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Prominent members of Norway’s elite, including the crown princess, a former prime minister who later headed the Nobel committee and the head of the World Economic Forum, have been ensnared by the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The country’s most prominent diplomats were also mentioned in the latest emails published by the US Department of Justice on Friday.
The involvement of Crown Princess Mette-Marit — who exchanged more than 100 friendly emails with the convicted sex offender and stayed at one of his homes — adds to a deepening set of scandals for Norway’s royal family. Mette-Marit will see her first son go on trial on Tuesday facing 38 charges, including rape and drug offences.
Elites from many countries, especially the US and UK, have been caught up in the growing Epstein scandal. But the sheer number of Norwegians has raised eyebrows in the rich Scandinavian country of just 5.5mn people.
“This shakes the trust in Norwegian society to its foundations,” said Arild Hermstad, leader of the Green Party, who called for an immediate parliamentary commission to investigate the links with Epstein.
Thorbjørn Jagland, Norway’s prime minister in the 1990s, who later chaired the committee that awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and also served as secretary-general of the Council of Europe for 10 years, planned a family holiday on an island belonging to Epstein in 2014, emails released by the US Department of Justice show. The rest of his family stayed in another property owned by the sex offender, according to the emails.
Norway’s current prime minister took the highly unusual step of criticising a member of the royal family on Sunday. ‘‘The crown princess herself has stated that she has demonstrated poor judgment, something I agree with,’’ Jonas Gahr Støre said. ‘‘I also believe that Thorbjørn Jagland has done the same.”
Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul, a married couple who are perhaps Norway’s most famous diplomats after helping to broker the Oslo peace accords between Israel and Palestine that led to a film and play about them, have also had links to Epstein. Their children were among the beneficiaries of Epstein’s will, the recently released documents stated, while Rød-Larsen borrowed money from Epstein, according to earlier disclosures.
Børge Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister who is now chief executive of the World Economic Forum, had dinner with Epstein in 2018 and 2019, well after Epstein’s first sex convictions.
All the Norwegian figures have regretted their association with Epstein, saying they did not know about his illegal conduct.
But the revelations have shaken faith in the Norwegian royal family in particular. Mette-Marit wrote to Epstein in 2011: “Googled u after last email. Agree didn’t look too good :).” It is not clear what her message referred to. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.
The Norwegian crown princess exchanged many emails with Epstein up until 2014, including one that stated: “Paris good for adultery. Scandis better wife material. But then again who am I to talk?”
She later wrote to Epstein: “Is it inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women carrying a surfboard for my 15 yr old sons wallpaper?”
That son, Marius Borg Høiby, who was born before her marriage and subsequent children with Crown Prince Haakon, will go on trial in Oslo on Tuesday, in a case that has shaken the royal family deeply. Høiby has admitted some of the minor offences but denies all the sexual charges.
King Harald, Norway’s 88-year-old monarch, has already had problems with his second child — daughter Märtha Louise — who agreed to stop performing official duties after marrying a shaman, documented by a Netflix programme.
“Can Mette-Marit be queen after this?” wrote Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten at the weekend after the latest Epstein revelations.
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