Arabic version: الأميرة ميت ماريت تعبر عن أسفها لصداقتها مع جيفري إبستين

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit expressed regret over her past friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a recent televised interview. In the interview with NRK, the Norwegian public broadcaster, she revealed feelings of being “manipulated and deceived” and stated that she wished she had never met him.

According to ABC News, the Crown Princess’s connection to Epstein has raised questions about her future role as Queen of Norway. She emphasized that her relationship with Epstein was solely a friendship and denied any deeper connections. “It was a friendly relationship: above all, he was a friend to me,” she said.

Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice indicated a closer friendship than previously acknowledged, revealing warm emails exchanged between 2011 and 2014, after Epstein’s release from prison in 2009 for child sex offences. Mette-Marit described the correspondence as “embarrassing” and acknowledged that she failed to investigate his past adequately.

During the emotional interview, she stated, “I’m not the one to feel sorry for; it’s all the victims who’ve been subjected to these serious abuses who deserve justice.” Crown Prince Haakon expressed his support for his wife, describing her as “caring, wise and really strong,” and affirmed that he would always stand by her side.