Norway’s crown princess says she regrets her friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, insisting in a tearful interview she was “manipulated and deceived”.
The release of files related to the late sex offender has sent shockwaves around the world, revealing his ties to prominent people, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
They showed frequent communication between her and the disgraced financier long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting an underage girl.
Simply being named in these files does not suggest any wrongdoing, and the crown princess has not been accused of any criminality.
While her ties to Epstein were already reported, new documents showed a more extensive relationship.
The revelations prompted a rare rebuke from Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere, who said it was important that she answer questions about her relationship with Epstein.
Speaking with NRK, the country’s public broadcaster, an emotional Mette-Marit said: “I was manipulated and deceived.”
Why has Donald Trump been talking about a united Ireland?
PM set to face fresh questions after Mandelson revelations
The ICE Queen is out: Kristi Noem, you’re fired
“Of course, I wish I had never met him,” she added.
The files revealed the crown princess maintained contact with Epstein from 2011 to 2014.
They also show she stayed at his Palm Beach house for four days during a private trip in 2013.
“He used the fact that we had a mutual friend, and that I’m gullible,” she said.
“I like to believe the best about people. But I also chose to end contact with him.”
“I’ve never seen anything illegal,” she told NRK.
The files also appeared to contradict her 2019 statement when she apologised for not investigating Epstein’s past, and said she would never have associated with him had she known the seriousness of his crimes.
In one email from October 2011 – three years after Epstein’s guilty plea – she told the disgraced financier she had Googled him.
“It didn’t look too good” she wrote, followed by a smiley face.
She told NRK she could not remember why she wrote the email.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“But if I had found information that made me realise that he was an abuser and sex offender, I wouldn’t have written a smiley face behind it,” she continued.
Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne, who sat beside his wife, and said he supported her at a difficult time.
He said marriage was for “the good days and the bad”, praised her as “caring, wise and really strong”, and insisted he will “always have her on the team”.
The crown princess suffers from a chronic lung disease that will eventually require her to have a lung transplant, and she has not appeared in public in recent weeks.
Her interview comes after Marius Borg Hoiby, her eldest son from a previous relationship, went on trial accused of rape and other crimes.
The 29-year-old has pleaded not guilty to rape and domestic abuse while admitting some lesser charges.
The popularity of Norway’s royal family has taken a hit in recent months, with a February survey showing some 60% of Norwegians supported the monarchy, down from 70% in January.
