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Norway's Crown Princess Mette Marit in Epstein files as rape trial against her son begins - DW News
A rape trial is rocking the royal family in Norway and raising questions over the future of the monarchy in the Scandinavian country.
The accused is 29-year-old Marius Borg Høiby. He's the son of Norway's Crown Princess – but outside the line of succession as he was born before his mother married into the royal family. Today in Oslo, he pleaded not guilty to the most serious of 38 counts against him – including four counts of rape. The charges also include abuse, acts of violence, transporting marijuana, and making death threats. Høiby was arrested again on Sunday on suspicion of assault, making threats with a knife and violating a restraining order.
The trial gets underway just days after revelations that Høiby's mother, Crown Princess Mette Marit had extensive contact with the late U-S sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – after he was convicted of child sex crimes in 2008.
The latest release of the Epstein files contains hundreds of references to the crown princess – including personal emails between the two appearing to show a close personal friendship. Over the weekend, Crown Princess Mette-Marit issued an apology, saying she showed "poor judgement".