Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit stayed at convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach estate in 2013, according to newly released US Justice Department documents. The Norwegian royal appears in several of the files made public on Friday.
Email correspondence in the documents reveals that in October 2012, Epstein discussed "wife-hunting" with Mette-Marit.
Other messages sent to Epstein from the Crown Princess's account included phrases such as "you make me smile," "you tickle my brain," and "what do you have to do besides seeing me?"
Mette-Marit's contact with Epstein reportedly came to light years ago. Regarding the Norwegian royal's visit to Epstein's Miami estate, the palace confirmed to broadcaster NRK that Mette-Marit had borrowed the late financier's house via a mutual friend and met Epstein during the visit as well.
She never stayed on Little Saint James, Epstein's private island, Guri Varpe, a spokeswoman for the Norwegian royal family told NRK.
Mette-Marit apologised on Friday evening, saying she had "not checked Epstein's background more thoroughly". She expressed regret for "having had any contact with Epstein at all".
"It's just embarrassing," Mette-Marit continued. She also expressed her "deep sympathy" with the victims of the sex offender.
The revelation comes just as the Norwegian royal family is involved in a rare public scandal. Mette Marit's eldest son, Marius Borg Hoiby, will stand trial in Oslo on Tuesday for 38 charges, including raping four women, assaulting and threatening a girlfriend, and drug charges and driving offences. If found guilty, the 29-year-old could face over a decade in jail, the BBC reported.
The Justice Department released over three million pages of records, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images on Friday as part of its investigation into Epstein. The latest files mention several high-profile individuals such as former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Tesla chief Elon Musk, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and US President Donald Trump.
In 2019, Epstein died by suicide in a New York federal jail while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls.
