When Marius Borg Høiby stands up in room 250 at Oslo district court on Tuesday, at the start of Norway’s biggest trial in years, he will have no moral support from his closest relatives. His mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit will not be there, nor will the man she married when her son was four - the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon.
For the next seven weeks there will be no pictures of the blond 29-year-old either inside the court or outside - the court has banned them - but the world’s press is here in numbers and the palace is keeping well away.
Høiby is accused of 38 charges, including the rape of four women, assaulting and threatening a girlfriend and damaging her flat, as well as drugs charges and driving offences. If found guilty he could face more than 10 years in jail.