For a few hours on Friday, freedom looked within reach for Marius Borg Høiby. Then the Norwegian State Prosecutor's Office reversed course, and the window was slammed shut again. Officials announced their request to the Oslo District Court to keep Mette-Marit's son in custody for four more weeks, fitted once again with an electronic ankle bracelet. Their reasoning: his risk of reoffending.
© Getty ImagesThe decision came down in a statement to local media, catching even his own defense team off guard.
"We are very surprised, because the prosecution had indicated that he should be released, given that we consider this a case of reverse violence. We don't understand why they changed their minds," defense attorney Petar Sekulic told Aftenposten. "We won't say anything further for now — we'll address it at Monday's court hearing," he added.
That hearing is set for August 10 at the Oslo District Court.
What happened
© WireImageThe reversal came at a procedural turning point. Once Borg's prior four-week stretch of custody with an ankle monitor expired, there were only two ways the case could go. The prosecution could ask the court for a new extension of pretrial detention, in which case Borg would be released only if a judge approved the request, or they could decline to seek further custody at all. In this case, the detention order would lapse automatically, and Borg would be released immediately.
The prosecution controlled the outcome entirely. Norwegian courts don't act on their own initiative, and the defense has no way to force a release. In the end, prosecutors chose to request the extension.
It's worth remembering that what put Borg behind bars was not the rape convictions themselves, which remain under appeal, but the assessed risk that he would violate restraining orders or commit new offenses against former partners. He entered pretrial detention this past February after his fourth arrest — the culmination of repeatedly breaching restraining orders tied to the woman from Oslo's Frogner district. Her name is unknown, but she was the first of his accusers to call the police after an incident of domestic violence.
© ANE HEMLegal Wins, Then a Setback
Until Friday's announcement, the defense had racked up real procedural victories: first securing the electronic tag, then arranging Borg's transfer to Skaugum, the Norwegian royal family's private estate in Asker. As recently as this week, the State Prosecutor's Office had confirmed it was weighing outright release for Friday. That didn't happen.
Borg's defense is far from a mismatch for the state. Both of his attorneys sit within Norway's small circle of elite criminal defense lawyers — the ones entrusted with the country's most complex, highest-profile cases, with résumés spanning major law firms, deep criminal-law experience, stints at the State Prosecutor's Office itself, and regular appearances in headline-grabbing proceedings.
© HAKON MOSVOLD LARSENThe Conviction Behind It All
The underlying case is substantial by any measure: an 830-page case file and seven weeks of trial testimony. Norway's crown princess's eldest son was ultimately convicted of two counts of rape, of abuse against his ex-girlfriend Nora Haukland, the only accuser publicly known due to her work on TV and influencer status, and of violence against the woman from Frogner. He was also convicted of drug offenses and of several lesser charges. He was acquitted of two separate rape allegations and has consistently denied every accusation of a sexual nature.
That four-year sentence is now before the Court of Appeal, with a ruling not expected before 2027. The State Prosecutor's Office, notably, isn't satisfied either — having originally sought seven years and seven months, it is now pushing for the appeals court to hand down an even harsher sentence than the one imposed at trial.
A Royal Family Suspended in Uneasy Calm
© LISE ASERUDThe timing collides with a delicate moment for Norway's royal household involving various family members. Crown Princess Mette-Marit is beginning a six-month rehabilitation after her lung transplant, while Princess Ingrid Alexandra has just returned to Oslo after a year studying in Australia. Prince Sverre Magnus is keeping a deliberately low profile.
The family's image, already dented by Mette-Marit's association with Jeffrey Epstein, won't fully recover until the Marius case reaches its conclusion.
