Son of Norwegian Crown Princess arrested on suspicion of rape

Police say they have yet to decide whether he will be remanded in custody

OSLO: Norwegian police said Tuesday that the 27-year-old son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit had been arrested on suspicion of rape.

Police said that Marius Borg Hoiby, who was born from a relationship prior to Mette-Marit's 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, had been arrested Monday evening.

"What police can say about the rape is that it concerns a sexual act without intercourse. The victim is said to have been unable to resist the act," they said.

In a later statement, police said they had searched the suspect's home and made "seizures".

Borg Hoiby was raised by the royal couple alongside his step-siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18, but has no official public role.

The rape arrest comes only months after he was accused of bodily harm after a night-time row on August 4 at the Oslo apartment of a woman he was having a relationship with, police said.

Norwegian media reports said police found a knife stuck into one of the walls of the woman's bedroom at the time.

He was arrested again in September for violating a restraining order.

Police said he was in a car with the alleged victim of the August incident when he was arrested Monday.

On Tuesday, police also said the suspicions relating to the August incident now include domestic abuse.

Police said they had yet to decide whether he would be remanded in custody.

Hoiby was born in 1997 from a relationship prior to Mette-Marit's 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne.