A new royal family has come under scrutiny in the fallout surrounding the sex trafficking investigation and death of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit has apologized for repeatedly meeting with Epstein after his arrest on federal underage sex trafficking charges.

The Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv broke the story December 2 following an investigation into Epstein’s relationship with Norwegian royalty:

“I never would have associated with Mr. Epstein if I had been aware of the seriousness of the crimes he committed. I should have investigated his past more thoroughly, and I am sorry that I didn’t”, says Crown Princess Mette-Marit in a statement to Dagens Næringsliv, the leading Norwegian business daily. DN has investigated the Norwegian connections with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who earlier this year committed suicide after being charged with sexual assault and human trafficking. The investigation revealed that Crown Princess Mette-Marit had a connection to Mr. Epstein. Asked for comment on November 22., the Crown Princess confirmed having been in contact with Mr. Epstein in the statement, distributed December 2.

The meetings took place between 2011 and 2013 at in the United States, Norway, and at undisclosed Epstein residences.

The Royal Palace confirms that the Crown Princess and Mr. Epstein met socially, mostly in the United States. One meeting took place in the Norwegian capitol Oslo. “One of the meetings took place at Mr. Epstein’s home. The Crown Princess also had a brief meeting with Mr. Epstein while he was in Oslo. There were other people present in all the meetings. When the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince were on vacation in St. Barts in 2012, they ran into Mr. Epstein on the street. Crown Prince Haakon then met Epstein for the first and only time”, says Mrs. Guri Varpe, head of communications at the Royal Palace.

National File recently reported on evidence that Epstein’s longtime “procurer” Ghislaine Maxwell is poised to sit down and provide information to the FBI: