Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Marius Borg Hoiby, the eldest son of Norway&#39;s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was sentenced Monday to four years in prison after an Oslo court found him guilty of two counts of rape and several other offenses involving multiple women, according to BBC News.&nbsp; The 29-year-old, who is not a member of Norway&#39;s royal family but was raised within the royal household after his mother married Crown Prince Haakon, was acquitted of two additional rape charges. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of seven years and seven months, while defense lawyers argued for a term of 18 months. Hoiby did not attend the verdict in person, citing unspecified health reasons, but participated via video link from prison. The ruling followed a high-profile trial that has cast a shadow over Norway&#39;s monarchy, already facing public scrutiny amid Crown Princess Mette-Marit&#39;s worsening health. The palace declined to comment on the verdict, saying only that the matter had been decided by the courts. In a 128-page judgment, Oslo District Court found Hoiby guilty of raping two women who were unable to resist because they were asleep or incapacitated. One assault occurred at the Skaugum estate, the residence of the crown prince and crown princess, in 2018. The second involved a woman in Oslo in 2024. The court also convicted H&oslash;iby of abusing former girlfriend and social media influencer Nora Haukland, as well as causing serious bodily harm to another partner. He was acquitted of two other rape allegations stemming from separate encounters in Oslo and the Lofoten Islands. Defense attorney Petar Sekulic said an appeal was likely. &quot;It is in the nature of the case that there could be an appeal,&quot; Sekulic said.&nbsp; The case involved six women and drew significant public attention because of H&oslash;iby&#39;s connection to Norway&#39;s royal family. Prosecutors said several of the women were unaware they had been assaulted until investigators discovered videos on Hoiby&#39;s phone following his arrest in August 2024. One woman, whose case resulted in a conviction, testified that she was asleep when Hoiby assaulted her after a party in Oslo in March 2024. The court agreed that she had been unable to resist. Only one of the women was present in court for the verdict. She was seen crying as the conviction was announced. The court ordered Hoiby to pay a total of 640,000 Norwegian kroner ($61,000) in compensation to four women, including Haukland. Following the ruling, defense lawyers again sought Hoiby&#39;s release from prison, arguing he should be allowed to spend time with his mother, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis and has been placed on a lung transplant waiting list. The court rejected the request, citing concerns he could contact a woman he had previously assaulted and against whom he had violated a restraining order. The case has fueled debate in Norway about the handling of sexual assault cases. Criminologist Anja Emilie Kruse of the University of Oslo said many rape allegations never reach trial and that acquittals remain common. &quot;These two women who today experienced their cases ending in acquittal are far from alone,&quot; Kruse said, noting that many victims never see their cases prosecuted. Royal commentator Caroline Vagle said the scandal has damaged public perceptions of the monarchy, though concern for Mette-Marit&#39;s deteriorating health now dominates public discussion. &quot;There is no doubt that this case has affected people&#39;s perception of the royal family,&quot; Vagle said. Public relations expert Peggy Simcic Bronn described the situation as an institutional crisis for the monarchy. &quot;This is a tragedy and a crisis for any family,&quot; Bronn said. &quot;The way they handle it is let the person be convicted, let him serve his sentence, but try to make amends as a family for what that person has done to their reputation and the impact on the royal house itself.&quot;

This file photo taken on June 16, 2022 in Oslo, Norway, shows Marius Borg Høiby, son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit.

Europe

Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of two counts of rape and multiple other offenses involving several women.

Norwegian crown princess’s son convicted of rape

LONDON: King Charles III will strip his younger brother Andrew of his royal titles and oust him from his long-term residence on the Windsor estate, the palace said on Thursday, the latest fallout to hit the scandal-plagued royal over the Jeffrey Epstein affair. &quot;Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,&quot; Buckingham Palace said, adding Charles had begun the formal process to remove all his brother&#39;s titles. Andrew has also been told to move out of his long-time home on Windsor Castle&#39;s sprawling grounds, and he will move &quot;to alternative private accommodation&quot; as soon as possible. The announcement followed a torrent of outrage at renewed accusations of sexual assault made by one of Jeffrey Epstein&#39;s main accusers against the 65-year-old, who has denied the charges. &quot;These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,&quot; the palace said. &quot;Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse,&quot; it added. It comes days after the posthumous publication of Virginia Giuffre&#39;s memoir, in which the victim of US sex offender Epstein reiterated in shocking detail allegations that she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was only 17. Giuffre took her own life in April, aged 41, while Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Giuffre&#39;s family, which had pushed for Andrew&#39;s title of prince to be removed, hailed the move on Thursday, saying in a statement to the BBC that &quot;today, she declares a victory.&quot; &quot;Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,&quot; they said. &quot;Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and countless other survivors like her.&quot; The prince, who is the second son of the late queen Elizabeth II, has repeatedly denied the allegations. But he had agreed to pay US and Australian citizen Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him. Public anger Adding to the outcry following the bestselling book&#39;s release, The Times revealed last week that the prince had only paid a minimal rent for the past two decades on his Royal Lodge home in the Windsor estate, where he lives with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. The arrangement stems from a seemingly favourable 2003 deal for the mansion owned by the Crown Estate, the royal family&#39;s independently run land and property holdings. British newspapers reported over the weekend that the growing scandal had prompted ongoing talks about vacating Royal Lodge. Moves to oust Andrew from Royal Lodge have gathered pace in the past days, given new urgency by the pending move of Prince William, heir to the throne, his wife Kate, and their children, into a new home not far away from the lodge. In yet another revelation, the BBC reported this week that Andrew hosted Epstein, his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell &mdash; who is imprisoned for trafficking &mdash; and former US film producer Harvey Weinstein, now jailed for rape, at the Lodge in 2006 for his daughter, Beatrice&#39;s, 18th birthday. Meanwhile, public anger has grown. On Monday, the king was heckled during a visit to a cathedral when a man in the crowd shouted out: &quot;How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?&quot; Andrew, however, had dug his heels in and was reportedly only prepared to leave the Royal Lodge if he could move into Frogmore Cottage, the former home of his nephew Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan. Andrew was also reportedly demanding that Ferguson be allowed to move into Adelaide Cottage, once it is vacated by William and his family. It was understood on Thursday that Andrew will move to the king&#39;s estate in Sandringham, eastern Norfolk, and will be funded by Charles.

United Kingdom

It is understood that Andrew will move to the king's estate in Sandringham, eastern Norfolk, and will be funded by Charles.

King Charles strips Andrew of royal titles, Royal Lodge residence

BANGKOK: The year-long funeral ceremony of Thailand&#39;s former Queen Sirikit started on Sunday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her remains to lie in state at Bangkok&#39;s Grand Palace. The royal family is venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Former Queen Sirikit, the mother of the current King Vajiralongkorn and wife of the nation&#39;s longest-reigning monarch, died late Friday at the age of 93. Digital advertising billboards in the Thai capital are displaying towering black tributes to the royal matriarch, while citizens have been asked to wear dark tones and curtail celebratory public events. The former queen&#39;s body is due late on Sunday afternoon to make the short trip from Chulalongkorn Hospital to the seat of the Thai royalty, where she will lie in state for one year before cremation. Throughout her 66-year marriage to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Sirikit carved a dual reputation as a glittering fashionista and the nation&#39;s caring mother figure. Some Western media compared Sirikit favourably to former US first lady Jackie Kennedy in rapturous coverage of her tenure on the front pages of their glossy magazines. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul delayed his departure to Malaysia on Saturday for a summit of ASEAN leaders where he was due to sign a peace deal with Cambodia, witnessed by US President Donald Trump. But he still jetted out for a quick turnaround endorsement of the pact, made after cross-border clashes in July killed more than 40 people and forced around 300,000 to flee their homes. &quot;I send my condolences to the Great People of Thailand,&quot; Trump said on social media, en route to Malaysia on Sunday morning. &quot;In order to accommodate everyone for this major event, we will be signing the Peace Deal immediately upon arrival.&quot; Sirikit&#39;s husband King Bhumibol Adulyadej&#39;s lengthy reign from 1946 until 2016 was bookended by World War II and Trump&#39;s first inauguration. Though Bhumibol&#39;s son inherited the throne about nine years ago, many still revere him as the nation&#39;s most steadfast figurehead -- and Sirikit as his constant companion. She retired from the public eye in recent years, her privacy sealed by strict lese majeste laws that limit what can be reported about the royal family. Sirikit had &quot;suffered several illnesses&quot; while hospitalized since 2019, including a blood infection this month, the palace said in a statement. But in her glamorous heyday in the 1960s she mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley, while at home touring Thailand to visit villagers in rural areas. She was referred to as the &quot;Mother of the Nation&quot; and her birthday was designated the country&#39;s Mothers&#39; Day.

Asia

Thailand’s former Queen Sirikit, revered as the “Mother of the Nation,” died at 93. Her year-long funeral began Sunday in Bangkok. Citizens mourn publicly, while the royal family remains central to Thailand’s cultural and political life.

Year-long funeral starts for Thailand's former queen Sirikit

ISLAMABAD: The Duchess of Kent and member of the royal family, Katharine, died at the age of 92, the royal family said in a statement on Friday.&nbsp;&quot;It is with deep sorrow that Buckingham Palace announces the death of Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Kent,&rdquo; according to the statement, posted on the royal family&rsquo;s official Instagram handle.&nbsp;&ldquo;Her Royal Highness passed away peacefully last night at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family,&rdquo; it noted.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/theroyalfamily/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=efb927c1-bdbe-47cf-808c-d06f9c13a28e">https://www.instagram.com/theroyalfamily/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=efb927c1-bdbe-47cf-808c-d06f9c13a28e</a>&nbsp;&ldquo;The King and Queen and all Members of The Royal Family join The Duke of Kent, his children and grandchildren in mourning their loss and remembering fondly The Duchess&rsquo;s life-long devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people,&rdquo; Buckingham Palace concluded.&nbsp;As reported by&nbsp;Sky News, the Union Flag at the Palace was also lowered to half-mast to respect the duchess&#39;s death.&nbsp;The deceased royal family member was known for consoling Wimbledon finalists.&nbsp;The Duchess of Kent married the Duke of Kent, late Queen Elizabeth II&rsquo;s cousin, in 1961 and has become the oldest member of the family following the demise of King Charles&#39;s mother.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Duchess, who preferred to be known simply as Katharine Kent or Kate, carved out a unique path away from the glare of royal life, finding profound meaning as a music teacher in state schools.&nbsp;Married to the Duke of Kent, a cousin of the late Queen, she dedicated 13 years to teaching in a primary school in Hull, embracing a low-key existence far removed from the royal spotlight.&nbsp;Beyond her teaching career, the duchess was an unassuming charity worker, demonstrating remarkable compassion and understanding. She volunteered for the Samaritans and travelled globally as a UNICEF ambassador.

The Union Flag at Buckingham Palace was also lowered to half-mast to respect the duchess's death

Articles tagged with "Royal Family"

Norwegian crown princess’s son convicted of rape

King Charles strips Andrew of royal titles, Royal Lodge residence

Year-long funeral starts for Thailand's former queen Sirikit

Duchess of Kent dies at 92

Norwegian crown princess’s son convicted of rape