Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has broken her silence on Jeffrey Epstein in a new TV interview. The future queen sat down with Norwegian broadcaster NRK to open up on her friendship with the late sex offender for the first time since her emails to Epstein were released in January—and during her tearful interview, Mette-Marit claimed she’d been “manipulated and deceived.”
The future queen, who is married to King Harald and Queen Sonja’s son, Crown Prince Haakon, exchanged dozens of friendly emails with Epstein that came to public attention earlier this year. She said it was “incredibly important” to her “to take responsibility for not checking his background more carefully.”
Mette-Marit added that it was also important “to take responsibility for being so manipulated and deceived as I was” in the interview. “Epstein was a close friend of a good friend of mine,” she added. “So I was introduced to him through mutual acquaintances—through several, actually. And they all worked in global health and organizational life. They were people I trusted and trusted their judgment.”
“It was a friendly relationship,” she explained. “He was a friend of a friend of mine, first and foremost. If your question was whether the relationship had a different character, the answer is no.”
Referencing what it meant when she emailed Epstein in 2011 with the comment, "Googled you after the previous email. Agreed, it didn't look good :)," the Crown Princess said she “can’t remember” what it meant.
However, she said, “But if I had found information that made me realize that he was an abuser and sex offender, I wouldn't have written a smiley face behind it.”
Referencing a visit to his Palm Beach home with friends, the princess admitted that Epstein made her feel uncomfortable and “behaved towards me in a way that I didn't like.” When pressed on the incident, she declined to share more, but said she was “gullible.”
“I like to believe the best about people,” she shared. “But I also chose to end contact with him, and it was because of episodes like that.”
The royal said that she hasn’t spoken publicly about Epstein until now because she’s been focusing on her son’s high-profile rape trial and her declining health in recent days. “We are a family that has been in a very demanding situation in recent weeks. For us, the focus has been primarily on the family,” she shared.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit gave birth to her first child, Marius Borg Høiby, before meeting Crown Prince Haakon. Høiby's headline-making trial ended this week after he was charged with 40 offenses, including four counts of rape.
“I am the mother of a young man who has been in a very demanding situation. In addition, I have health that requires a lot of rest,” she added, referring to her worsening pulmonary fibrosis that has put her in discussions for a lung transplant.
At the end of the day, Mette-Marit stated she’s full of regrets about her friendship with Epstein. “Of course, I wish I had never met him,” she said.
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