Norway's crown princess has found herself in yet another scandal after newly declassified documents suggest she had extensive contact with now-deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over a number of years, The Guardian reported.
The latest package of the so-called Epstein Papers, released Friday by the U.S. Justice Department, reportedly contains nearly 1,000 references to Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
The documents include dozens of emails exchanged between the two, suggesting they were in contact between 2011 and 2014, Norwegian newspaper VG reported. Mette-Marit married the future Norwegian king in 2001.
The revelations come at a sensitive time for the royal family. The trial of Mette-Marit's son, Marius Borg Høiby, accused of rape, is due to begin on Tuesday. He was born of her relationship before her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon.
Høiby faces 38 charges, including the alleged rape of four women, as well as assault and drug offences. If convicted, he faces up to 16 years in prison. He denies the most serious charges, including sexual abuse.
On Saturday, Mette-Marit commented on her relationship with Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex crimes against minors.
„I have shown poor judgment and deeply regret having had any contact with Epstein. It's simply embarrassing,“ she said in a statement issued by the royal palace.
Norwegian media attention over the weekend focused on a number of emails the princess exchanged with Epstein even years after he pleaded guilty to charges that included soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida.
The emails contained in the files show that their relationship was close. Mette-Marit wrote in one message to Epstein that „tickles her brain“, in others she referred to him as „good-hearted“ a „such a sweetheart“.
In 2012, she wrote to him that she was „very charming“, and asked if she was „inappropriate for a mother to design two naked women carrying a surfboard as wallpaper for her 15-year-old son“.
A few weeks earlier, he and Epstein exchanged emails about his „wife search“ in Paris. She replied that the French capital is „good for adultery“, adding that „Scandinavian women are better marriage material“.
In another email, she thanked him for the flowers he sent her when she wasn't feeling well, and ended the message by saying „Love, Mm“.
The reports often mentioned plans for in-person meetings, and the files also indicate that she spent four days at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2013 when Epstein was not present.
The inclusion of a name in the files does not in itself constitute an infringement.
In her statement on Saturday, Mette-Marit (52) expressed „deep compassion and solidarity“ with Epstein's victims and said that she was responsible „didn't check Epstein's background quickly enough to understand the kind of man he was.“.
However, the documents also include an email from 2011 in which Mette-Marit wrote to Epstein that she had „Googled“ and added that „it didn't look good“, complete with smiling emoticon. The email did not specify what exactly it found during the search, The Guardian reported.
The royal palace said Mette-Marit ended written contact with Epstein in 2014 because she felt that he „trying to use his relationship with the Crown Princess as leverage against other people“.
The royal couple are not expected to be present when the seven-week trial of their son begins in Oslo. Haakon told reporters that Mette-Marit would be on a private trip at that time.
Sin has no royal title and is not in the line of succession. The Norwegian Royal Court commented on the trial earlier this year, saying: „It is for the courts to consider and decide this matter. We have no further comment.“
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