The Crown Princess of Norway’s eldest son and stepson of the future King has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

Marius Borg Hoiby, 27, was detained late on Monday over a charge of having “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act”, Norwegian police said on Tuesday.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit was a single mother when she met and married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001.

Mr Borg Hoiby was raised by the heir apparent from the age of three but has no royal duties after stepping back from public life when he was 20.

It is the third time Mr Borg Hoiby has been arrested in recent months over cases that involve four women and one man.

He was arrested on August 4 after a row at a woman’s apartment in Oslo. He faced preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage and was released.