Marius Borg Hoiby. Photo: Collected

OSLO, Feb 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The son of Norway's future queen on Thursday denied that he had ever drugged anyone, after a woman he is accused of raping said she had "probably ingested something".

Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to heir apparent Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial at a court in Oslo on 38 charges, including four rapes and assaults.

He has pleaded not guilty to the most serious offences. He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.

On Wednesday, the first alleged victim claimed she had been drugged before being raped at an after-party in the basement of the royal Skaugum estate outside Oslo, when, according to Hoiby himself, his parents were upstairs.

"I suspect that I probably ingested something without my knowledge," she told the court.

Asked if she thought she had been drugged, she replied: "That's what I believe. 100 percent."

Hoiby, in jeans and a blue sweater over a white T-shirt, and fidgeting with a silver bracelet and chewing gum, told the court on Thursday that he had "never drugged anyone, as far as I know".

The incident is said to have taken place during the night of December 19-20, 2018.

But the alleged victim only fully realised what had happened years later when police contacted her after they discovered footage and images showing what they described as Hoiby raping her while she slept.

The four alleged rapes all took place after consensual sex, often following evenings of heavy drinking when the women were not in a state to defend themselves, the prosecution said this week.

The defence has argued that Hoiby "perceived all of the acts as perfectly normal and consensual sexual relations".

The scandal -- the biggest in the history of the Norwegian monarchy, according to experts -- has tarnished the image of the royal family and plunged it into turmoil.

Mette-Marit and Haakon do not plan to attend the seven-week trial, which has drawn massive media attention.