2026-01-31 15:50
publication
2026-01-31 15:50
Princess Mette-Marit and former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjoern Jagland maintained close contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier convicted of sexual crimes against minors, the Norwegian press reported on Saturday, citing the US media.
New documents disclosed by the US authorities indicate that Mette-Marit maintained contact with Epstein after 2011, i.e. after the reports of victims of the financier's sexual abuse were published in the media. The e-mail correspondence also shows that w In 2013, the Duchess spent a few days at Epstein's residence in Palm Beach, Florida. The disclosed emails indicate that the duchess maintained contact with Epstein a year later, although according to statements from the royal court, she had already broken it off.
The court admitted on Saturday that previous communications contained incorrect information regarding the date of the duchess's last contact with Epstein. The published statement said she had shown poor judgment regarding her relationship with financier Mette-Marit. Solidarity with the victims of his crimes was also expressed.
The disclosed documents also indicate that Thorbjoern Jagland, Prime Minister of Norway in 1996-1997, and later Secretary General of the Council of Europe and President of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in 2014 was planning an almost two-week trip with his family to Epstein's private island in the Caribbean. The correspondence mentions advanced preparations for the trip, although there is no confirmation that it ultimately took place.
Jagland denied ever staying on Epstein's island, calling the information contained in the documents a mistake. He said he met Epstein only once, in 2013.
The case of disclosed contacts with Epstein appears at a time when the media is watching the royal family with increased attention. The trial of Marius Borg Hoeiby, Mette-Marit's son, is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in a court in Oslo. He faces charges including: use of violence against women. The royal court does not connect the two cases.
Jeffrey Epstein was charged in the US with sex trafficking of minors. According to investigators, he allegedly committed these crimes from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. He faced a long-term prison sentence, or even life imprisonment. The prosecutor's office and the victims' accounts indicated that he had harmed dozens of minors over the years. Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while in custody in New York, before his trial began.
From Oslo Mieszko Czarnecki (PAP)
cmm/ akl/
