‘You tickle my brain’: Norway’s crown princess speaks about her ties with Jeffrey Epstein

Norway’s crown princess Mette-Marit, while speaking about her ties with Jeffrey Epstein, said that she was “deceived and manipulated” by the convicted sex offender, and felt “unsafe” during a 2013 encounter with the American financier at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.

In her interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Mette-Marit said that she did not know that Epstein was a sex offender, despite multiple email exchanges between the two from 2011 to 2014, during the disgraced financers trial.

Epstein was convicted for the first time in 2008 in Florida. He pled guilty to reduced charges of “procuring a person under 18 for prostitution” and served 13 months in county jail, registering as a sex offender.

The Epstein Files, which were released by the US Department of Justice earlier this year, mentioned the Norwegian crown princess over 1000 times.

Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne. She and Haakon appeared for the 20-minute interview together, on 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 rape allegations. He is Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship. A verdict is expected in early June.

What Mette-Marit said about Epstein

Mette-Marit had earlier apologised for the situation she put the royal family in, and that she regretted being in contact with Jeffrey Epstein. The princess also told NRK that she didn’t know he was a sex offender and abuser, she only saw him interact with adults and never witnessed anything illegal.

She expressed that 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.

While refusing to elaborate further, Mette-Marit said that she continued her contact with Epstein because she was gullible and had been manipulated.

Mette-Marit’s ties with Epstein

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.

(With inputs from AP)

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