I think I’ve only written about the Norwegian royals a few times over the years. I generally don’t find them as interesting as the Swedish royals, but suddenly Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit got a lot more interesting for all the wrong reasons. Mette-Marit is 46 years old and I don’t believe she’s all that controversial, but again, I barely pay attention. Mett-Marit is facing a big PR disaster this week though – she’s come out and admitted that she met with Jeffrey Epstein a handful of times. The timing of those meetings is disgusting too – they met several times in 2011 through 2013. Meaning, AFTER Epstein took a sweetheart plea deal for all of his crimes. Remember, it was in 2010 when Prince Andrew’s infamous “break up” meeting with Epstein happened in New York, and they broke up so hard that Andrew was photographed looking chummy with Epstein in Central Park, and Andrew was photographed answering the door at Epstein’s mansion. Mette-Marit was meeting with Epstein AFTER that. And she’s sorry about it.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway is speaking out about her association with Jeffrey Epstein. On the heels of Britain’s Prince Andrew stepping back from public duties following his bombshell interview with the BBC about his ties to the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in jail in New York City in August while awaiting trial on multiple sex charges, the Norwegian royal confirmed she met with Epstein after the Dagens Næringsliv newspaper published a report about their relationship.
“I would never have had anything to do with Epstein if I had been aware of the seriousness of his criminal acts,” Crown Princess Mette-Marit said in a written statement sent from the palace to DN. “I should have examined Epstein’s past more closely, and I regret that I did not.”
According to the outlet, Princess Mette-Marit admitted to meetings with Epstein on several occasions between 2011 and 2013, years after he was convicted for paying an underage girl for sexual services and served nearly 13 months in jail. They were introduced by a mutual acquaintance.
“One of the meetings was at Epstein’s home,” Guri Varpe, communications chief at the Royal Palace, told DN. “In addition, the crown princess had a brief meeting with Epstein once when he was in Oslo.” Mette-Marit’s husband, Crown Prince Haakon, reportedly met Epstein “on the street” while they were on holiday in St. Barts in 2012. “Then Crown Prince Haakon greeted Epstein for the first and only time,” according to Varpe.
Varpe also stated that Princess Mette-Marit did not “know about the extent and character of the criminal acts he had admitted to and served time for” or “about the offenses that were later revealed either.”
Just… a lot of bad staff work for all of the European royals? We’ve been told time and time again that all of these royal households run like clockwork and of course everyone is vetted and there are security checks, all to avoid unfortunate situations where the crown prince or princess ends up shaking hands with a convicted human trafficker and abuser of girls. Except that’s all bulls–t, especially when the human trafficker has a lot of money and he buys his way into meetings with various royals. While Mette-Marit showed horrible judgment and she should absolutely be ashamed for meeting with Epstein… it IS a different situation than Prince Andrew’s thing? Like, I seriously doubt that Epstein was trafficking girls to M-M. This is likely a scandal on par with all of those Ivy League academics (hello, Neri Oxman!) taking Epstein’s money for years.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
on a happier note-Dogs!
That was my first reaction too! Those are some handsome hounds!
I admit my Norwegian heritage makes me want to gloss over this, but it doesn’t sound like she raped girls, took money or had a close and continuing relationship with him. Like he was just another person she met.
Now if this is the inoculatory story before it breaks that she and her husband were participants? The glossover would be done for me.
Their kids have gotten so big!
Just like most European royal families, they have a lot of shady friends to help fund their lifestyle. Billionaire gets clout hanging with royals, royals get freebies they couldn’t get on public dime (jets, mansions for vacations, etc). See its neighbor Sweden and the King’s mobster friend ties. They don’t care who they’re with, as long as someone else is footing bill.
The worst, most awful rumour I heard had to do with the Belgian royal family. There was a huge case there in the early 2000s where they convicted a serial pedophile, Marc Dutroux (I think?). The details of that case were so appalling. The judge presiding over it had to resign or came close to it because of what he felt were outside pressures. It was rumoured that Marc Dutroux “””supplied””” (UGHGG) children to the rich and famous in Europe, including some members of the royalty. He himself stated that he was a pawn being brought down while the bigger fish were still out there, hiding.
I haven’t heard anything about Sweden, But I do know that one of Dutch princes married some shady girl (Princess Mabel?) who had connections to all types of mafia. It was so bad that she didn’t even get his title after they married, they had to take a lesser one.
Do we know why they met? Am I not seeing it in the article?
I bet they vet people extensively. I bet nobody on her staff cared and now she has to eat it. In the end, the fish starts smelling from the head so ultimately, you are responsible for your staff. They should’ve known that this was unacceptable.
But,you know, rich people. Whatever.
Yeah, this was surprisingly light on the details. Why did they meet? Until I got to the part about her meeting him at his home, I thought it could have just been some totally random meetings with some guy who didn’t even rate as an acquaintance. But going to someone’s home is another level. That implies something more than an acquaintance. Am I wrong?
I love their dogs. The dogs are completely innocent in all this. They probably knew he was bad news from the start. People should listen to their dogs more.
I don’t think the Norwegian Royals vet people that closely. Just look at Martha Louise (Haakon’s sister) and the cult leader she is dating.
I find it difficult to believe that all these famous and/or important people *didn’t know * about Epstein when I, a nobody with WiFi, knew. And after his conviction? Please.
What on earth was her excuse for going to his home? And how is that not included as part of the story?
Oh wait, I just remembered it’s apparently a really convenient place to stay in NY, so…
I wonder if there is more to this story, or if it was published to attempt to diminish the glare of Pedo Andy’s relationship with Epstein? (ie “look, all royals hung out with him!”)
#AbolishTheMonarchy
if anything, I hope people are waking up to the truly shady characters that royals like to spend their time and money on
Yeah, this isn’t the same thing as Andrew, but I think goes to show the impact of Andrew’s interview and subsequent firing from royal duties. Lots of rich people met Epstein and probably had some shady financial dealings with him (nothing here says that’s what MM was doing though) and now all that’s coming out, even if its in drips.
This story looks like the start of a bad ending. Why is she putting this forward now?
Exactly, it seems someone is trying to get ahead of a damaging story or photos. It is also interesting that it is being made clear that the Prince only met him once, on the street. Hope that being so specific doesn’t backfire on them.
I’m going to generously say that she put it out before someone else did to take the sting out. If she admits it it looks like she wasn’t hiding. If she gets outed and then has to play damage control it looks bad.
I’m hoping this was a case of he paid his way into meet her and she was told rich guy with money that we can get to invest in things in Norway. However I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She did not « put it out there». The DN newspaper found out about it. They asked for her comment.
In which setting did she meet him? She had a lot of health issues herniated disc, neck injury. Also her stepbrother got killed in the Utoya massacre in 2011. It is therefore quite possible that she did not pay so much attention to court hearings and verdicts in the USA. The USA is not the navel of the world. Her meeting Epstein cannot be compared to PA’s friendship with this man.
I agree!
She presumably has a staff whose job it is to vet the people she meets. It’s not like Google only works in “the navel of the world.”
And why did she meet with him anyway? Because she thought he was rich? Are all of these people for sale?
Epstein donated large amounts of money to the International Peace Institute in New York that’s run by former Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen.
Mette-Marit and Epstein were introduced to one another through a mutual acquaintance. Palace officials reported that the meetings between Epstein and the crown princess occurred in social settings, mostly in the US. One meeting was in Norway.
She reportedly cut contact with the billionaire Epstein in 2013. “The crown princess chose to end her contact with Epstein, because she had the impression among other things that Epstein tried to use the connection he’d had with the crown princess in regards to other people.”
People like Epstein like to be friends with Aristocrats, they donate large sums and Royals have to show up and be grateful for it.
what’s striking me about the scandal is the historical context for so much wealth (esp BRF), its links to slavery, colonialism, and mass abuses of vulnerable people across the globe and at home through land grabs, etc. It’s like history + time = class somehow, but scrape the surface and the rot is still there at the core… No amount of sashes or tiaras can hide it… And I think the royals at least in Europe have always understood their need for people like Epstein as a source of cash to fund their adventures… I’m an economist btw so it’s not wealth per se that’s the problem, but how too much of it is “earned.”
I think at some point, it gets obscene and if that lasts generations, it does something to people. Nobody needs to be a billionaire. But if you build something, if your employees are treated and paid well, if you pay some attention to the environment and pay your damn taxes, I don’t even care. Enjoy that money. But the Bezos’ of the world make their fortunes on the backs of others. So did the royals, no matter which country. The uber rich and privileged didn’t get to be where they are by being decent.
I agree, and I don’t even mind people reaching billionaire status, if they did something that earned it, and are considerate of the things you mentioned. But I think that’s pretty rare.
exactly… and where is govt in all this? the whole rise of democracy was about limiting the power of these kinds of people to benefit the greater good… but what we have increasingly now is the capture of govt by the plutocrats and their determination to slash their taxes, limit any regulations, and overall game the system to their advantage. what’s sad and scary is the army of people convinced to go against their own interests in service of these new “kings.” I keep thinking about how Marx complained about religion being the opiate of the masses, now we have that plus Fox, not to mention actual opiates… Such a weird time…
Thank you Emmy. not enough people understand this.
@Sue: I believe these billionaires ARE the new kings but in many countries they operate under the guise of democracy. I almost prefer the Russian oligarchs to the Bezos. At least nobody’s under any illusion there. Money has replaced armies. Kings and queens sold their power as a God-given rights. Billionaires pretend that we could all some day be in their place so we better not try to take their money now. It may come back to haunt us when we get there. It’s the lie of the American Dream and it’s not limited to the US anymore. Rich people have supposedly earned it and everyone else just didn’t work hard enough,wasn’t smart enough. And this is what you get. THIS is why social media, ultimately, is a good thing despite its many many flaws.
Mette-Marit has been problematic for years. She’s also holidayed for years regularly with D Versace, popping up at the Met Gala while claiming she was too ill to work more. Yes, she is facing a horrible diagnosis now. Does that excuse the 15 years of laziness prior?
No, it does’t excuse it. I wish we could get rid of the monarchy, but it seems impossible (but the votes to abolish the monachy increases each time its put forward, so I’m just gonna continue to vote for the parties who pushes for this again and again)
Are those increasing with Martha-Louise and her personal life imploding again?
Part of the reason is a greater amount of representatives from political parties with historical republican leanings, I think. It’s put forward on a semiregular basis regardless of what the royals are up to. But… my impression is that it’s an extremely difficult thing to get through to a level where its discussed as a serious option for the nation. The royal family still has a strong support from the norwegian people, but i believe that this has more to do with us not seeing ourselves as anything but a kingdom, and that we don’t really have any politicians that have distinguished themselves as a viable candidate for presidency.
What horrible diagnosis? Does she have Cancer?
Chronic pulmonary fibrosis. Long term prognosis isn’t great.
The euro royals are way more chill than the BRF. From this article I get it was more some weird casual visit, wealth attracts wealth. Unless it’s revealed she was procuring girls for him I don’t see the problem , other than poor vetting on her staffs part. And why would any of them care? I don’t know all the news in Norway and I doubt anyone in Norway cares about news in the US.
Why would any of them care? Because while it was an American man, his crimes were absolutely horrendous, and he had dealings internationally. She might not have heard about it personally, but her staff should have absolutely known about it and informed her. They obviously care now, since they’re putting this story out.
I listened to a pretty in depth podcast about Epstein, and this doesn’t surprise me at all – Epstein was intent on meeting the wealthy and well known. My guess is there are LOTS of people who met him like this over the years, but it’s not anything other than a meeting.
HOWEVER – considering this happened after he was first caught, it is a major failure on whoever does the vetting for this family. Never should have happened.
I totally see your point but here is one thing. When Epstein was ‘first caught’, he was convicted of only two relatively low level state charges of procuring a minor for prostitution. He was NOT charged with trafficking or any more serious level offenses. He got a slap on the wrist because the federal and state prosecutors in Florida bent over backwards to his high profile legal team. The full scope of what he was up to was not really widely known when he got out of ‘jail’ i.e. his cushy incarceration in Palm Beach in 2010–that was by design and connivance that the full scope was hidden. The scope of the people he was associated with in trafficking was also not widely known. That is why you will see, for example, pics of Ghislaine Maxwell front and center at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010. If everyone who associated to any degree with Epstein and his top collaborators since circa 2008 is cancelled, this is a vast swath of people.
The full story of what Epstein got away with about 10 years ago was not revealed until last fall with the Miami Herald expose written by Julie K. Brown. That is why her reporting was such a big deal and set into motion the wheels for a new investigation and criminal charges against Epstein. Imputing knowledge of what is known now to what was known then to every single person who met with him is a little off in my opinion.
See the following words have always troubled me:
“procuring a minor for prostitution”
It’s seems like a polite way of calling someone a Nonce whilst also apportioning blame to the CHILD victim who doesn’t know better.
I am astounded this even exists given that the age of consent results in rape being a strict liability offence in the UK with anyone under the age of 16. Is that not also the case in the US?
I think part of the problem the US has is the varying ages state to state for marriage and thereby implication a very unclear age of consent. Until that is resolved at a federal level then men like Epstein can continue to muddy the waters of jurisprudence where the age of consent is concerned thereby flying under the radar,
Oh I know, but my point is that if someone is vetting people to meet a royal, those lower level charges should have been enough to say “hey, maybe you decline this invitation”.
I’m so disgusted with how easy they were on him the first time.
And to add to that during his first prison stay he was allowed to go home in the evenings or some such which made a mockery of his crimes. So, if they didn’t have a close relationship with him, knew very little about him, or were simply prone to shrug these petty bourgeoisie things off—considering what people probably got up to, in general—then some people I’m guessing didn’t have a reason to see what was right in front of them or hidden in plan sight. Men with money surrounded by young girls/women and toadies isn’t new. Unfortunately.
@Mignionette, sure the US has more serious sex offenses that Epstein could and should have been charged with back in the Palm Beach case. But the prosecutors very deliberately chose the most innocuous low-level charges they could–that was the point of how they covered up what happened and let him get away with it, because, money and power.
The Miami Herald investigation included emails from a Florida prosecutor to Epsteins attorneys at the time where the prosecutor says she is scouring her law books to find the most low-level offense they can charge. I’m not even kidding! That’s part of why the Miami Herald investigation was a bombshell.
@Tourmaline – I hear you. My issue is how can such a charge exist at all given that sex with minors is a strict liability offence precisely to protect the minor. The very act of placing minor and prostitution in the same sentence also places some level of culpability on the minor by suggesting that they are committing illegal acts themselves.
But by the very definition of the law, they lack the capacity to form the consent and the intent to be child prostitutes. The phrase child prostitute is in itself and oxymoron.
So jurisprudentially the charge is flawed or am I going nuts here ?
Mette-Marit has the quintessential rags-to-riches story. She was a young single mother, working as a waitress, when she met the prince at a music festival. Talk about a come up.
Hmm.
To me the question isn’t whether Epstein was providing girls to her. The question for me is whether she was recruiting girls for Epstein. Posh girls, unlikely, but perhaps girls from her former life? It would be a huge stretch, but I don’t know what to believe these days.
And the father of her first child has a conviction for possessing or selling cocaine. Perhaps her judgment isn’t the best (except for marrying Haakon)??
Yes, I believe MM was a tough sell to the Norwegian Royal Family due to her past. If memory serves me the Crown Prince wouldn’t budge & she was the “one”. I wonder what else will come out about this if she is trying to “stay ahead” of “something”.
I don’t know much about her but it seems mainly lately she is in the news because she revealed she has a pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis, which sounds very serious and something that will limit her future public role.
It would be easier to accept their story if they’d just come with why they met them and what the meeting was about.
“Dude wanted to finance a business venture. We met a second time to discuss further but didn’t think it was in our best interests. Because we weren’t interested, we didn’t bother looking further into his background.”
I’m not saying that’s what happened but an explanation like that would resonate.
Epstein ‘collected’ the rich and famous. He was quite the leech in that regard. Hell, even John Cleese popped up ONCE in his lists some time ago as someone Epstein snoozed up. The man was like a STD running around infecting everyone he came near.
Not surprised. These royals are all feckless people. They will cozy up to anyone who can provide cash, luxury and privacy.
What does Neri Oxman have to do with Epstein?
Her lab at MIT took his money.
She took money from Epstein (when his involvement on child tracking was already known) and used MIT resources to send him presents in exchange of the money. Her explanation after she was discovered was “I was told nobody will know”… for her the important aspect of the story was her reputation, not her whitening of child abuse.
Do these people not have staff or people to brief them on who they’re meeting or associating with, if nothing else so they don’t hang out with potential kidnappers, con men or pedophiles. This is so basic, so BS on her explanation. Also, didn’t she get a hard time about her so-called shady past being a party girl or having a dubious baby-daddy. You’d think she’d know better. Why did all these prestigious people want to hang around this creepy guy from nowhere? Lots of people with big money out there, so why him? Just gross. So easy to swindle the rich and elite.
Ugh, royals!! She regrets she was caught, is all. Epstein used his associations with people like her to give himself legitimacy with other powerful people, despite his crimes. She should not have enabled that, and her handlers were not doing their jobs by allowing those meetings to happen. Who are these super incompetent euro royal household employees and why do they have these royal families convinced to hire them?