TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - It's not just men who were involved in the life of the late convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The latest release of the Epstein files by the US Department of Justice on Friday revealed a number of female figures, including Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the former Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.
As reported by Anadolu Agency, Mette-Marit expressed regret on Saturday for her contact with Jeffrey Epstein, describing it as "It is simply embarrassing," following the public release of new documents in the Epstein case.
On Friday, more than three million documents related to Epstein were made public. Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 52, appeared several hundred times in the released material, which included email correspondence between her and Epstein.
Of particular interest was email correspondence concerning Mette-Marit's visit to Epstein's residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2013. The Norwegian palace confirmed to NRK television that Mette-Marit had borrowed Epstein's house through a mutual friend.
The crown princess stayed there for four days with a friend, according to Guri Varpe, a spokesperson for the Norwegian royal family.
She also met Epstein during this visit, Varpe said. However, Mette-Marit never stayed on the billionaire's private island, Little Saint James, where many of the abuses he was later accused of allegedly took place.
Another meeting reportedly took place on the Caribbean island of Saint-Barthélemy, where Crown Prince Haakon met Epstein for the first and only time.
Epstein ran a network of abuse for years, victimizing dozens of young women and minors. He died in prison in 2019 at the age of 66.
In a statement to NRK television on Saturday night, she said, "I deeply regret that, and this is a responsibility I must take. I showed poor judgment and regret having any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing."
"Jeffrey Epstein is responsible for his actions. I must take responsibility for not checking Epstein's background better and for not understanding quickly enough what kind of person he was," she added.
The crown princess previously admitted in 2019 that she regretted her relationship with Epstein, stating that she would not have had contact with him if she had realized the seriousness of his crimes.
According to the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, Mette-Marit met Epstein several times in the United States and in Oslo in 2011 and 2013.
The revelation of these shocking emails comes at a particularly bad time for the crown princess, as her eldest son, Marius Borg Høiby, is due to stand trial on Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
Høiby is charged with 38 counts, including rape, intimate partner violence, physical abuse, property damage, and breach of a restraining order, which carries a sentence of up to 16 years in prison.
On the second day of the trial, the 29-year-old is expected to respond to the charges.
Swedish Princess in Epstein Files
The newly released dossier also names Princess Sofia of Sweden. According to the Swedish daily Expressen, Sofia was invited to a private Broadway screening in New York in 2012 as Epstein's guest, before marrying Prince Carl Philip in 2015 and becoming Princess of Sweden.
The invitation specified seating and that the event would take place without the media.
The documents also include a 2010 photo of Sofia sent to Epstein by businesswoman Barbro Ehnbom, who ran a network for "young and ambitious women."
The Swedish Royal Palace previously stated that Sofia met Epstein several times around 2005 and had not been in contact with him for the past 20 years.
New Findings on Sarah Ferguson
The latest files released on Friday also reveal the depth of the relationship between the former Duke and Duchess of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and Sarah Ferguson.
In June 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to pedophilia charges and was acquitted in July 2009.
However, as Sky News reported, all email correspondence between the York couple and Epstein in the latest files was sent after they learned of the crimes to which he had confessed.
Just a month after Epstein's release, Sarah Ferguson sent an email describing him as the "brother she always wished for."
Sarah Ferguson even offered Jeffrey Epstein and his friends a VIP tour of Buckingham Palace.
The former Duchess of York said she could "organise anything" for the late pedophile in a 2009 email.
Ferguson is the ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of her titles last year after it was revealed she continued to be in contact with Epstein after claiming to have broken off the relationship with him.
Newly released emails have revealed the depth of Ferguson's relationship with Epstein, which persisted despite Epstein's 2008 prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
In June 2009, she told him "I can organise anything" after Epstein asked if she would organise a "VIP tour" or "access to something special" in London for the daughter of Alan Dershowitz, his American lawyer.
Read: Epstein Documents Release May Take "Few Weeks," DOJ Says
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