Princess Sofia breaks silence on meetings with Jeffrey Epstein

Princess Sofia has broken her silence over her involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, distancing herself from the convicted paedophile’s “terrible crimes”.

Speaking to Swedish media, the mother-of-four said: “I have met him in a few social contexts,” these being a restaurant where they first crossed paths, and a second at a film festival. She added: “Luckily, it was just that.

“Now that I’ve read about all the terrible crimes he committed against young women, I’m grateful that I haven’t had anything to do with him since the few times in my twenties.”

The latest set of the Epstein Files revealed how Sofia was introduced to the disgraced financier by her mentor, Barbro Ehnbom. At the time, Sofia was trying to break into the entertainment industry.

The Swedish Palace previously confirmed that Sofia had meet Jeffrey, but this came before his 2008 conviction and that she hadn’t had contact with him for over 20 years.

Other royal links

Several other royal families have been swept into the scandal thanks to their contact with Jeffrey Epstein, including Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit.

Andrew has long been associated with the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in 2019. 

Among the latest allegations to emerge from the dump of millions of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein by the US authorities are claims that he sent a second woman to the UK for a sexual encounter with Andrew, and that he asked the former Duke and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson to give friends of his access to Buckingham Palace while on trips to London.

Andrew has always strenuously denied any wrongdoing. In his infamous 2021 Newsnight interview, he told Emily Maitlis he had ended his friendship with Epstein during a four-day visit to New York in 2010.

© WireImage

But the files released by the US Department of Justice show that he remained in contact with him for much longer and the “goodbye” trip itself actually lasted for nine days.

The former Duke of York was stripped of his titles and evicted from Royal Lodge due to his links to Mr Epstein, and on Monday, King Charles said he would “stand ready to support” any police investigation into his younger brother.

© Getty Images

Mette-Marit, who had contact with Jeffrey had several of her emails linked, including ones where she appeared to criticise a royal wedding as “boring” and another where she said the criminal had “tickle[d] her brain”.

After previously apologising for her “embarrassing” friendship with Jeffrey, she released a second statement reading: ” I would like to express my deepest regret for my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. It is important for me to apologise to all of you that I have disappointed. 

© Getty Images

“Some of the content of the messages between Epstein and me does not represent the person I want to be. I also apologize for the situation that I have put the Royal Family in, especially the King and Queen.”