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.

BSS/AFP/SSS/1912 hrs