The Norwegian princess said she felt unsafe when she met a sex worker in 2013. Jeffrey Epstein at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, and that he cheated on her and cheated on her.
Mette-Marit, who is married to Crown Prince Haakon, sat down with Norwegian broadcaster NRK for a 20-minute interview on Thursday. It had no explosive revelations, but it marked the first time that the royal couple sat down with reporters to talk about the controversy surrounding the princess’s relationship with Epstein. Their relationship has raised questions about his judgment, although he has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The interview also took place on the same day that the criminal case against Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, was concluded. Prosecutors have sought a sentence of seven years and seven months for the charges against Høiby, who said He denies the allegations of rape. He is Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship. A decision is expected in early June.
Lise Aserud/NTB Scanpix via AP
Mette-Marit once apologized for the situation she put the royal family in. She first met Epstein in 2011 and their relationship continued until 2014. Epstein’s files contain several hundred speeches about the crown princess, who said in 2019 that she regrets having contacted him.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls in his home in the US. Mette-Marit told NRK that she did not know he was a sex offender; she saw him interacting only with adults and did not see anything illegal.
He also told NRK that he feels guilty for Epstein’s victims and has spent years investigating their relationship with the allegations against him. He said he was responsible for not doing enough research on his background.
“Yes, I wish I had never met him,” he told NRK. “It is very important for me to admit that I did not look into his past, and also admit that I was deceived and deceived in this way.”
The Epstein files include email exchanges between the two, and show a relationship that some consider a close friendship. In one message, Mette-Marit wrote to Epstein, “You’re tickling my brain.”
In October 2012, Epstein wrote that he was in Paris “hunting for my wife.” Mette-Marit replied that Paris was “good for adultery,” but the “Scandis” were “better material for a wife.”
In another batch of messages, emails show that Mette-Marit borrowed Epstein’s apartment 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 led to an encounter that left her feeling so unsafe that she called Haakon home.
He declined to elaborate during the NRK interview, but said he continued to communicate with Epstein because he was easily manipulated and deceived.
“It’s not me who should be sad,” said the 52-year-old princess. “It’s what every victim who has been seriously abused should do.”
Thursday’s discussion was limited because of Mette-Marit’s health; you have pulmonary fibrosiscausing serious breathing problems.
