Princess showed poor judgement over Epstein ties, says PM

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday the Nordic country's crown princess, Mette-Marit, displayed poor judgement in having contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, following fresh reports of her ties with the late US sex offender.

New files related to Epstein published by the US Justice Department on Friday included extensive email correspondence between Mette-Marit and Epstein after he was found guilty of child sex crimes in 2008.

On Saturday, Mette-Marit, the spouse of the heir to the throne Haakon, apologised for maintaining contacts, saying she showed poor judgement. On Monday, Stoere agreed with her.

"I am really using her own words. She says she has showed bad judgement. I agree and I think it is worth saying that when I am asked my opinion about this," Stoere told reporters.

Asked whether he had been in contact with the royal palace about the matter, Stoere said he had not.

The prime minister added that Mette-Marit, and other prominent Norwegians who were named in the latest Epstein documents published, should provide more details about their involvement with Epstein.

"I must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein's background more thoroughly, and for not realising sooner what kind of person he was," Mette-Marit said in a statement to Reuters via the royal palace.

"I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility I must bear. I showed poor judgement and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing."

The Nordic country is a constitutional monarchy in which the king is the formal head of state while political power rests with parliament and the government.

Its royal family has faced several problems in recent years.

King Harald, 88, Europe's oldest living monarch, cut back activity in 2024 after being hospitalised to treat an infection and later receiving a pacemaker.

Mette-Marit herself is in need of a lung transplant after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen uptake.

 Meanwhile, her son pleaded not guilty to rape and domestic violence but admitted to some lesser charges on the first day of his trial on Tuesday, a case that has shaken the already embattled royal family.

Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson to Crown Prince Haakon, could face multiple years in prison if found guilty of the most serious of the 38 charges against him.