Norway's crown princess says she was 'manipulated and deceived' by Epstein

OSLO, March 20 - Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit said on Friday she regretted her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, seeking to contain one of the biggest scandals to hit the country's royal family.

The U.S. Justice Department's release of millions of Epstein documents has sent shockwaves around the world, revealing the disgraced financier's ties to prominent people, including the crown princess and top Norwegian politicians, business executives and diplomats.

"I was manipulated and deceived," Mette-Marit said in an interview with public broadcaster NRK.

"Of course, I wish I had never met him," she said of Epstein.

The files showed frequent communication between Mette-Marit and Epstein that occurred long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting an underage girl. The 52-year-old crown princess, who apologised to King Harald and Queen Sonja in a February 6 statement, has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

While earlier media coverage had shown that Mette-Marit had links to Epstein, the new documents showed a more extensive relation, triggering an unusual rebuke by the prime minister and leading to demands that she should give a full account.

The princess, the spouse of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne, maintained contact with Epstein from 2011 to 2014, and stayed at his Palm Beach house for four days during a private trip in 2013, the U.S. files show.

"I've never seen anything illegal," Mette-Marit told NRK on Friday.

The royal family's popularity has taken a hit in recent months, a February survey of 1,009 respondents showed.

Some 60% of Norwegians supported the monarchy, down from 70% in January, according to the Norstat poll published on February 21 by public broadcaster NRK, while 27% supported a republic, up from 19% over the same period. REUTERS