Crown Princess of Norway’s son arrested for allegedly violating restraining order against ex-girlfriend

Marius Borg Hoiby is accused of contacting his former girlfriend using a hidden phone number, following allegations that he assaulted her

The Crown Princess of Norway’s eldest son has been arrested for allegedly violating a restraining order imposed after he allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
Marius Borg Hoiby’s lawyer said the 27-year-old was accused of contacting the victim once using a hidden phone number after police announced the arrest on Saturday.
Police now also suspect Mr Hoiby of crimes against three other victims – domestic abuse of two women and threats to another person – which he denies.
Mr Hoiby is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who was a single mother when she met the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, who has raised his stepson since he was three.
Mr Hoiby, who has never held a royal title, was first arrested on Aug 4 at the woman’s apartment in Oslo. They were in a relationship at the time.
He is accused of causing her bodily harm, which can carry a sentence of up to a year in jail, and she was discharged from hospital the next day after being diagnosed with a concussion.
Local media said police found a knife stuck into one of the walls of the woman’s bedroom at the time.
Mr Hoiby was arrested on Friday at a cabin in the municipality of Gusdal, where he was on a hunting trip with friends. He was released on Saturday.
“At the beginning of September, police received information that Marius Borg Hoiby had, on several occasions, made unwanted contact with the woman, who has the status of victim in the incident,” police said on Saturday.
They “filed a report for reckless behaviour and imposed a restraining order on Hoiby”, it said.
They subsequently “received information that Hoiby had violated the restraining order” and he was rearrested late on Friday owing to the “risk of recurrence”.
Oyvind Bratlien, Mr Hoiby’s lawyer, said his client denied the allegations and that he should never have been arrested.
“In my 17 years as a defence lawyer, I have never experienced or heard of an arrest on such a flimsy factual and legal basis,” Mr Bratlien told broadcaster NRK.
“Hoiby was arrested because he allegedly contacted the victim once on Saturday Sept 7, despite the restraining order, from a hidden telephone number,” Mr Bratlien told Aftenposten.
Mette-Marit married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. They raised Mr Hoiby with his step-siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18.
He would make public appearances with his mother, stepfather and siblings before stepping back from public life in 2017, when he was 20, because he wanted privacy.