The son of Norway's Crown Princess has begun giving evidence at his trial for rape and more than 30 other alleged offences. Marius Borg Høiby, 29, looked overwhelmed by the occasion, his voice quivering as he paused several times to take off his glasses and wipe his eyes. Choking back tears, he said it was very difficult to talk, and complained of being followed by the press since he was three years old. He denies four allegations of rape as well as other serious charges against him. He was giving evidence after the first woman he is alleged to have raped told the court she believed she had been drugged during an after-party in the basement of his parents' house in December 2018. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spoke of her sense of betrayal and shock after she was shown videos by police allegedly of Høiby sexually assaulting her shortly after they had had brief, consensual sex. She had already spoken of a black hole in her memory. The 29-year-old defendant is not a member of the royal family or a public figure. During his first appearance in court, he was seen shaking, and he is understood to have had hospital treatment overnight, rather than returning to custody. Appearing in court again, he took a seat and after several minutes, he regained his composure and told the court he had had a lot of sex, drugs and alcohol because he had an extreme need for validation. I am known for being my mother's son. Nothing else. I have had an extreme need for validation, he told the three judges. His trial coincides with a tense moment for his mother, after it was revealed that she had exchanged hundreds of messages with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over a three-year period. The royal palace announced that Crown Princess Mette-Marit had postponed a private trip, without giving further details amidst the ongoing public scrutiny of her family's situation.