There was a hole in Mette-Marit's safety net
Published 19.00
”It's embarrassing”, says Crown Princess Mette-Marit about her friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Yes, Mette-Marit, it's extremely embarrassing.
Thirty seconds on a mobile phone would have been enough to read hundreds of articles about Epstein and his victims.
Jeffrey Epstein had money, connections and power. And young women. But the greatest status symbol was his royal friends. Such a friendship effectively protects against criticism. If you find yourself in the palace halls, you can't possibly be a bad person, can you?
According to Mette-Marit, she met Epstein several times between 2011 and 2013. She regrets and regrets the contact and says she showed poor judgment.
In the new Epstein documents, Mette-Marit is mentioned over a thousand times, according to VG.
They emailed each other at Christmas, birthdays and on a daily basis. They gave each other compliments and book recommendations. They joked with each other and made plans to meet. Mette-Marit wrote a poem to Epstein and he sent her flowers.
He consistently called her “Mette”. She wrote: “You always make me smile. Because you tickle my brain”. They talked about family life, meditation and health. Mette-Marit emailed that she was bored during a royal wedding in Luxemburg. In 2013, she wrote that she missed her “crazy friend” and wondered when they would see each other again.
That same year, the Crown Princess lived at Epstein’s home in Palm Beach. In the house where he and his powerful friends abused girls and young women for a long time.
Could Crown Princess Mette-Marit really have been as ignorant of her friend's background as she claims?
Of course, it is not obvious from the outside that someone is a sex offender. But Epstein's conviction for human trafficking and abuse in 2008 attracted enormous attention in the United States. In 2011, the media was again filled with headlines when one of his victims came forward.
In an email dated October 23, 2011, the Crown Princess wrote that she had Googled Epstein's name and that "it doesn't look so good." The court has not wanted to answer VG about what didn't look good in her search.
In any case, the search did not lead to the severing of contact.
It is unimaginable.
Was Mette-Marit so enchanted by Epstein that his crimes did not matter?
VG revealed today that Epstein drew up an agreement for a payment to a “Mette”. 20,000 dollars after a property transaction in 2014. The Norwegian court denies that Crown Princess Mette-Marit received money from Epstein.
That could be the case. Not everything Epstein wrote has to have been carried out or be true.
Mette-Marit is in a deep personal crisis. Her son is being charged with rape and assault, among other things. Her lung disease has worsened. The Epstein revelations were the last thing she needed.
But there is no indication that this is the end, several major media houses are working hard to go through the new documents.
I am particularly struck by two things regarding the Epstein friendship.
Firstly. If Mette-Marit had no greater interest in finding out who her new friend was, then her email conversation comes across as boundless and a bit naive. She must have quickly felt safe sharing family considerations and personal thoughts with him. Of course, that also says something about how manipulative Epstein was.
Secondly, I am struck by how many “holes” there are in the safety net surrounding the Crown Princess. The friendship with the convicted pedophile went on for several years without the security police or anyone at the court alerting Mette-Marit.
Greater vigilance than that is required. That is precisely why the story of Mette-Marit and Jeffrey Epstein is more than just embarrassing.
It is deeply worrying.
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