Paul Moss

29-year-old Marius Borg-Høbi faces 38 charges, ranging from rape and sexual abuse to drug trafficking and speeding offences.

He is not a royal, but ever since his mother, a commoner, married Crown Prince Håkon when he was four, he has seen the heir to Norway's throne as his dad and King Harald V as his grandfather.

That life within the royal family, but not a member of it, changed in August 2024.

The story was broken by Ulf Andre Andersen at celebrity magazine See & Hear.

Initially, Crown Princess Metamarit's son admitted assault and vandalism, but prosecutors later charged him with raping four women between 2018 and November 2024.

One charge involves intercourse while the woman was asleep.

The other three involve sexual assault while the women were incapacitated, which counts as rape in Norway.

He's also accused of physical abuse and violating a restraining order and transporting three and a half kilos of marijuana.

Marius Borg-Herbe's defence counsel, Petar Sekulic, has said he doesn't acknowledge wrongdoing in most of the cases, especially those regarding sexual abuse and violence.

For the 88-year-old Harald V, sworn in as King of Norway in 1991, the trial marks the biggest challenge to a monarch who until now has competed with the late Queen Elizabeth II for the title of most beloved royal in Europe.

No member of the royal family will attend the trial, and the palace will be comforted by recent poll ratings that show 73% support, a view largely reflected on the streets of central Oslo.

Oh, yes, I love the royal family, really.

Norwegians know that King Harald and Queen Sonja will not be around for many more years, and it is not out of the question when Crown Prince Håkon accedes to the throne that future Queen's son might be in jail.

Paul Kirby in Oslo.

Still to come in this podcast... Two hours without a life jacket on and, yeah, he made it.

Yeah, superhuman effort.

..the teenager who braves strong winds and rough seas to save his family...

I'm Divya Arya and I've been speaking to young women from villages and small towns in India about how sport is helping them break free from the practice of child marriages and to fight against discrimination.

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