Photo: Collected

OSLO, June 10, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A Norwegian appeal court on Wednesday 
overturned a lower court's decision to release the son of ailing Crown 
Princess Mette-Marit ahead of the June 15 verdict on 40 charges against him 
including rape and assault.

A judge had on Monday agreed to 29-year-old Marius Borg Hoiby's request to be 
released from custody to be with his 52-year-old mother, who has been placed 
on a waiting list for a lung transplant after her health worsened.

She suffers from a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung disease 
that causes breathing difficulties.

Hoiby, Mette-Marit's son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to 
Crown Prince Haakon, stood trial from February 3 to March 19 and has been in 
custody since February 1.

He faces 40 charges, including the rape of four women, that carry a maximum 
sentence of 16 years in prison.

Prosecutors had appealed Monday's ruling granting his release, and Hoiby 
remained in custody pending the latest decision.

The Oslo appeals court ruled there was "still a strong likelihood that Hoiby 
would commit new crimes if he is released".

The judge said she could not see "how the constraints experienced by Hoiby in 
detention would be any different from those of others held in custody with 
seriously ill parents or close relatives."

Questioned by AFP, Hoiby's lawyers said they were "extremely disappointed". 
But they said they would not appeal to the Supreme Court.

Prosecutors have sought a prison sentence of seven years and seven months 
against Hoiby, who does not formally belong to the royal household and who 
has denied the most serious charges.

The scandal has tainted the monarchy's image and comes on top of revelations 
of Mette-Marit's close friendship and correspondence with convicted US sex 
offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2011 and 2014.