It’s been a very slow news day today, so my eye was caught by a story out of Norway, a country in which, I must admit, I usually have minimal interest. (Although I will say that it’s a staggeringly beautiful country, as I discovered many years ago during a visit there.) Marius Borg Hoiby, whose mom, a one-time waitress, married Norway’s Crown Prince, has been charged with multiple rape and sexual assault counts. It really doesn’t help that this young man genuinely looks like an extra on the set of a 1940s movie about Nazis.
Marius Borg Hoiby, a son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, has been under police investigation in Oslo since he was arrested in August on charges of bodily harm and damage. He was also arrested in separate cases in September and November,the police said, on suspicion of rape.
[snip]
The updated charges against Mr. Borg Hoiby include one count of rape with intercourse, two counts of rape without intercourse and four counts of sexually offensive behavior. Other charges include abuse in close relationships, bodily harm, harassment of a police officer and the violation of restraining orders.
It pays to be a bit suspicious when a famous man is charged with rape—at least it’s worth being suspicious in America—but the fact that Hoiby allegedly harassed a police officer and violated restraining orders makes it sound as if the young man had issues. And indeed he does. Later in the same article, we learn that he was arrested last August for “causing bodily harm and damage,” and later admitted that he was drunk and high on cocaine.
Just as compellingly in terms of making the charges sound as if they’re the result of good police work and not attention-seeking young women, the police apparently have “extensive digital material” to back up the charges against Hoiby.
The whole thing is sordid and fundamentally uninteresting. However, what caught my eye about the story is that Hoiby looks someone who shows up for a casting call when a 1940s Hollywood director needs an extra for an SS scene in a movie about Nazis:
NEW: Son of Norway’s Crown Princess charged with r*pe involving “double-digit” number of alleged victims.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 28, 2025
28-year-old Marius Borg Høiby is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon.
Høiby was charged with one case of r*pe… pic.twitter.com/z1DzIEShq4
Please believe me when I say that I have no reason whatsoever to believe that the Hoiby is a Nazi or Nazi adjacent. I know nothing about him other than the bare bones report of his arrest and his past run-ins with the police. Moreover, Hoiby is innocent until proven guilty of the charges currently filed against him.
It’s just that...well, look at him. Central casting couldn’t have asked for a more perfect caricature.
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