The son of Norway’s crown princess broke down on Wednesday as he denied that videos on his phone showed acts of rape, during the first day of his testimony in his trial for rape and domestic violence.
In a case that has shaken the embattled Norwegian royal family, Marius Borg Høiby, 29, who joined when his mother Mette-Marit married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, said his upbringing in the public eye since he was a toddler had led him to crave drink and sex.
He could face years in prison if found guilty of the most serious of the 38 charges against him.
On Tuesday, the first day of his trial, he pleaded not guilty to the most serious charges of rape and domestic violence but acknowledged partial guilt – a plea allowed under Norwegian law – for aggravated assault and reckless behaviour. He also admitted lesser charges, including driving too fast.
The trial has transfixed Norway at a time when his mother the crown princess also faces fresh scrutiny over revelations about her ties to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Breaking down in tears, Høiby said it was hard to testify in a courtroom packed with reporters.
“I have been surrounded by the press since I was three. I have been harassed ever since,” he said. He said he had received “heavy medication” and would try to do his best in court.
“I am known as the son of Mummy,” he said, referring to Mette-Marit. “Which means I have an extreme need for affirmation,” he said. “A lot of sex, a lot of alcohol.”
“Few can relate to the life I have led. A lot of parties, alcohol, some drugs,” he said.
Wearing jeans and a dark blue jumper over a beige shirt, Høiby, who spoke with his arms crossed over his chest, sometimes consulted his handwritten notes in a notebook.
Among the charges against Høiby are one count of rape with sexual intercourse and three counts of rape without intercourse, some of which he filmed on his telephone, the prosecution has said.
He said he had never shared the videos and denied they depicted sex without consent.
“If I had thought I had material that showed an assault, I would never have kept that material,” he said.
Wednesday’s testimony focused on an after-party in the basement of the Crown Prince’s family residence on the outskirts of Oslo in 2018, where the prosecution says Høiby filmed himself performing a sex act on a woman who was unconscious. Police showed the video to the court behind closed doors on Tuesday.
