Marius Borg Høiby defends cocaine and alcohol-fuelled assault as ‘a little pat on the back’ and threatens to ‘kill someone’ in leaked phone call to victim

The future King of Norway’s stepson reportedly threatened to set his ‘lover’s’ clothes on fire, ‘kill’ a person they both know and defended his cocaine and alcohol-fuelled assault as ‘a little pat on the back’ in phone calls with his ‘girlfriend’.

In a scandal that has rocked the country, Marius Borg Høiby, stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, issued a grovelling statement on Wednesday saying sorry for attacking Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, citing his mental health diagnosis.

Norwegian tabloid VG has since published what they claimed were clips from two phone calls between the 27-year-old and his victim after the violent episode and vandalism in an apartment in Oslo on the night of August 4.

In the conversation, former motorcycle mechanic Borg Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, reportedly defends his assault as a ‘little pat on the back… hit you with a flat hand’.

But the allegedly woman replies that he hit her a hundred times and strangled her at least five times so that she struggled to breathe, according to the Norwegian report after it was translated into English. 

Borg Høiby also reportedly threatens to burn the victim’s belongings in a bin if she doesn’t collect them from Skaugum Castle, his family’s official residence, by a certain time.

Elsewhere in the calls, which were said to have taken place before Borg Høiby was arrested by the police at 4.10pm, the Prince’s stepson allegedly mentions a third person, claiming they are scared ‘because I’m going to kill him’. 

The individual isn’t named by VG, but the publication does state that they are known to both Borg Høiby and his ‘girlfriend’.

The audio is reportedly part of the police investigation against Borg Høiby, who was arrested and placed in police custody for 30 hours, according to local reports. 

He has been accused of causing bodily harm and injuring a woman with whom he was having a relationship with.

In the first conversation, Borg Høiby reportedly says loudly: ‘Yes, you should. If not, I’ll burn up all your stuff’, after explaining that he wants the woman to collect her belongings from him.

When the victim asks why he would do this, he replies: ‘Because you deserve all the s*** I can throw at you,’ and refers to his girlfriend in derogatory terms, according to the publication.

‘Your clothes are on fire at 4p.m. 4p.m. Everything you own is already in the space outside here. And I have a large can of petrol and a lighter in my hand. Do you hear that? You will be here at 4:00p.m,’ says Borg Høiby.

‘Then I’ll set fire to your things’, he adds, after the woman – who has apparently lived in Skaugum Castle with Borg Høiby and his mother and stepfather during certain points in the past year – insists she will not go to the 27-year-old. 

The two were in a relationship, according to VG, and Borg Høiby apologised to ‘my girlfriend’ in his statement on Wednesday. In July, Borg Høiby announced he was dating Rebecca Helberg Arntsen.

However since his statement, the victim’s lawyer Mette Yvonne Larsen told Dagbladet: ‘The last time I spoke to my client they were not lovers.’ 

In a second conversation, Borg Høiby asks: ‘Are you on your way? Now all the things are going out in the trash here now. I told you, you had one hour to come out here. It’s been three hours.’

The woman replies that she will arrive ‘later’ but is told by Borg Høiby that it is not good enough. She questions how she can get to him any sooner after what he did the night before. 

‘After what I did to you last night? A little pat on the back… Huh? Hit you with a flat hand. Huh? Hit you with a flat hand,’ says Borg Høiby allegedly.

But the woman allegedly replies that he hit her a hundred times and strangled her at least five times so that she struggled to breathe, according to the conversation.

Borg Høiby reportedly threatens to burn her belongings again, before a third person is mentioned, whom both Borg Høiby and the woman know. 

The 27-year-old claims the person is scared ‘because I’m going to kill him’, before once again urging the victim to meet him. 

Borg Høiby will talk to the police during the next week, according to VG. The Prince’s stepson has already pleaded guilty and says he is ready to serve out whatever sentence is handed down, his lawyer Oyvind Bratlien told Norway’s TV2 television.

But the scandal of the Norway Royal Family’s ‘black sheep’ Borg Høiby’s arrest has damaged some Norwegians’ affection for their monarchy, MailOnline can reveal.

Traditionally the people of Norway are even more fervent royalists than Britons, but we found that young people in particular were less forgiving of Borg Høiby’s behaviour.

In the most recent national poll in 2017, a resounding 81 per cent of Norwegians were in favour of continuing with a monarchy – an approval rating King Charles would envy, given that only 58 per cent of Britons felt the same in a YouGov survey on the eve of his coronation last year.

Yet in Jernbanetorget, the teeming square outside Oslo’s Central Station, while the majority believed the institution would survive its latest scandal, some younger people said it made them begin to question the very idea of a monarchy.

Student Julie Olsen, 19, with her 18-year-old friends Grace and Alice said they were not surprised to read about Borg Høiby’s arrest, given his previous history.

‘I am anti-monarchist anyway,’ said Julie. ‘So it hasn’t lowered my opinion of the royal family because it wasn’t that high in the first place.

‘They should treat him like any other person who gets into trouble, rather than allowing him to have more dignity than other people in the way he was arrested outside the Royal Palace, rather than inside it. It’s unfair.’

Grace added: ‘He spoke to the media before he spoke to the police and that’s because he has more status and cares more about what the press thinks than he does about the police. I think what he did was horrible.’

Alice said: ‘This incident does tend to make me think that the royal family is in danger of becoming more irrelevant for normal people.

‘It’s one thing for him to say he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he attacked his girlfriend, but it doesn’t look as if this was a one-off case, because his two ex-girlfriends said that similar things happened when they were together.’

Airport ground handler Jan Rathlle, 53, was more optimistic for the royals, saying: ‘I like the monarchy and I think Haakon will make a good king. 

‘Marius Borg Høiby is technically part of the royal family, but he’s not really royal, just a young man with problems. It was not a good story for the royal family, but nevertheless, people do support royalty, young and old.’

Plumber Niklas Larsson, 26, said: ‘It’s been a huge story here and when I first read about it, I wasn’t really that surprised because there’s been so much about his drug abuse in the past.

‘But the violence against a woman is completely unacceptable for anyone, let alone someone who is in the public eye.

‘This has potentially damaged people’s opinion of the royal family. People my age aren’t that bothered about the royals, but our parents’ generation are very proud monarchists.’

Teacher Peter Tornassen, 24, said: ‘I didn’t find his apology very convincing and I don’t think other people will. 

‘He’ll get his payback for this because people aren’t impressed that he used his diagnosis and his drugs as an excuse for attacking a woman, and no-one will go along with that. He’ll be in for a tough ride in public opinion after this.’

Nurse Monica Tiben, 49, and her husband, IT executive Lars Tiben, 52, read the story like so many other Norwegians, but she said she was sympathetic to the troubled semi-royal.

‘He has a reputation for this kind of thing, but he’s young,’ said Monica. ‘I can’t help feeling a little sorry for him because so many young guys do stupid things like this sometimes, and they don’t have the media spotlight on them when they do.

‘But he must be answerable like other people are. This will certainly damage the royal family’s reputation, but it doesn’t mean they can’t come back from it.’

Lars added: ‘I like the monarchy, they add some colour to our national life. I think Haakon will be a good king and he’s a very sensible guy. Our monarchy is more down to earth, perhaps more so than the British version as they don’t have all the trappings of pomp and ceremony.

‘With each new generation the royals have to deal with new things and adapt and in Norway they’ve done that, otherwise they run the risk of the younger generation in particular wanting to get rid of them.’

Railway worker Ole-Jørgen Nordtorpel, 49, declared himself a ‘firm royalist’. He added: ‘I wasn’t surprised about this because this guy has been associated with scandal before.

‘I think Marius is a good guy and it’s a shame he’s getting so much attention from the Norwegian media.

‘But the royal family are well respected by people my age and even by the younger generation and this bad publicity won’t make any difference. 

‘He’s a young guy and everyone does stupid things at that age. The monarchy has a special place in people’s affections, and this won’t threaten that.’

Meanwhile, the mother of Borg Høiby’s ex-girlfriend who claims she was ‘attacked’ during their relationship has branded him an ‘abuser of women’.

Høiby issued a statement on Wednesday saying sorry for his attack – but his words cut little ice with Nina Snekkestad, whose own model daughter Juliane, 29, dated tattooed Borg Høiby, dubbed the ‘black sheep’ of the Norwegian royals, for four years until 2022.

‘It’s not fair – even if you have baggage from your childhood, even if you have diagnoses, many people have such problems,’ yoga teacher Mrs Snekkestad told MailOnline. ‘But it doesn’t give you the right to go out and treat other people badly.

‘Saying “I have a diagnosis” isn’t justifiable – you have to be held responsible for your actions, and anything else is just making empty excuses.’

Mrs Snekkestad, in her 50s, said her daughter – who has returned home to her parents for now in the small coastal hometown of Tønsberg, 60 miles from Oslo – was tearful, after memories of her turbulent relationship with Marius had been rekindled by recent events.

‘We are all in a very, very emotional process right now and Juliane is crying a lot because it’s been really tough after all this dramatic experience with her ex. She’s not able to speak right now, it’s just all so upsetting for her.’

In a recent interview with Aftenposten, the strong bond between mother and daughter was clear.

Mrs Snekkestad said: ‘She was born with a very special gift, a deep compassion and love for everyone around her. She grew up with a cat, dog, hamster, aquarium fish and budgie, and felt a sense of security in being with animals.

‘Juliane was born under the sign of Cancer, they are very family-oriented. We are very good friends. She is my role model, a warm-hearted person with strong integrity.’

Earlier this week, Juliane, who met Borg Høiby in London where she worked as a model, released her own statement about the case on Instagram, claiming to have been ‘subjected to psychological and physical violence by the person in question’.

Sharing a post on her Instagram Stories, she said: ‘The last few days have been strange and painful. In the last week I have received a lot of phone calls; messages… regarding my ex’s order.

‘First, I would like to send warm thoughts to those affected by the case. Although the closest family and friends have known about this, I now no longer choose to remain silent. Because I actually can’t keep silent any longer.

‘And to answer the clues: Yes. I have previously been subjected to psychological and physical violence by the person in question. Where the psychological violence was most brutal for me.

‘I’m not sharing this because I want pity… Or to put the focus on me… This has happened before. And this must be stopped now,’ her statement read, when translated from Norwegian to English.

In his statement to Norwegian media and MailOnline, Borg Høiby said that ‘something happened that should never have happened’ on August 4.

‘I committed bodily harm and destroyed objects in an apartment while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine after an argument,’ he added.

Borg Høiby said he had suffered with ‘mental troubles’ and struggled ‘for a long time with substance abuse’. He said he would seek new treatment and ‘take it very seriously’.

But he added that ‘the consumption of drugs and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment.’ ‘I want to take responsibility for what I did,’ he said, promising to be frank with police.

He added: ‘For me, the most important thing is to say sorry to my girlfriend. She deserved neither what happened that night, nor the extreme pressure from both the Norwegian and foreign press afterwards.’

Princess Mette-Marit’s eldest son also apologised to his family for his actions that have ‘greatly affected you’.

The royal family has so far made no comment on the arrest.

It comes after another ex-partner of Borg Høiby has sensationally claimed he ‘punched, strangled and kicked’ her during their relationship – after he confessed to carrying out a cocaine and alcohol-fuelled assault on his ‘girlfriend’. 

Nora Haukland, 27, who found fame after winning Norway’s Love Island in 2020, started dating Borg Høiby for just over a year before going their separate ways last summer. 

She has now made several accusations on Snapchat about their time together, claiming: ‘He has punched me in the face. He’s kicked me, he’s strangled me, he’s trashed my apartment.’

Her comments come after he admitted assaulting his ‘girlfriend’ ‘after an argument’ while ‘intoxicated with cocaine and alcohol’ in a statement which has rocked the Nordic nation.

But Nora – who is the second ex-girlfriend of Borg Høiby’s to accuse him of ‘psychological and physical violence’ towards them – said she was ‘frustrated’ that the former mechanic seemed to ‘pretend that this is a one-off case’

Police arrested Borg Høiby on August 4, near Skaugum Castle, his family’s official residence, following a night-time row at an apartment in Oslo. He spent 30 hours in police custody, according to local media reports. 

Following his a frank admission of his culpability and a grovelling apology to Ms Arntsen and his loved ones, Borg Høiby’s ex girlfriend, Nora, took to Snapchat to accuse the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of violence.

She said: ‘I thought I would keep my mouth shut until my ex’s statement came out, and then I felt a great sense of frustration. Marius speaks as if this is the first time it has happened. 

‘He asks for some kind of empathy, ‘I’m going to get help, I’m struggling, my girlfriend’ and all of this felt very familiar. He also said he should get help when I left him,’ she claimed in the clip, according to Norwegian magazine Se og Hør.

She added: ‘Marius has been physical towards me. He has punched me in the face. He’s kicked me, he’s strangled me, he’s trashed my apartment. He has also destroyed things in Mum’s new house.’

Nora also referred to the allegations made by Juliane Snekkestad, who accused him of ‘psychological and physical violence’ in an Instagram Story earlier this week.

‘But as Juliane said, the very worst thing for me was also the psychological part. Yelling, the threats,’ said Nora.

She continued: ‘I see him pretending that this is a one-off case and that he is only taking responsibility for something that is public. It bothers me. 

‘I also want to say a big thank you to Juliane who stood up, she found a strength that is absolutely incredible and I wouldn’t have been able to publish this if she hadn’t done the same and been there. 

‘And so I hope that everyone who experiences intimate partner violence finds the strength to leave, because it is very rare that it gets better.’

Photos reportedly taken of the home in Oslo after the argument showed a knife planted in the wall and a broken chandelier, reported Se og Hør.

The day after the incident, the woman received medical treatment but was not admitted to hospital, her lawyer Mette Yvonne Larsen said. She told VG: ‘It is good that he is speaking out and admitting a drug problem and she is happy about that.’

Borg Høiby was raised by his mother and stepfather with his half-siblings, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18, but unlike them he has no official public role. 

The former motorcycle mechanic, who lives in the Royal Palace at Skaugum, just outside Oslo, was arrested the day after the assault, but not in the palace.

In a move believed engineered to avoid embarrassing his step-father Crown Prince Haakon, 51, police arrested Hoiby at a primary school just outside the imposing gates of the palace.

Royal expert Trond Isaksen Norén commented: ‘It is not at all positive for the royal family’s reputation.

‘The King has decided that Høiby is an official member of the royal family, thus this is the first time a member of the royal family has been charged. That says something about the seriousness,’ he told NTB.

Borg Høiby faces preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage, and could face up to a year in prison.

Police had previously confirmed the alleged victim was in a ‘relationship’ with the motorcycle mechanic, according to reports.

Two anonymous sources also told Se og Hor that police had audio recordings of the crown prince’s stepson calling the woman and ‘threatening to set fire to and burn the girl’s clothes and belongings’.

FEMAIL contacted the Norwegian Royal Household for comment, who said: ‘We refer to Marius Borg Høiby’s attorney in this matter.’

Øyvind Bratlien, the defence lawyer hired by Borg Høiby, has also been contacted by FEMAIL.

Mette Yvonne Larsen, the assistance lawyer for the woman involved in the case, told Se og Hør that the woman is on sick leave, having had medical supervision. She has not requested a restraining order or been admitted to hospital.

But Mette-Marit and her husband Haakon, who is Princess Anne’s godson, refused to let the royal shock deter them from their plans this weekend – with the royal couple photographed enjoying the Olympics on Saturday.

The royal mother was full of smiles as she cheered on athletes in the Men’s 5000m final at the Stade de France in Paris, on Saturday, after watching the gold medal handball match between Norway and France. 

Mette-Marit – who also joined her husband on Friday to watch the athletics – put on an enthusiastic display, waving to crowds whilst by the Prince’s side, despite the news of her son’s arrest.

Police said they were called to an Oslo address early Sunday after an overnight altercation in an apartment.

A man in his 20s was arrested over the incident and released from custody the following day, police said in a statement.

‘As it has been made known in several media that this (person) is Marius Borg Høiby, the police confirm that it is Høiby who is a suspect in the case.’

Police said he was suspected of causing ‘bodily harm and damage’. They did not identify the woman, saying only there was ‘relationship between the accused and the victim’.

Norwegian news agency NTB said that Mette-Marit had postponed a planned trip to attend the Olympic Games in Paris while her husband Haakon travelled to the French capital. The reason for the postponement was not given.

In Paris, Haakon told Norwegian reporters that ‘it is a serious matter when the police are involved in the way they are, but at the same time it is not right for me to go into the details of the case.’

The police’s security service (PST), which is responsible for the security of the royal family, confirmed to Nettavisen that they are aware of the incident. 

‘We can confirm that PST was informed shortly after the incident. But we do not want to comment on the case further and we refer the Oslo police district for statements’, said Martin Bernsen, senior adviser in PST, to the newspaper. 

According to Lovdata, the Norwegian foundation which publishes judicial information, bodily harm can be punished ‘with a fine or imprisonment of up to one year, anyone who commits violence against another person or physically violates him in any other way is punished’.

If the charge is extended to grievous bodily harm the penalty can be up to six years in prison.

Growing up, Borg Høiby made public appearances with his mother, stepfather and half sister Ingrid Alexandra (who is the future queen of Norway) and half brother Prince Sverre Magnus on occasions such as national day.

However, when he turned 20 the royal court announced he was stepping away from public life and his profile was removed from the family’s official website.

‘Høiby will not conduct any official activities on the Royal Family’s behalf,’ a statement said, ‘on the basis of his wish to live outside the public eye.’

His mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit also published an open letter on the court website, saying: ‘Marius is, and will continue to be, a vital member of our family. He has always had a public role that has been very difficult to define.’

‘Unlike his siblings, he has no official duties. He won’t have a public role and is not a public person. Marius became a symbol for the unusual choice we made when we married.’

Borg Høiby – who lives with the royal couple and their two children – was previously linked to heiress Linn Helena Nilsen, but the couple split in July 2017.

Norway’s future queen made headlines in 2001 when she married Haakon, because she was a single mother who had lived a freewheeling life with a companion who had been convicted on drug charges.

Six years ago, she was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis. The disease, which has no known cure, causes breathing problems as scar tissue forms on the lungs, and has forced her to slow down her hectic schedule of royal duties.

Meanwhile, her husband is preparing to take over the throne amid concerns over the health of his father, King Harald V, 87, who announced in April that he would make a ‘permanent reduction’ to his public engagements.

But Borg Høiby’s scandal is not the only controversy that has threatened the popular Norwegian royal family in recent times.

Princess Martha Louise, 52, the daughter of King Harald, was forced to step down as a working royal in 2022 due to her self-professed shaman fiancé Durek Verrett’s controversial views, including that childhood cancer is caused by unhappiness.

The couple are set to marry later this month – but their wedding has been overshadowed with dramas, including the pair being embroiled in a public row with Durek’s estranged 81-year-old mother.