The countdown has begun for the trial of Marius Borg Høiby. On 3 February, a highly publicized court case will get underway, one that will place the Norwegian royal family firmly in the spotlight. According to legal experts, however, his proximity to the monarchy may work against him rather than in his favor.
The son of Princess Mette-Marit, who was first arrested in August 2024 and formally charged a year later, will face 32 counts before the Oslo District Court. One of the major questions surrounding the case has been who is paying for his legal defence.
Now, the first figures are beginning to emerge, and they are substantial. Millions of kroner have already been spent, and the trial has not even begun.
It emerged weeks ago that Borg’s maternal grandmother, Marit Tjessem, had poured half of her personal fortune into a failed attempt to halt the publication of a book examining what Norwegian investigative journalists Monsen and Krokfjord describe as the criminal environment surrounding Marius Borg.
According to Se og Hør, the 88-year-old grandmother paid €116,000 in legal fees linked to the lawsuit brought by Borg and his lawyers against the publisher Aschehoug. The report also noted that, at the time of his arrest, Borg’s own assets amounted to just €11,000.
More recently, the newspaper VG obtained confirmation from the court of how much has already been spent on the main criminal proceedings. The major trial is set to begin on February 3, whose total cost will not be known until it concludes.
The largest expense so far has been legal representation. Borg’s current defence lawyers, Ellen Holager Andenæs and Petar Sekulic, have received just over 1.4 million Norwegian kroner, roughly €112,000.
These figures do not include his previous lawyer, Øyvind Bratlien, who represented Borg from his first arrest on August 4, 2024, until February of this year. According to judicial sources cited by Norwegian media, Bratlien received 602,434 kroner for his work, more than €50,000.
There are also the court-appointed lawyers representing the opposing parties, whose fees, covered by the state, are currently estimated at around 1.3 million Swedish kronor, more than €100,000.
The financial dimension of the case has become a major point of public pressure, particularly amid fears that the monarchy or the institution of the head of state could ultimately bear part of the cost. For this reason, the Norwegian Royal House, usually resolutely silent on matters relating to the case, has issued a rare clarification, stating that neither legal fees nor any compensation awarded will be paid by the Royal House or by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
Marius Borg Høiby entered the Norwegian royal family at the age of four. He never held an official role and was never granted a princely title, yet as a member of the king’s family, he lived with many of the privileges that status implies, privileges that are now being closely examined.
At 28, he faces 32 charges, including serious sexual offences, crimes that could carry a sentence of up to 16 years in prison, according to the Norwegian press.
As the son of the future queen consort and the elder brother of the woman destined to become modern Norway’s first queen, the case has attracted extraordinary attention, so much so that it is already being described as the trial of the century.