Marius Borg Høiby—the son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit—has been jailed for rape in the latest case to raise pressure on European monarchies after Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles last year.
Høiby denied rape but on Monday was convicted of two counts, and acquitted on a further two. He was sentenced to four years in prison at Oslo District Court. He was also convicted of domestic violence and other crimes.
The case prompted broader debate about the role of the monarchy in the 21st century. In that respect, it is a new example, alongside a number of others, showing royalty under pressure in Europe.
Marius Borg Høiby and Crown Princess Mette-Marit
The case centered on accusations that Høiby sexually assaulted women between 2018 and 2024, with prosecutors arguing some victims were asleep or otherwise unable to resist.
Evidence presented during the seven‑week trial included hundreds of electronic messages and recordings of encounters, alongside testimony from multiple witnesses.
Høiby holds no formal royal title or official role. His mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, while his father was from a previous relationship. He was raised alongside his half-siblings within the royal household.
One alleged rape was reported to have taken place at the family home, NBC News said.
Høiby’s mother was involved in a separate scandal at the same time after the release of the Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice showed she had contact with Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Emails showed Mette-Marit used one of Epstein’s properties in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2013, at a time when Epstein’s conviction was well known enough and that it was already piling pressure on Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was first pictured with his accuser in 2011. He denies wrongdoing.
Mette-Marit released a statement in February saying she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.”
“I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing,” she added. “I also apologize for the situation that I have put the royal family in, especially the King and Queen.”
Ketil Raknes, an associate professor in political communication at the Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, told RTE: “It was…a perfect crisis for the royal family because they had two crises at the same time. And they had a lot of (criticism) for the way they handled the Epstein files.”
A Norstat poll in February showed support for the monarchy falling to 60 percent, down from 70 percent the previous month, while support for an alternative system rose to 27 percent from 19 percent. By May, support had recovered to 64 percent, with 23 percent favoring a different system.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein
Mountbatten‑Windsor’s entanglement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is one of the most damaging controversies to affect the British monarchy in modern times, combining long‑standing questions about his personal associations with serious allegations of sexual misconduct.
Virginia Giuffre said she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Mountbatten‑Windsor in London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2001, when she was 17. Mountbatten‑Windsor has consistently denied the claims, saying he had “no recollection” of meeting her.
In February 2011, The Mail on Sunday published an interview with Virginia Giuffre in which she said she was flown to Britain by Epstein and paid $15,000 to meet the prince. In the same edition, the newspaper published a now famous photograph appearing to show Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around Giuffre’s waist.
The scandal escalated in 2019 when Mountbatten-Windsor gave an interview to the BBC attempting to refute the allegations but was widely criticized for his own claims.
Among them, he countered her suggestion he sweated profusely while dancing by saying “I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time” due to post-traumatic stress disorder from fighting in the Falklands War in the 1980s. Following broadcast, he withdrew from public life.
In 2021, Giuffre filed a civil sexual assault lawsuit in New York which was settled out of court in February 2022 for an undisclosed sum with Mountbatten‑Windsor maintaining his denials and making no admission of liability.
Giuffre died after what her family described as a suicide in April 2025 while family members continue to call for justice and accountability.
However, the backlash against Mountbatten-Windsor escalated further still in October that year with the release of her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, alongside emails published by the House Oversight Committee which shed further light on Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with Epstein.
Among newly released emails, seen by Newsweek, was one showing Mountbatten-Windsor emailed Epstein in 2011, days after Giuffre’s first newspaper interview, saying: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”
In his 2019 BBC interview he had claimed he cut off all contact with Epstein months before that, during a 2010 visit to New York at which he stayed at Epstein’s house.
At the end of October, King Charles III stripped Mountbatten-Windsor, his brother, of his “Prince” and “Duke of York” titles.
The Epstein files in 2026 released more emails between the pair, leading to Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Thames Valley Police had received reports alleging Mountbatten-Windsor leaked confidential government trade reports to Epstein while a U.K. trade envoy.
Mountbatten-Windsor was released under investigation. No decision has been made on whether he will be charged.
The saga led to questions in the British media about whether the country could ever abolish the Monarchy.
Danish Queen’s Apology for Stripping Grandchildren’s Titles
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark shocked her family in September 2022 when she announced that four of her eight grandchildren would lose their royal titles.
A palace statement at the time said: “As of January 1, 2023, the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Joachim will only be able to use their titles of Count and Countess of Monpezat, their previous titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark ceasing to exist.
“With her decision, Her Majesty the Queen wants to create a framework for the four grandchildren, to a much greater degree, to be able to shape their own existence without being limited by the special considerations and obligations that a formal affiliation with the Royal House as an institution implies.”
The decision affected the children of her younger son, Prince Joachim—Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena—who from January 1, 2023, ceased to be princes and princesses.
The Queen presented the move as part of a broader effort to modernize the monarchy but caused significant family backlash. Prince Joachim told national newspaper Ekstra Bladet he was given five days notice of the decision and added: “We are all very sad. It’s never fun to see your children being mistreated like that.
“They find themselves in a situation they do not understand.”
Queen Margrethe stood by her decision but later apologized for its impact in a statement in October 2022: “I have made my decision as queen, mother and grandmother. But, as a mother and grandmother, I have underestimated the extent to which much my younger son and his family feel affected. That makes a big impression, and for that I am sorry.”
She abdicated in January 2024.
King Juan Carlos I’s Financial Scandals
Spain’s former King Juan Carlos I’s later years have been overshadowed by a series of financial scandals that triggered multiple investigations in Spain and Switzerland and damaged the reputation of the monarchy.
Geneva’s Chief Prosecutor confirmed that Juan Carlos had received $100 million from Saudi Arabia in 2008 but dropped a money laundering case because they did not have evidence tying the money to a high‑speed rail contract awarded to Spanish companies in Saudi Arabia. The money was paid into an account linked to him via a Panamanian foundation, known as Lucum.
Quoted by Reuters, Prosecutor Yves Bertossa said in 2021: “The investigation has established that Juan Carlos I did, in fact, receive $100 million on the Lucum foundation account…from the Saudi finance ministry on Aug. 8, 2008.”
Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 and left Spain in 2020 amid mounting scrutiny, saying he wished to avoid damaging the work of his son, King Felipe VI.
In 2026, the debate over his status remains active. Some political figures and commentators have argued that, with legal matters largely resolved, Juan Carlos should return to Spain, framing his continued absence as both a political and symbolic issue for the monarchy’s long-term credibility.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP), wrote on social media: “I think it would be desirable that the king emeritus return to Spain.
“He himself has acknowledged undeniable mistakes in his past, but he who contributed to sustaining our democracy and our freedoms in a key moment should spend the last stage of his life with dignity in his own country.”
Juan Carlos came to the throne in 1975, making him Spain’s first king after rule by the fascist dictator Francisco Franco.
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