Norwegian Princess Says She Was 'Manipulated' by Epstein

"I was manipulated and deceived," the Norwegian royal told public broadcaster NRK.

"Of course, I wish I had never met him," she said.

Mette-Marit is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, who is the heir to the Norwegian throne.

She has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

What else did Norway's crown princess say about her Epstein ties?

Mette-Marit insisted that she did not personally witness any illegal behavior in her dealings with Epstein.

"I've never seen anything illegal," she told NRK.

"He used the fact that we had a mutual friend, and that I'm gullible. I like to believe the best about people. But I chose to end contact with him," she said.

Her comments come after files released by the US Justice Department showed that Mette-Marit corresponded with Epstein between 2011 and 2014 and stayed at the disgraced financier's residence in Palm Beach, Florida, for four days in 2014.

Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008, for which he served 13 months in jail. He died in prison in August 2018 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges in what was ruled to be a suicide.

Several prominent Norwegian figures have been revealed to have had ties to Epstein, with the country's parliament requesting an inquiry into the foreign ministry's links to the late sex offender and police investigating former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland for aggravated corruption as part of his dealings with Epstein.

Why are Mette-Marit's ties to Epstein resurfacing now?

While Mette-Marit already apologized for her ties to the late sex offender in 2019, documents recently released in what has come to be known as the "Epstein files" cast doubt on her claim to have been unaware of his 2008 criminal conviction.

In an e-mail dated to 2011, Mette-Marit told Epstein she had googled him and that it "didn't look too good," followed by a smiley face.

The crown princess maintained that she did not remember why she wrote the e-mail in her Friday comments to NRK.

Interview comes as Mette-Marit's son faces criminal charges

In the Friday interview, Mette-Marit also touched on the legal case against her 29-year-old son, Marius Borg Hoiby.

"I am the mother of a young man who has been in a very difficult situation," she said.

Hoiby is facing charges of four charges of rape, with prosecutors alleging some of his victims were unconscious at the time the crimes were committed.

He is also accused of domestic abuse, reckless driving and drug-related offenses.

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