Friday, 20 March 2026
Friday, 20 March 2026
Norway has been rocked by the release of millions of documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein, revealing that leading politicians, senior diplomats and the crown princess had extensive contact with the US sex offender, who died by suicide in 2019.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, spouse of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne, had contact with Epstein over several years and stayed at his Palm Beach house. She again apologised in an interview on Friday, saying she had been manipulated.
Norway's parliament has ordered a rare external inquiry into the foreign ministry's links to Epstein. Police are also investigating a diplomat couple and a former prime minister, while the CEO of the World Economic Forum, a former foreign minister, has stepped down.
Following are some of the revelations found in the documents released in January by the US Department of Justice:
Crown Princess Mette-Marit
The crown princess, who has been coping with a severe lung condition and the criminal trial of her son, has apologised for her relationship with Epstein.
But the latest batch of files showed a more extensive relationship than was publicly known.
They also appear to contradict her 2019 statement that she had not investigated Epstein's past and would never have associated with him had she known the seriousness of his crimes.
One email from October 2011 — three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a minor — shows her writing that she had googled him and that "it didn’t look too good", followed by a smiley face.
In an interview on Friday she said she could not remember why she wrote what she did.
Correspondence also revealed she stayed at Epstein's Palm Beach home for four nights in 2013 and that she and Crown Prince Haakon met him at the Caribbean island St. Barts the same year.
The palace said in 2019 that the pair had "run into Mr. Epstein on the street", but the messages indicate the meeting was arranged in advance.
Diplomat couple Terje Roed-Larsen and Mona Juul
Mona Juul, who resigned as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq in February, is suspected of gross corruption. Her husband, former government minister Terje Roed-Larsen, is suspected of complicity in gross corruption.
The couple have said through their lawyers that they believe there is no basis for the charges.
Roed-Larsen has apologised several times for his relationship with Epstein and stepped down in 2020 as CEO of the New York-based International Peace Institute.
However, the latest files suggest a deeper friendship and collaboration.
Epstein helped the couple negotiate the purchase of an Oslo apartment in 2018 and warned the seller in an email that "it will become unpleasant" if he backed out of a price the seller deemed too low.
In a will signed two days before his death, Epstein stated that Roed-Larsen and Juul's two children would stand to inherit $5 million each.
Former Prime Minister Thorbjoern Jagland
Jagland, who served as prime minister in 1996-97, is under investigation for alleged aggravated corruption for dealings with Epstein during the time he was head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
A lawyer for Jagland said he welcomed the police investigation and was confident it would clear him of any wrongdoing.
The files show that Jagland and Epstein's assistants made detailed plans in 2014 for Jagland, his wife, two children and his son's girlfriend to visit Epstein in Palm Beach and on his Caribbean island. Jagland has denied ever visiting the private island.
In an email in 2014, he sought Epstein's help in financing an Oslo apartment.
Emails from 2018 showed Epstein asking Jagland to arrange for him to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and saying he had insights to offer President Vladimir Putin. Jagland promised to bring it up with Lavrov's assistant.
World Economic Forum CEO Boerge Brende
Brende stepped down as CEO of the forum following an independent investigation launched after the latest release of files.
Brende has apologised for his dealings with Epstein and has said he regrets not having investigated him more thoroughly.
Text messages from 2018–19 appear to show a warmer relationship than Brende had previously acknowledged. Though he said in 2025 that he "had nothing to do" with Epstein, the files show the pair dined together at least three times and attempted to arrange several additional meetings.
Brende called Epstein a "brilliant host" and said "missing you Sir" in text messages after a dinner with Epstein, Steve Bannon and Roed-Larsen. Their final communication was a week before Epstein's arrest in 2019.
