Will Norway's royal family withstand the Epstein files scandal?
The materials published in early 2026 in the case of convicted sex offender and American financier Jeffrey Epstein have triggered a wave of political upheaval across different parts of the world.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s position has been shaken, while in Norway the monarchy itself has come under pressure.
Read more about how the new pile of Epstein files could impact the Norwegian monarchy in the article by Uliana Krychkovska and Yurii Panchenko of European Pravda: The end of the monarchy? How a princess’s friendship with Epstein could change Norway’s system of power.
The newly released batch of files indicates very close ties between Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, the wife of Crown Prince Haakon and Norway’s future queen, and Epstein.
Mette-Marit’s name appears hundreds of times in the documents made public in the latest wave of disclosures in the Epstein case.
According to materials covering the period from 2011 to 2014, she maintained contact with the financier, and in January 2013, spent four days at his residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Although the published correspondence does not indicate the princess’s involvement in criminal activity, the very fact of communication with a person later convicted of sexual crimes has sparked intense public debate.
In response to the wave of publications, Mette-Marit issued a public statement acknowledging that her contacts with Epstein were a mistake and expressing regret over her "poor judgment" in choosing her circle.
However, the revelations immediately damaged her reputation. The Norwegian Council for Mental Health, where Mette-Marit served as patron, announced it was suspending cooperation with the crown princess.
While the letters themselves contain no evidence of wrongdoing on her part, their content creates the impression of regular and fairly informal contact, which has become the focus of heated discussion in Norway.
The files released this year indicate that Mette-Marit continued communicating with Epstein even after he faced numerous sexual crime charges.
In other words, the accusations against Epstein were not a reason for the princess to end contact.
The publication of the files coincided with another serious reputational blow: Marius Borg Høiby, the crown princess’s son from a previous relationship, has found himself at the center of criminal proceedings involving arrest and trial on charges of domestic violence and rape.
This double reputational удар could prove fatal for the institution of monarchy in one of NATO’s most stable countries or at least affect the system of succession in this Scandinavian state.
It is worth recalling that the legitimacy of Norway’s monarchy is based on a decision of the Storting (parliament). Lawmakers periodically vote on maintaining the monarchical system.
At first glance, the current scandal has not posed an immediate threat – a stable pro-monarchy majority remains in parliament.
As the latest vote showed, only far-left parties, the Red Party and the Socialist Left Party, support a transition to a republican form of government. Meanwhile, deputies from the governing Labour Party, as well as the Progress Party, the Centre Party, the Conservative Party and the Christian Democratic Party, vote to preserve the monarchy.
But will such support endure in the future?
Politicians cannot ignore public opinion and that opinion is shifting against the monarchy.
New opinion polls show a noticeable decline in trust both in the crown princess personally and in the institution of monarchy as a whole.
Support for the idea of monarchy may continue to fall.