OSLO, Norway (AP) — A Norwegian court said Monday that it will announce its verdict next month in the trial of the eldest son of Norway's crown princess on charges including rape, following proceedings that cast a shadow over the royal family.
The Oslo District Court said that the verdict in the case of Marius Borg Høiby will be delivered on June 15.
During six weeks of court proceedings that ended on March 19, prosecutors sought a prison sentence of seven years and seven months for Høiby, who denies the rape allegations.
Høiby, 29, is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit by a previous relationship and the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to Norway’s throne. He is charged with 40 offenses in total, including four counts of rape between 2018 and 2024.
Defense lawyers for Høiby, who has no royal titles or official duties, said that there was no evidence to support the rape charges. He has, however, admitted to lesser offenses, including drug possession, transporting 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) of marijuana in 2020, traffic violations and breaches of a restraining order involving a former partner. He has also partially admitted to acts related to violence and threats but disputes key aspects of those allegations, including intent.
The defense team has said that a maximum sentence of 18 months would be appropriate for the charges he has admitted to. It argued that Høiby has lived under extraordinary media pressure due to his royal connections, which they said has shaped public perception of the case.
While the trial has played out, Mette-Marit separately has faced scrutiny this year over her connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. That has raised questions over her judgment, though she is not accused of any wrongdoing.
FILE - Norway's Marius Borg Hoiby and Crown Princess Mette-Marit in Oslo, June 16, 2022. (Lise Aserud/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)
NAIROI, Kenya (AP) — France is pitching what it says is a new model of partnership with African countries at a summit that begins Monday in Kenya as it completes a military withdrawal from West African countries that has been widely seen as marking declining influence on the continent.
But Paris is expected to use the two-day Africa Forward Summit, which it is co-hosting, to push a new Africa policy that focuses more on English-speaking countries and offers what it calls a “partnership of equals." Its new defense agreement with Kenya marks the direction it hopes to go.
France has long maintained a policy of economic, political and military sway over its former colonies dubbed Françafrique, which included keeping thousands of troops in the region. But after years of criticism from leaders and opposition parties in those countries over what they described as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach, France has been forced to withdraw most of those troops.
The summit — France's first in an English-speaking African country — will be attended by more than 30 heads of state and government, including from Francophone countries. On his arrival Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said France may disagree with West African governments but “never disagrees with the people.”
Kenya’s newly ratified defense agreement with France has been criticized by civil society groups for granting too much immunity from local law to French troops, a sensitive issue in a country where a similar agreement with the United Kingdom has left a trail of hard-to-prosecute crimes against locals.
At a time when many African nations, particularly in the Sahel region, are reducing or expelling foreign military presences in what they say is a quest to reclaim their sovereignty, Kenya is hosting a growing international military presence.
The Kenya-France Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed on Oct. 29, 2025, by Kenya’s Defense Minister Soipan Tuya and French Ambassador to Kenya Arnaud Suquet and ratified by parliament on April 8. The same month, it also ratified defense agreements with countries including the Czech Republic, China and Italy.
While defending the defense agreements, parliament defense committee chair Nelson Koech said Kenya's treaties with advanced militaries provide training and intelligence-sharing opportunities that will make its defense stronger.
Koech said the agreements were not a “surrender of sovereignty,” adding that newer agreements guarantee that foreign troops will be tried in Kenya in the event of serious crimes such as murder.
A month ahead of the summit, a contingent of around 800 French troops arrived in Kenya aboard a navy ship.
The agreement grants visiting French forces primary jurisdiction over their personnel for on-duty offenses, echoing broad legal protections in past UK pacts that shielded British soldiers from Kenyan courts amid scandals like the 2012 murder of a young woman named Agnes Wanjiru and the deadly 2021 Lolldaiga ranch fire.
A British soldier is due to be extradited after Kenyan courts found him answerable for the 2012 death of Wanjiru, who was last seen alive in his company near the British troops’ training grounds in Nanyuki, central Kenya.
France's President Emmanuel Macron participates in the youth session "Africa Forward, Creation in Motion" during the Africa Forward Summit at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Kenya's President William Ruto, right, participate in the youth session "Africa Forward, Creation in Motion" during the Africa Forward Summit at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
France's President Emmanuel Macron participates in the youth session "Africa Forward, Creation in Motion" during the Africa Forward Summit at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Kenya's President William Ruto, right, participate in the youth session "Africa Forward, Creation in Motion" during the Africa Forward Summit at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Kenyan President William Ruto stand during the national anthems at State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Kenyan President William Ruto shake hands at State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
