The son of Norway’s crown princess faces preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage
FILE - Back row from left, Marius Borg Hoiby and Crown Prince Haakon, front row from left, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, Queen Sonja and King Harald pose during a Christmas photo session at Skaugum, the the residence of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, in Asker, Norway, Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. (Lise Aaserud/Pool Photo via AP)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit is under suspicion for causing bodily harm and criminal damage, Oslo police said Wednesday.
Marius Borg Høiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and is the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties.
On Sunday, officers responded to a disturbance in downtown Oslo and a man in his 20s was briefly detained. Police have confirmed it was Borg Høiby, 27, who faces preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage, one stage short of formal charges, and was released.
Details were unclear but police said there was “a relationship between the suspect and the victim.” In a statement, officers said they “currently do not have information that the victim has suffered serious injuries.”
The case was top news in Norway where the royals are popular.
Norwegian news agency NTB said that Mette-Marit had postponed a planned trip to attend the Olympic Games in Paris while her husband Haakon traveled to the French capital. The reason for the postponement was not given.
In Paris, Haakon told Norwegian reporters that “it is a serious matter when the police are involved in the way they are, but at the same time it is not right for me to go into the details of the case.”
Borg Høiby lives with the royal couple and their two children — Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
Norway’s future queen made headlines in 2001 when she married Haakon, because she was a single mother who had lived a freewheeling life with a companion who had been convicted on drug charges.