Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, has been arrested for the second time in little over a month, Norwegian media reports.
The stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, often referred to as the ‘black sheep’ of the royal family of Norway, was taken into custody on Friday evening after breaching a restraining order.
The restraining order in question was for the protection of Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, whom Høiby admitted to assaulting, in a booze and drug-fuelled attack on 4 August, which saw him arrested for the first time and held in a police cell overnight. The order was not made immediately after the attack, but after Høiby reportedly contacted the victim on several occasions following the assault.
According to Norwegian tabloid Se Og Hor, Høiby, 27, allegedly contacted his victim, whom he has previously referred to as his ‘girlfriend’, on Saturday, September 7, from a hidden telephone number.
Marius Borg Høiby, 27, was rearrested over the weekend on suspicion of breaching a restraining order, Norwegian media reports
However, in a statement via his lawyer, Høiby has strenuously denied the claim. Defender Øyvind Bratlien slammed the arrest as being made on ‘thin’ evidence and accused the police of ‘reverse discrimination’.
Meanwhile the charges against Høiby have expanded to also include three more victims, after other women came forward in the wake of his arrest.
One of the further victims has not been named. However, two have been named as Høiby’s exes Juliane Snekkestad and Nora Haukland.
The Norwegian royal family was rocked by Høiby’s first arrest at the beginning of August, after Rebecca Helberg Arntsen was left in hospital with her injuries following the attack.
The son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship last month admitted to assaulting his ‘girlfriend’ in a booze and drug filled rage
Høiby, a former motor mechanic, has been previously labelled the ‘black sheep’ of the Norwegian royal family
A week after his arrest, Høiby sensationally admitted to the assault on Rebecca, whom he referred to as his ‘girlfriend’ (her lawyers have refuted this claim).
In a statement issued via his own lawyer, Høiby said he suffers from ‘several mental disorders’ and has ‘struggled with substance abuse for a long time’, which he said he is resuming treatment for.
The statement read: ‘Last weekend something happened that should never have happened. I committed bodily harm and destroyed objects in an apartment in the intoxication of alcohol and cocaine after an argument.
‘I have several mental disorders which mean that throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have had, and still have, challenges. I have struggled with substance abuse for a long time, something I have been in treatment for in the past.
‘The drug use and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment at Frogner on the night of Sunday last weekend. I want to be responsible for what I have done, and will explain myself truthfully to the police.
‘For me, the most important thing is to say sorry to my girlfriend. She deserved neither what happened that night, nor the extreme pressure from both the Norwegian and foreign press afterwards.’
Mette-Marit’s eldest son also apologised to his family for his actions that have ‘greatly affected you’.
Norwegian tabloid VG has since published what it claimed were clips from two phone calls between the 27-year-old and his victim after the violent episode and vandalism in an apartment in Oslo on the night of August 4.
During the conversation, former motorcycle mechanic Borg Høiby reportedly defended his assault as a ‘little pat on the back…hit you with a flat hand’.
Marius Borg Høiby (pictured) was uninvited from a celebrity wedding after guests threatened not to attend if he was present
Borg Høiby (pictured with Prince Haakon in 2017) is under suspicion for causing bodily harm and criminal damage
Borg Høiby (pictured) ‘allegedly threatened to set fire to and burn the girl’s clothes and belongings’ whilst on the phone, reported Se og Hør
But the woman allegedly replies that he hit her a hundred times and strangled her at least five times until she struggled to breathe, according to the Norwegian report after it was translated into English.
Borg Høiby also reportedly threatened to burn the victim’s belongings in a bin if she didn’t collect them from Skaugum Castle, his family’s official residence, by a certain time.
Elsewhere in the calls, which were said to have taken place before Borg Høiby was arrested by the police at 4.10pm, the Prince’s stepson allegedly mentioned a third person, claiming they are scared ‘because I’m going to kill him’.
The individual isn’t named by VG, but the publication did state that they are known to both Borg Høiby and his ‘girlfriend’.
The audio is reportedly part of the police investigation against the 27-year-old, who was arrested and placed in police custody for 30 hours, according to local reports.
He has been accused of causing bodily harm and injuring a woman with whom he was having a relationship.
In the first conversation, Borg Høiby reportedly says loudly: ‘Yes, you should. If not, I’ll burn up all your stuff’, after explaining that he wants the woman to collect her belongings from him.
When the victim asks why he would do this, he replies: ‘Because you deserve all the s*** I can throw at you,’ and refers to his girlfriend in derogatory terms, according to the publication.
‘Your clothes are on fire at 4pm. 4pm. Everything you own is already in the space outside here. And I have a large can of petrol and a lighter in my hand. Do you hear that? You will be here at 4pm,’ says Borg Høiby.
‘Then I’ll set fire to your things’, he adds, after the woman – who has apparently lived in Skaugum Castle with Borg Høiby and his mother and stepfather during certain points in the past year – insists she will not go to the 27-year-old.
Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, was raised by his mother and stepfather with his half-siblings, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18, but unlike them he has no official public role.
The arrest and his admission cast a shadow over the recent royal wedding in Norway as Princess Martha Louise wed American Shaman Durek Verrett on August 31 in Geiranger Fjord.
Ahead of the nuptials, the Norwegian palace confirmed Høiby would not be attending the wedding with his mother, stepfather and half-siblings. Norwegian media later reported that the former motor mechanic had turned down the invitation to attend an Italian wedding of the son of a billionaire and an influencer.
However, when news of the assault and arrest came to light, Høiby was uninvited from that wedding after guests threatened to pull out if he was in attendance.
Marius arrived in Pisa ahead of the wedding of Karianne Vilde Spetalen, 30, and Kristian Spetalen, also 30.
It is believed that guests thought Norwegian press would travel to Italy to document the wedding if Marius was present, a circumstance some did not feel comfortable with.
Sources told Se og Hør that Norwegian influencer Karianne and Kristian, also faced backlash from their family regarding Marius’s planned attendance.
The scandal of the Norway Royal Family’s ‘black sheep’ Borg Høiby’s arrest has damaged some Norwegians’ affection for their monarchy, MailOnline previously revealed.
Traditionally the people of Norway are even more fervent royalists than Brits, but we found that young people in particular were less forgiving of Borg Høiby’s behaviour.
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