Norway's Princess Mette-Marit has been embroiled in a new scandal following the publication of newly declassified documents linked to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .
The documents, released by the US Department of Justice, contain nearly 1,000 references to the princess and many emails exchanged between them, showing they were in contact from 2011 to 2014.
Mette-Marit married the future king of Norway in 2001.
The publication comes at a delicate moment for the royal family, as the rape trial of her son, Marius Borg Høiby , is expected to begin this week in Oslo.
He faces 38 charges, including the alleged rape of four women, assault and drug law violations.
In a statement to the media, Princess Mette-Marit admitted that she had shown poor judgment and expressed regret for her contacts with Epstein.
She said she felt responsible for not checking his background more carefully and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.
The documents show that the princess and Epstein had exchanged friendly and warm messages while she had stayed for several days at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Messages between the Norwegian princess and Epstein:
In one message, the princess wrote to Epstein that he “intrigues me,” while in others she called him “gentle” and “so sweet.” In 2012, she wrote that he was “very charming” and asked if it was “ inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women holding a surfboard for the wallpaper of her 15-year-old son’s room .”
In other emails, as The Guardian writes, she thanked Epstein for the flowers he had sent her when she was feeling unwell and closed the note with the words " With love, Mm ."
The possibility of personal meetings was often discussed, including a four-day visit to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2013, when Epstein was not there.
The royal palace said Mette-Marit had cut off all contact with Epstein in 2014 after realizing he could use the princess' relationship with other people.
Mette-Marit, 52, expressed deep solidarity with Epstein's victims and stressed that he had not committed any legal violations. The Norwegian palace said her son's trial was a matter for the courts and there would be no further comment from the royal family.