the judiciary to do their jobs.
Crown Prince Haakon’s engagement to Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby, a former waitress with a high school education and a rumored past of attending wild parties, shocked Norwegians when it was announced in 2000. The Crown Princess publicly apologized for her “wild life” before the wedding and said that she condemned drug use. Norwegians have since come to see her in a more positive light.
The crown princess’s other children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, are second and third in line to succeed their grandfather, King Harald V, 87.