Norway's royals in turmoil, and staying quiet, as crown princess's son faces sentence

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Norway braces for verdict in rape trial of crown princess's son Høiby13 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GooglePaul KirbyEurope digital editorReutersMarius Borg Høiby, seen here in January, will join the court session by video-linkWhen three judges in courtroom 250 deliver their verdict at Oslo District Court early on Monday, Marius Borg Høiby - the son of the crown princess of Norway - will find out the extent of his sentence. Høiby, 29, will appear via video link because of unspecified health reasons, almost three months after his trial came to an end on 40 charges, including four counts of rape. He denies the most serious offences but admits some of the lesser charges involving drugs and traffic offences.

Prosecutors say he should be given seven years and seven months in jail, whereas his defence lawyers believe he should serve a year-and-a-half. Høiby, whose mother married into the royal family when he was four, has been in custody since the start of February. Police detained him shortly before the trial began on suspicion of assault and violating a restraining order involving an ex-girlfriend.

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Repeated attempts by his lawyers to have him released have failed. Crown Princess Mette-Marit is very ill, and only last week an appeal court turned down a bid for Høiby to be allowed out so he could be with her. She was placed on a lung transplant list a little over a week ago.

Her doctors have made clear that the general rule for anyone placed on the list is the patient is believed to have only a year to live. She has since been seen visiting her son in prison with Crown Prince Haakon. It's a picture of a family in turmoil.

Getty ImagesCrown Prince Haakon has curtailed public engagements to look after Mette-Marit (R)There is profound sympathy for the crown princess as this extraordinary case draws to a close. The mood is rather different from the start of the trial, which was shrouded in public anger because of a series of revelations that documented her three-year friendship with disgraced late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She has halted public engagements and now wears a nasal tube to help her breathe.

But that sympathy has not put an end to questions surrounding the future of the royal family, which for months has been in the middle of a perfect storm. There is little Norway's popular King Harald, 89, and Queen Sonja can do. Høiby was never a member of the royal family but the boy nicknamed "Little Marius" did grow up alongside his royal siblings, and a substantial jail term would cast a shadow over all of them.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.