oslo, norway
Reuters
—
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit said Friday she regrets her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as she sought to defuse one of the biggest scandals to hit the country’s royal family.
The US Department of Justice’s release of millions of Epstein documents has shocked the world, revealing the disgraced financier’s connections to high-profile people, including the crown princess and Norway’s top politicians, business executives and diplomats.
“I was manipulated and deceived,” Mette Marit said in a tearful interview with public broadcaster NRK, which aired on Friday morning.
“Of course I wish I had never met him,” she said of Epstein.
The files documented frequent communications between Mette-Marit and Epstein, long after he pleaded guilty to soliciting underage girls in 2008. The 52-year-old Crown Princess, who apologized to King Harald and Queen Sonia in a statement on February 6, has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Previous media reports had linked Mette-Marit to Epstein, but new documents show a broader relationship, prompting an unusual rebuke from the Prime Minister and demands for a full explanation.
The princess, who is the spouse of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne, remained in contact with Mr. Epstein from 2011 to 2014 and spent four days at Mr. Epstein’s home in Palm Beach during a personal trip in 2013, U.S. documents show.
“He took advantage of the fact that we have mutual friends and that I am gullible. I like to believe the best in people, but I also chose to cut off contact with him,” Mette-Marit said.
“I have never seen anything illegal,” she told NRK.
Epstein’s files appear to contradict statements he made in 2019. In it, she apologized for not investigating Epstein’s past and said she never would have gotten involved with him had she known the severity of his crimes.
In an email released in October 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty, Mettemarit wrote with a smile that she had Googled Epstein and agreed that “it didn’t seem very good.”
When asked about the email by NRK, Mettemarit said she could not remember why she wrote it.
“But if I had found information that would have led me to realize that he was an abuser and a sex offender, I wouldn’t have put a smile on the back of it,” she said.
Mette-Marit’s husband Haakon, sitting next to her, supported his wife through difficult times and said marriage has both “good and bad times.”
“Mette is caring, wise and really strong. So when something difficult happens, I will always include her in the team,” the crown prince said.
While Haakon and other members of the royal family maintain a busy schedule, including visiting the Winter Olympics in Italy and attending events in Norway, the Crown Princess has not been seen in public in recent weeks.
Mette-Marit, who suffers from a chronic lung disease that will eventually require a lung transplant, is also dealing with the trial of her eldest son from a former relationship, who has been accused of rape and other crimes.
Her son, Marius Borg Hojbi, 29, pleaded not guilty to rape and domestic violence, although he admitted some minor charges in court.
A February survey of 1,009 respondents showed that the Norwegian royal family’s popularity has waned in recent months.
According to a Norstad poll released by public broadcaster NRK on February 21, around 60% of Norwegians support the monarchy, down from 70% in January, while 27% support a republic, up from 19% in the same period.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
