One of the many young teenage girls who were sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein has publicly scolded Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who carried on a three-year friendship with Epstein before he later died in prison. The crown princess responded in a written statement, but still refuses to answer questions directly as Norway’s latest royal scandal drags on.
It’s been three weeks since millions of Epstein’s documents and personal correspondence were released by the US Department of Justice. The documents revealed hundreds of emails between the wealthy convicted sex offender and Norway’s crown princess, several of which revealed how she had also stayed at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where many of his assaults on underage girls took place.
Among them was Marina Lacerda, who felt forced into an elite form of prostitution by Epstein at his New York office and residence when she was only 14 years old. She was the featured and sole guest on a highly unusual version of Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK)’s popular debate program Debatten Tuesday evening.
See the program here (external link to NRK’s website, in Norwegian but click on the box under the photo for the interview with Lacerda that was conducted in English).
After a day in Oslo including stops at both the Royal Palace and the adjacent Foreign Ministry (which also became unwittingly linked to Epstein through two of its former top diplomats), Lacerda spoke at length on the evening debate program. She revealed her own background, why she was vulnerable to a man like Epstein and how she prefers to be called a “survivor” of Epstein rather than a victim.
She’s also demanding an apology from Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who still claims she was unaware of Epstein’s sex crimes even though she wrote in emails between them as early as 2011 that she had looked into his past and noted that it “wasn’t too good.” Lacerda wants answers as to why and how the crown princess could maintain personal relations and be friends with a man like Epstein.
“She has children of her own,” Lacerda told NRK earlier in the day, without mentioning or perhaps knowing that Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s own son from before she married into Norway’s royal family is currently on trial in Oslo for 38 counts of violence, drug use and sexual assaults on women including four alleged rapes. Her two other children were fathered by Crown Prince Haakon, Prince Sverre Magnus and his older sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who’s next in line after Haakon to the throne.
Asked what she’d like to hear the crown princess say, Lacerda responded that “an apology would be a good start, that she admits to the truth and says she’s sorry.” Lacerda also called for “more honesty,” since Mette-Marit has earlier downplayed her ties to Epstein. “I think the crown princess must understand that there’s a bigger picture here,” Lacerda said. “We mustn’t only think about those who survived this, but children who have to grow up with this. What if it had been her own daughter … she would have fought for the truth to come out and hold (the offender) responsible.”
She praised Norwegian authorities for quickly launching investigations of their own of other Norwegians who were involved with Epstein, and charging at least three of them so far with serious corruption or being an accessory to corruption. Another former foreign minister, World Economic Forum chief Børge Brende, is also under investigation by his employer.
Staff at the Royal Palace, meanwhile, remain reluctant to answer questions but sent another written response to NRK in connection with Lacerda’s appearance on its program. Crown Princess Mette-Marit wrote that she is “deeply shaken by the stories of the many victims of Epstein, and they have my full support. It’s important that their voices are heard. Both as a woman and a mother, I support them.”
She added, however, that “Jeffrey Epstein himself is responsible for his actions. I must take responsibility for not checking Epstein’s background better, and that I didn’t understand quickly enough what kind of man Epstein was. I am sorry about that in the strongest of terms, and that’s a responsibility I must take.” Crown Princess Mette-Marit has also apologized to the elderly King Harald and Queen Sonja for all the trouble she has caused.
Complaints continue, though, that Mette-Marit, who suffers from a chronic lung disease, still hasn’t spoken or responded to questions publicly. Several national organizations are suspending or considering suspending her patronage, while public opinion polls indicate a majority do not think she should become queen when her husband becomes king.
Crown Prince Haakon flew off to the Winter Olympics last weekend but before leaving he made it clear to reporters waiting outside an event he was attending that he wasn’t speaking publicly about the Epstein case either, at least at that point. He said he understood the “strong reaction” from the public and said his wife was “very sorry for not understanding early enough what kind of person (Epstein) was.” He said his wife would “explain herself” in more detail “but she wasn’t ready to do that now.”
The crown prince appeared quite stressed, noting that “there is a lot happening all at the same time” (a reference to the disclosures of this wife’s friendship with Epstein and her son Marius Borg Høiby’s trial after he also had been re-arrested on additional charges). Crown Prince Haakon said the most important thing for him was to set priorities: “For me the most important is to take care of the flock (his closest family). We’re supporting Marius in the situation he’s in. We’re taking care of the other children (also both adults) … and I must take care of the crown princess. And fortunately she’s taking care of me.”
He added that “she will talk about (what happened with Epstein) but she can’t manage to do that now. She needs time … and we hope there will be understanding” for that.
That remains unclear a week later. One commentator in newspaper Aftenposten questioned whether it was most correct for the couple “to protect their flock or take public responsibility.” Others complained about “all the unanswered questions,” claimed that royals are “never private persons” and Aftenposten itself editorialized that more openness would build public confidence.