'END OF THE MONARCHY AS WE KNOW IT?!' | PALACE CONFIDENTIAL

Royal scandal tests Norway's justice system | DW News

Son of Norway’s crown princess charged with 32 offences, including rape

Son of Norway’s crown princess charged with four counts of rape

 

Marius Borg Høiby charged with 32 offences and could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty

 

Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent

Mon 18 Aug 2025 16.23 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/18/son-norway-crown-princess-charged-offences-marius-borg-hoiby

 

Marius Borg Høiby, the son of the Norwegian crown princess, has been charged with 32 offences including four counts of rape, a prosecutor has said.

 

Høiby, whose mother is the crown princess, Mette-Marit, and whose stepfather is the crown prince, Haakon, Norway’s future king, is expected to stand trial early next year and could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of the most serious charges.

 

The charges, made public on Monday, include the rape of four different women, domestic abuse of a former partner, and illegally filming a number of women, including their genitals, without their knowledge or consent.

 

He is also charged with harassment of police and traffic violations.

 

Høiby’s lawyer, Petar Sekulic, who is representing him together with Ellen Holager Andaenæs, said: “Our client denies all charges of sexual abuse, as well as the majority of the charges regarding violence. He will present a detailed account of his version of events before the court.”

 

In June, Høiby was charged with 23 offences, including three counts of rape, by the police prosecutor before the case was sent to the state prosecutor.

 

Høiby is alleged to have raped four women between 2018 and November 2024. All the alleged assaults allegedly took place after consensual intercourse while the women were sleeping. Høiby is accused of filming all the women during the alleged rapes.

 

As he presented the indictment against Høiby on Monday, the state attorney Sturla Henriksbø said: “This case is very serious. Rape and violence in close relationships are very serious acts that can leave lasting traces and destroy lives.”

 

Høiby’s status as part of the royal family, he added, would “not mean that he is treated more leniently or strictly than if similar acts were committed by others”.

 

The maximum penalty for the charges in the indictment is 10 years in prison, Henriksbø said.

 

The state prosecutor, who is understood to have spent the last month and a half deliberating over whether Høiby would be indicted and on what charges, said the trial could take place in January over approximately six weeks.

 

Hoiby does not have a royal title and is outside the line of royal succession. The Norwegian royal court said: “It is for the courts to consider this matter and reach a decision. We have no further comment.”

Zelensky Suits Up for Trump

 

Zelensky Suits Up for Trump

 

Months after a disastrous visit to the White House, the Ukrainian president had a whole new look.

 

Vanessa Friedman

By Vanessa Friedman

Aug. 18, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/us/zelensky-suit-trump-meeting.html

 

New negotiation, new look. When President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrived at the White House on Monday to meet with President Trump, he had swapped the military-style clothing that has been his de facto uniform since the war with Russia began in 2022, for a more statesmanlike ensemble: black field jacket, black shirt and black slacks.

 

Was it an early sign he was ready to make some concessions?

 

That may seem a ridiculous question. But Mr. Trump is someone who cares deeply about the ceremony and trappings of office — its regalia, gilt, and even souvenir pins — and since the start of the war Mr. Zelensky has made his look part of his message.

 

Indeed, during his first, famously acrimonious meeting with Mr. Trump in February, Mr. Zelensky’s chosen attire — a black long-sleeved polo shirt with the Ukrainian trident as a crest and matching fatigue-like trousers — became not only a talking point but, in the view of some Trump officials, a seeming symbol of his refusal to kowtow to the White House.

 

Mr. Trump commented sarcastically on the look as soon as Mr. Zelensky arrived, and a reporter later implied in a question that the Ukrainian president had been demonstrating disrespect-through-dress — even though there should have been no real mystery about what Mr. Zelensky was going to wear.

 

He had, after all, made a point of wearing pretty much the same thing no matter where he was for three years: an olive green or black shirt or sweater, pants, and combat boots. The look served as both a visual reminder of his status as a wartime president, and show of solidarity with the men and women fighting for his country.

 

He had worn olive green, for example, to the Oval Office to meet with President Joseph R. Biden and to address Congress in 2022. He had done the same for a speech to the European Parliament in 2023, and to meet with King Charles III in 2024. Thus, despite the fact the White House had reportedly reached out before the first meeting to inquire about whether Mr. Zelensky was going to wear a suit (reflecting the fact it clearly mattered to Mr. Trump), there was little doubt that he would, as he did, stick to his own program.

 

Not so much any more.

 

The new look black jacket first appeared in April, when Mr. Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska, attended the funeral of Pope Francis. For that occasion, the Ukrainian president wore a custom-made look by the Kyiv-based designer Viktor Anisimov (who also designed the opening ceremony looks for the Ukrainian Paralympic team). The clothing was part of a larger capsule collection commissioned by Mr. Zelensky’s team and designed to combine some of the semiology of the battlefield — patch pockets, a higher neckline — with that of the suit.

 

At the time, Mr. Anisimov told WWD that the goal was to reimagine the military uniform “in order to create a restrained, functional, and dignified image that reflects the reality of the time our country is living through.”

 

The jacket (or a very similar style), as well as the coordinating black trousers and a black button-up, appeared to make a reappearance during Mr. Zelensky’s meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain in June, as well as just during the NATO summit in The Hague shortly thereafter, when Mr. Zelensky also met with Mr. Trump — who reportedly noticed Mr. Zelensky’s fashion evolution with approval.

 

He was not the only one. The Kyiv Post reported on the change, as did Ukrainian Elle. Whether the ensemble was actually a suit or rather a suit-like jacket-and-slacks combination caused some debate in the betting market, but either way, and despite the fact it was still dark, as if to signal the dark days, it was unquestionably more formal than Mr. Zelensky’s usual attire; a sort of fashion DMZ situated between the two sides of combat and classic. No tie, but no cargo pants either.

 

That may be the same space Mr. Zelensky was hoping to occupy at the White House on Monday.

 

In any case, the new look seemed to once again please Mr. Trump — it was specifically mentioned by the reporter who had originally criticized Mr. Zelensky’s attire — who probably saw it as a “win.” Just as Mr. Trump’s first attacks on Mr. Zelensky (and his clothing) seemed to be a scripted-for-TV scene, Mr. Zelensky’s willingness to change his costume may have been taken by Mr. Trump as a sign that he was running the show.

 

Whether it actually signals a change in the storyline is a different question.

 

Vanessa Friedman has been the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The Times since 2014.

The Forbidden Life of Lady Mountbatten: Britain’s Elite Hid This Story for a Hundred Years

The £30 Million Royal Scandal: Prince Andrew's Controversial Lodge Exposed

Interview with Alessandro Squarzi | 訪談意大利風格領袖 Alessandro Squarzi (中/英字幕;...

Jul 12, 2022

Interviste

https://www.fortela.it/en-eu/blogs/journal/the-quintessential-italian-style-of-alessandro-squarzi

 

The quintessential Italian style of Alessandro Squarzi

Since 2009, when street-style photographer Scott Schuman published a picture of him on The Sartorialist, Milan-based prolific fashion entrepreneur Alessandro Squarzi‘s fame has constantly increased and now he is one of the most photographed style icons. His elegant but seemingly careless approach to dressing is much admired he has been described as “the master of Italian sprezz” – the art of doing something extremely well without showing effort. Born in Forlì in 1965, at 27 he began his career in the fashion world working as a shop assistant in a clothing store in his home town. Months later, he opened the first of his four showrooms that currently employ 40 staff across different Italian cities. Today, he is also a talent scout and a designer on top of overseeing the marketing and distribution for various brands (including three of his own: Fortela, AS65, and Atlantic Stars). The American men’s magazine Esquire placed Squarzi at the top of its ‘The 40 Best-Dressed Men In The World‘ ranking, pointing out that he does not have a personal stylists, but he is a man who is the picture of elegance embodying Orson Welles assertion that “style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.” The master of understated Italian cool once said “I never look out of the window before getting dressed. I just put things on according to the mood I’m in” to explain that he wears his beloved white trousers – which have become almost a trademark for him – whether or not it is sunny. He also refuses to forgo comfort, “Unless an invitation specifically requests a suit, I wear whatever I feel comfortable in at that given moment.” Squarzi‘s effortlessly elegant style has been captured during four years by the lenses of Korean photographer Hooncheol Ko, who has published a book to collect the images and tell his life and style. The images contained in ‘Amico Mio’ – My Friend – feature Squarzi not only on public occasions or at work, but also in private, to presents to the readers the whole world of this genuine interpreter of the Italian lifestyle.

 

FORTELA

Fortela is an Italian brand, born from the desire to create garments that don’t follow trends, but transcend time. We are the natural extension of Alessandro Squarzi’s style and philosophy of life: a wardrobe made of icons meant to be lived in, worn out, and passed on. Each piece is inspired by an authentic archive of military, workwear, and vintage tailoring, carefully reinterpreted and crafted between Italy and Japan by master artisans. We believe true luxury is wearing something that last and only gets better with time.

 

Our Manifesto

 

In a world chasing trends, we choose permanence.

 

We design garments that don’t scream, they endure.

 

Built to be worn. Shaped by life. Made to last.

 

Every stitch tells a story. Every sign of wear is a signature.

 

We don’t create for seasons. We create for generations.

 

Not for fashion. For identity. Not for everyone. For those who know.

 

Our archive is alive.

 

Our heritage is real.

 

We are not replicas. We are reinterpretations.

 

The past is our foundation, not our limit.

 

We believe in quality as a form of respect.

 

We believe in time as a luxury.

 

We believe in clothes you’ll pass on, not throw away.

 

This is Fortela.

 

Not for sale. Only for your son and daughter.