Royal experts warned that Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s attempt to frame her ties to Jeffrey Epstein as an “incidental brush with a bad guy” is unraveling, after newly unsealed documents reignited scrutiny of her judgment and credibility.

Mette-Marit was mentioned in over 1,000 files recently released from multiple investigations into the late-financier. Mette-Marit was involved in “contact and meetings” with Epstein between 2011 and 2013 and continued communication with him into 2014, according to the Norwegian outlet VG.

The document release has compounded pressure on Norway’s royal family as questions mount over her past and her future role.

“Jeffrey Epstein is solely responsible for his actions. I must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was,” Mette-Marit said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

PRINCESS SOFIA OF SWEDEN MET JEFFREY EPSTEIN A FEW TIMES BUT DENIES ANY TIES, PALACE SAYS

Crown Princess Mette-Marit is facing renewed scrutiny over her ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein. (Per Ole Hagen / Getty Images)

“I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility I must bear. I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing. I wish to express my deep sympathy and solidarity with the victims of the abuse committed by Jeffrey Epstein.”

The never-before-seen communications between Mette-Marit and Epstein surfaced in the latest batch of documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ released more than three million Epstein records, including his personal emails, Friday.

Mette-Marit’s apology likely will “deepen the crisis” because it draws attention to the timeline of her contact with Epstein, royal commentator Amanda Matta told Fox News Digital.

“This is actually her second time apologizing for her relationship with him, and it will now be ten times harder to file this away as an incidental brush with a bad guy,” Matta explained. “The newly released emails, more extensive than what the public previously understood, open many, many channels to question the Crown Princess’s judgment. Why did she keep contact going? Why didn’t she ‘understand more quickly’ what Epstein was, and that he was not the sort of person she would want to be publicly associated with?”

Jeffrey Epstein and Mette-Marit continued communication into 2014, despite the palace claiming correspondence ended in 2013. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway is married to Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. (Michael Campanella / Getty Images)

Experts specifically questioned Mette-Marit’s timeline of contact after she previously claimed contact with Epstein ceased in 2013.

“And then we also have to investigate whether the palace’s previous framing was incomplete,” she said. “They previously stated that MM’s last contact with JE was in 2013, and we now see that it was actually 2014. The public now knows that they weren’t told the whole truth the first time, and palace officials are painting this as a ‘mistake’ or ‘accident.’ But trust is being eroded in the process. Even if there was no wrongdoing, that will leave a bad taste in people’s mouths.”

Multiple royals have been tied to Epstein, including former Prince Andrew and Sweden’s Princess Sofia. The Royal Court of Sweden admitted that Princess Sofia did meet with Epstein on multiple occasions but had no ties to the convicted sex offender.

“Sofia was introduced a few times around 2005, didn’t accept an invite to gatherings with him, and hasn’t had contact for 20 years,” Matta said. “Mette Marit was voluntarily and enthusiastically close with Epstein.”

Mette-Marit’s Epstein ties create a different situation for the crown princess than Princess Sofia, according to a royal commentator. (Michael Campanella/Getty Images)

The email drop including Mette-Marit couldn’t have come “at a worse time,” royal commentator Meredith Constant told Fox News Digital.

“That’s on top of the fact that her son was just arrested on another charge ahead of his trial,” she added. “This crisis with The Crown Princess makes Princess Märtha Louis and Shaman Durek’s documentary last year look quaint.”

The son of Norway’s crown princess pleaded not guilty to rape charges as he went on trial Tuesday for multiple alleged offenses, opening weeks of proceedings in a case that has cast a shadow on the royal family’s image.

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Hoiby, is on trial. (Julian Parker / UK Press)

Marius Borg Høiby, 29, is the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. Høiby has no royal title or official duties.

“Coupled with her son’s ongoing trial and new arrests, I honestly don’t know what the path forward looks like for Mette-Marit,” Matta said.

“Norwegians are already openly questioning whether she is fit to be queen after this,” the royal expert added. “25 years ago, the same questions were being asked about her prior to her wedding. If the royal house isn’t treating this as a full-blown crisis, they should be.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A criminal investigation has been launched into allegations that Peter Mandelson leaked market sensitive information from Downing Street to Jeffrey Epstein.

It comes after emails appeared to show conversations between the pair about political matters while Lord Mandelson was serving as business secretary and the de-facto deputy prime minister in 2009, in Gordon Brown’s government.

Politics live: How did we get here with Peter Mandelson?

The SNP, Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru had all called for a formal police inquiry, alleging potential misconduct in public office.

Commander Ella Marriott, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “Following the further release of millions of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the United States Department of Justice, the Met received a number of reports into alleged misconduct in public office including a referral from the UK government.

“I can confirm that the Metropolitan Police has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offences.

“The Met will continue to assess all relevant information brought to our attention as part of this investigation and won’t be commenting any further at this time.”

Lord Mandelson is set to step down from the House of Lords following the latest revelations.

Documents released by the US Department of Justice on Monday indicate Epstein was sent internal discussions from the heart of the UK government after the global financial crisis.

That includes emails in which Lord Mandelson appeared to tell Epstein he was “trying hard” to change government policy on bankers’ bonuses, and to confirm an imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced.

The peer also appeared to write to Epstein in June 2009 about an “interesting note that’s gone to the PM”, forwarding an assessment by Mr Brown’s adviser Nick Butler of potential policy measures including an “asset sales plan”.

Downing Street earlier said the Cabinet Office had referred how Lord Mandelson handled sensitive government information while he was a minister to the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Brown also said he had written to the force’s commissioner, Mark Rowley, about Lord Mandelson’s contact with Epstein.

The former PM said the alleged leak was “an inexcusable and unpatriotic act at a time when the whole government and country were attempting to address the global financial crisis that was damaging so many livelihoods”.

Lord Mandelson’s representatives have been contacted for comment.

He has previously said: “I was wrong to believe Epstein following his conviction [in 2008 for procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute] and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.”

And in an interview with The Times carried out last week but published on Monday, Mandelson referred to a “handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending”.

On other claims, Lord Mandelson questioned the authenticity of the documents, citing false claims he had a US social security number, questionable US-dollar cheque payments into UK banks, incorrect beneficiary details, and multiple basic errors in dates, spelling and formatting.

Investigation ‘inevitable’

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the news of the police investigation was “inevitable” and “welcome”.

She added: “We should not let this distract us from the fact the prime minister has his fingerprints all over this.

“He knew all of the allegations, concerns and reports about Peter Mandelson, knew that he was a close friend, an associate, of a convicted paedophile, and he still gave him the biggest job in the Foreign Office, at a time when UK-US relations are at a critical point.

“That’s what he chose to do, and he’s got a lot of questions to answer.”

This is in reference to Lord Mandelson’s public relationship with Epstein at the time he was chosen to be ambassador to the US (December 2024) and then appointed (February 2025).

He quit that position in September after new emails revealed that he sent messages of support to Epstein even as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.

The revelations that have come out in recent weeks are a result of new documents published by the US Congress, and Downing Street has said it was not aware of these allegations until they were made public in recent days.

A House Foreign Affairs Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday underscored what lawmakers and witnesses repeatedly described as a “historic” but “narrowing” opportunity to weaken Hezbollah and restore Lebanese state sovereignty, while exposing sharp disagreement over whether current U.S. policy is moving fast or forcefully enough.

Opening the hearing, Chairman Mike Lawler, R-NY., said Lebanon is “at a crossroads” following the Nov. 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, arguing the moment offers “an unprecedented opportunity” to help Lebanon “break free of the shackles of Iran’s malign influence.” He warned, however, that progress has been uneven, saying implementation of the Lebanese Armed Forces’ has been “haphazard at best.”

The ranking member, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., struck a more confrontational tone toward the administration, warning that Hezbollah is already rebuilding and that U.S. policy risks squandering the moment.

WALTZ HAILS ‘NIGHT-AND-DAY’ MIDDLE EAST SHIFT AS TRUMP’S GAZA PLAN RESHAPES REGION

Commuters drive past a newly-installed billboard bearing the image of a Lebanese flag and a statement that reads in Arabic “Lebanon a new era”, replacing a Hezbollah billboard, on the road leading to Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International airport on April 10, 2025.  (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)

“There is a historic opportunity in Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and remove its grip on the Lebanese state,” he said. “That window of opportunity, however, is narrow. Hezbollah is working hard to rebuild, rearm and to reconstitute itself.”

He criticized cuts to non-security assistance and faulted comments by a Trump administration envoy who described Hezbollah as “a political party that also has a militant aspect to it,” arguing such language “sent the wrong signals” at a critical moment.

David Schenker, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, testified that while Hezbollah has been weakened militarily, the pace of disarmament remains slow and obstructed.

People gesture as Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem gives a televised address, during a rally in solidarity with Iran and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon Jan. 26, 2026.  (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

“The LAF has a presence in the south that it didn’t have prior to November 2024,” Schenker said. “But they are not in control. Hezbollah still controls the region.”

Schenker said the obstacle is no longer capability but political will. “At this point, the question of disarmament is not a matter of capability but of will,” he told lawmakers, warning that Hezbollah continues to thrive amid corruption and a cash-based economy.

ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH BORDER TENSIONS RISE AS TERROR GROUP REARMS, RESISTS US-BACKED CEASEFIRE

Hezbollah members salute and raise the group’s yellow flags during the funeral of their fallen comrades Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury, who were killed in an Israeli strike on their vehicles, in Shehabiya in south Lebanon on April 17, 2024.  (AFP via Getty Images)

Hanin Ghaddar, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that even full weapons surrender would not dismantle Hezbollah’s power.

“Hezbollah is not sustained by weapons alone,” Ghaddar said. “It survives through an economic and political ecosystem that protects cash flows, penetrates state institutions and enables military rebuilding.”

She warned that Lebanon’s unregulated cash economy has become Hezbollah’s most durable asset. “Weapons can be collected, but money keeps flowing,” Ghaddar said. “Disarmament without dismantling the cash economy… will not be durable.”

TRUMP ADMIN PRESSURES LEBANON TO DISARM HEZBOLLAH AS ENVOY CALLS NATION ‘FAILED STATE’

In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, third left, U.S. deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, second left, and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa A. Johnson, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, in east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.  (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

All three witnesses emphasized U.S. support should be tied to measurable performance such as progress on disarmament of Hezbollah and economic reform.

Schenker called for renewed sanctions against corrupt Lebanese officials, saying, “We should be sanctioning leaders right now… who are obstructing reform.”

Dana Stroul, director of research and senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, warned that Washington’s approach remains incomplete.

“For the past year, U.S. policy has focused on Hezbollah disarmament, which is critical, but on its own is only a partial strategy,” Stroul said.

She cautioned that upcoming parliamentary elections could either “strengthen or undermine the anti-Hezbollah government,” calling it the “worst-case outcome” if Hezbollah-aligned politicians retain power.

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Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.  (Bilal Hussein/AP Photo)

Ghaddar said Hezbollah’s weakening has shifted Lebanese public discourse. “The mythology of resistance has shattered,” she said. “Peace is no longer taboo.”

She argued that normalization with Israel would raise the political cost of Hezbollah’s rearmament and help lock in reform. “Without a credible peace horizon, disarmament and economic reform will be temporary. With one, they become structural,” Ghaddar said.

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have condemned the US Department of Justice’s release of files about the disgraced financier, with one saying “a five-year-old could have done a better job”.

Jess Michaels claims she was raped by Epstein in his penthouse after meeting him as a 22-year-old professional dancer in 1991.

Speaking to Sky News’ Jonathan Samuels on The World she said she hoped “that justice would finally happen” but said there are “extreme redactions and then extreme neglect to (not) redact”.

Follow latest: Police launch investigation into Mandelson claims

Lawyers for the survivors have criticised the US Department of Justice’s redactions of personal information from the Epstein files released on Friday, with the identity of at least one woman who had not previously come forward with allegations having been revealed.

“A five-year-old could have done a better job redacting these files with colour-coded crayons. It is an embarrassment that our Department of Justice put this out as their very best work,” Ms Michaels said.

“It is shocking the damage this department of justice has done with the way that they have released survivors’ personal information out there, when they literally had one job, which was to redact survivors’ names.”

Ms Michaels added: “I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt that it was just sloppy incompetence.

“But now it feels almost like it’s purposeful to intimidate survivors, to punish survivors, to discredit survivors, and then not to hold the perpetrators actually guilty.”

Survivor says files redacts ‘powerful people’

Another survivor, Lisa Phillips, agreed that the US Department of Justice’s latest release of Epstein files “had a lot of redactions of people, powerful people… that were there” with the disgraced financier.

She said “we should be able to see who those people are”.

The US Department of Justice, in a court filing on Monday, said it was in the process of “removing documents that inadvertently were produced and contain victim-identifying information”.

Read more:
The end of a scandal-tainted career
Prince forced to address Epstein scandal

Survivors call for Mandelson and Andrew to testify

The latest release of the files contained further revelations of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.

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Could Mandelson end up in court over Epstein emails?

Both men have always denied wrongdoing.

Ms Michaels said “anyone that spent any significant time with Jeffrey Epstein should be called to testify before Congress”.

Ms Phillips, who said she once met Andrew at the pool on Epstein’s island, said “everybody wants to hear” him testify.

She added: “I would be the first person to want to hear about that testimony.”

Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Health officials are warning the public of potential measles exposure after an international traveler visited several high-traffic locations in Southern California, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the Disneyland Resort.

The traveler arrived Jan. 26 on Viva Aerobus Flight 518 at Tom Bradley International Terminal B, Gate 201A, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH).

The department stated that individuals who were in Terminal B between 10:45 p.m. Jan. 26 and 1 a.m. Jan. 27 may have been exposed.

MEASLES OUTBREAK REACHES A MAJOR SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE CAMPUS

Following the arrival, the individual traveled to Orange County. The Orange County Health Care Agency shared the following exposure windows for Jan. 28.

• Goofy’s Kitchen (Disneyland Hotel) between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
• Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure from 12:30 p.m. until park closure

Goofy’s Kitchen in Disneyland Hotel was one site of potential measles exposure. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

A subsequent exposure was identified on Jan. 30 at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Woodland Hills, according to the LADPH.

“People who were at these locations during these times may be at risk of developing measles from seven to 21 days after exposure,” the Orange County Health Care Agency said in a statement.

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Health officials advise anyone who visited these locations during the specified windows to check their immunization status and monitor for symptoms for 21 days following exposure.

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Public health departments in both Los Angeles and Orange County will continue to track potential exposure sites and notify individuals at high risk.

People should contact a healthcare provider by phone before visiting a clinic if symptoms develop to prevent further spread, experts recommend.

The infected passenger was an international traveler at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to county officials for a statement.

What to know about measles

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. If one person is infected, up to 90% of nearby people who are not immune will also become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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“Measles doesn’t only affect people who travel internationally — everyone is at risk if they’re not protected,” said Dr. Anissa Davis, deputy county health officer for Long Beach, California. “The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated before exposure occurs.”

Visitors at Disneyland on the listed dates and times should exercise caution and limit contact with others, according to experts. (Getty Images)

Symptoms of measles typically include fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by a characteristic rash that begins on the face and spreads downward, per the CDC. An infected person is contagious for four days before and four days after the rash appears.

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As of Jan. 30, there have been 588 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. so far in 2026, the agency reports. This follows a significant surge in 2025, which saw 2,267 cases — the highest annual count in more than three decades.