OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway’s crown princess said she was manipulated and deceived by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and felt unsafe during a 2013 encounter with the American financier at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.
Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne. She and Haakon spoke Thursday to Norwegian broadcaster NRK in a 20-minute interview that occurred the same day the criminal trial against her son, Marius Borg Høiby, concluded.
Prosecutors have sought a prison sentence of seven years and seven months for the charges against Høiby, who denies the rape allegations. He is Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship. A verdict is expected in early June.
Thursday’s NRK interview did not contain any explosive revelations but marked the first time the royal couple has sat down with reporters to address the fallout over the crown princess’ ties to Epstein. Their relationship has raised questions over her judgment, though she is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The interview was time-limited due to Mette-Marit’s health; she has pulmonary fibrosis, which causes serious breathing problems.
Mette-Marit has previously apologized for the situation she put the royal family in. She first met the financier in 2011 and their contact continued into 2014. The Epstein files contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who said in 2019 she regretted having had contact with him.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually abused underage girls at his homes in the U.S. Mette-Marit told NRK she didn’t know he was a sex offender and abuser, she only saw him interact with adults and never witnessed anything illegal.
She also told NRK she feels a sense of guilt for Epstein’s victims and has spent years processing their relationship and the allegations against him. She said she takes responsibility for not researching his background thoroughly.
The Epstein files include email exchanges between the two, and showed a relationship that some perceived as a close friendship. In one message, Mette-Marit wrote to Epstein, “you tickle my brain.”
In October 2012, Epstein wrote that he was in Paris “on my wife hunt.” Mette-Marit replied that Paris was “good for adultery” but “Scandis” were “better wife material.”
In another set of messages, the emails showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in 2013. Mette-Marit said the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, and it was this visit that resulted in the encounter that left her feeling so unsafe she called Haakon at home.
She declined to elaborate during the NRK interview, but said she continued her contact with Epstein because she was gullible and had been manipulated.
