The court ruled he should pay a total of 640,000 kroner (£50,000; €57,000) in compensation to four of the women, including Nora Haukland, the only woman judges ruled could be named in the case.
Høiby’s defence lawyers will now have to decide whether to appeal against the four-year jail term, which is higher than the 18 months the defence had suggested, because of the less serious charges that Høiby had admitted, including transporting 3.5kg of marijuana and traffic offences.
The palace said in an email to the BBC that “the matter has been considered by the courts, and we have no comment on the outcome”. It has already been made clear that there will be no further statement on Mette-Marit’s declining health until she has had a lung transplant.
“There is no doubt that this case has affected people’s perception of the royal family,” said Caroline Vagle, royal correspondent for Se og Hør magazine.
That was further compounded by revelations on the eve of the trial that the crown princess had had a three-year friendship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
But Vagle believes the mood now is completely different: “Her health is the main concern now – and it overshadows everything else.”
Peggy Simcic Brønn, who is a specialist in reputation and public relations and professor Emerita at BI Norwegian Business School, believes the royal family is in the midst of an institutional crisis.
“[The Høiby case] is a tragedy and a crisis for any family,” she said.
