Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has finally broken her silence after weeks of mounting pressure and speculation over her connections to the late US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a candid and emotional 20-minute interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK on March 19, 2026, the princess addressed the controversy that has swirled around her, her family, and the Norwegian monarchy since the release of the so-called “Epstein files” earlier this year.
The interview, which took place at the royal residence in Skaugum and was limited in duration due to the princess’s ongoing battle with pulmonary fibrosis, marked the first time both Mette-Marit and her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, sat down together to face the media regarding the scandal. Their appearance followed seven weeks of silence after it emerged that Mette-Marit had exchanged hundreds of emails with Epstein between 2011 and 2014 and had stayed at his Palm Beach, Florida mansion for several days in 2013 and again in 2014.
“I feel so manipulated, and when you are manipulated, you don’t realise it from the start,” Mette-Marit said, her voice often trembling with emotion. “Of course, I wish I had never met him.” According to the BBC, she stressed the importance of taking responsibility for not scrutinizing Epstein’s background more carefully. “It is incredibly important for me to take responsibility for not checking his background more carefully,” she said. “And to take responsibility for being so manipulated and deceived as I was.”
The princess’s relationship with Epstein, which began in 2011—three years after Epstein was jailed for soliciting sex from a minor—has raised difficult questions about her judgment, though she is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing. The recently released US Justice Department documents revealed not only the frequency of their correspondence but also the nature of their exchanges, including emails in which Mette-Marit wrote to Epstein, “You tickle my brain.” In another exchange, Epstein mused about being in Paris “on my wife hunt,” to which Mette-Marit jokingly replied, “Paris is good for adultery, but Scandis are better wife material.” She later dismissed these as jokes between friends, saying, “It was a friendly tone that became vulgar.”
Throughout the NRK interview, Mette-Marit maintained that she had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal past at the time of their association. “I didn’t know he was a sex offender or a predator,” she insisted, even when reminded that Epstein’s conviction was publicly available information. “I can’t remember this; it was 15 years ago.” She added, “I still didn’t know anything about all the abuse. But I had understood enough that I thought he was a bad guy who people shouldn’t have contact with.”
Her explanation for continuing to see Epstein, even after feeling uneasy during her stay at his Florida home, was that he was a close friend of a mutual acquaintance. “Epstein was a close friend of a good friend of mine,” she said. Mette-Marit described a “situation” during her visit in 2013 that made her feel so unsafe she called Crown Prince Haakon. “He behaved toward me in a way I didn’t like,” she recalled, but declined to elaborate on the specifics, citing her wish for some privacy. Crown Prince Haakon told NRK he remembered the call well and how the incident made his wife feel “unsafe.” Despite this, Mette-Marit admitted to maintaining contact with Epstein for some time afterward, attributing it to her tendency to “think the best of people” and her own gullibility. “But I also chose to end all direct contact with him. And it was because of such episodes as that.”
Beyond her personal regret, the princess expressed deep anger and sorrow for Epstein’s victims. “It’s all the victims who’ve been subjected to these serious abuses who deserve justice,” she said. “It makes me deeply angry that they have not received it.” She emphasized that she bore no guilt in Epstein’s crimes, but acknowledged, “If anything I did contributed to legitimizing him in any way, that is very difficult for me.”
The timing of the interview was significant. It was recorded on the final day of her son Marius Borg Høiby’s rape trial, which began in early February 2026. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of seven years and seven months for Høiby, who faces four charges of rape, as well as allegations of domestic abuse, reckless driving, and drug offenses. The verdict is expected in June. “I am the mother of a young man who has been in a very difficult situation,” Mette-Marit said, her only direct reference to her son’s case during the interview. “Our priority has been family. I am the mother of a young man in a very difficult situation, and I also have health issues that require rest. My condition has deteriorated.”
The princess’s health, specifically her diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, has added another layer of complexity to her public role. The disease, which causes serious breathing problems, limited the interview to 20 minutes. Mette-Marit made clear that her future as Norway’s queen consort depends on her health. “I live with a serious illness,” she said. “That is the very thing that decides whether in fact I can continue to perform in the role I hold, or not.” She added, “I would very much like to stand by him in that project, if I have the opportunity to do so, given my health.” Her husband echoed this sentiment, remarking, “This is after all our project, which we’re doing together.”
Public reaction to the interview has been mixed. Tove Taalesen, royal correspondent for Nettavisen, told the BBC that Mette-Marit “blew the possibility to come clean and to be honest,” suggesting the interview raised more questions than it answered. Others, like historian and TV2 royal correspondent Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen, criticized the princess for prioritizing her privacy over the transparency expected of the royal family. “The only thing this exposes is that the Norwegian royal family and the royal court have misunderstood what it means to be royal,” Schulsrud-Hansen said. “If they don’t turn that boat around, this will happen again.”
Meanwhile, the Norwegian parliament has called for an inquiry into the foreign ministry’s links with Epstein, and police are investigating former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland for aggravated corruption related to his dealings with the late financier. The monarchy, already under scrutiny for its handling of the Epstein revelations, now faces further challenges as it navigates the fallout from both the princess’s past associations and her son’s ongoing legal troubles.
As Mette-Marit continues to grapple with her health and the future of her royal duties, the Norwegian people are left to weigh her words, her apologies, and the monarchy’s role in a rapidly changing society. For now, the princess has spoken her truth, but the questions—and the consequences—remain.