Sweden‘s Princess Sofia has been caught up in the scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein after her family revealed the former lingerie model met the paedophile billionaire several times before marrying the country’s prince.
Before exchanging vows with Prince Carl Philip in 2015 and becoming princess of Sweden, Sofia Hellqvist was a reality television star, glamour model and a regular face on the New York party circuit.
The royal family has now disclosed that the princess met with the disgraced financier multiple times in 2005.
At one point, Epstein sent an invitation offering for the princess to visit him on his private island in the Caribbean, according to leaked emails published by the nonprofit site ddosecrets.com and reported in Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter.
Epstein also offered the princess and her friend places at acting school, the newspaper claimed.
The pair were introduced several times by a Swedish businesswoman, Princess Sofia’s mentor, according to the outlet, who later attended her wedding.
The princess, now 41, worked as a topless model and a yoga instructor and helped to set up a charity before she married Carl Philip, 46, who is third in line to the throne.
‘This is Sofia, an aspiring actress who just arrived in New York. She’s the girl I told you about before I left, who I thought you might like to meet. Maybe we can visit before you go on holiday?’, the businesswoman allegedly wrote in an email to Epstein on December 18, 2005.
She also linked to a photograph of the then 21-year-old model.
‘I’m in the Caribbean. Does she want to come for a couple of days? I’ll send a ticket,’ replied billionaire Epstein, who three years later would be convicted in a state court in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.
According to the family, the princess did not accept the invitation to Epstein’s infamous US Virgin Islands home called Little St James, where multiple young women including the late Virginia Giuffre have alleged that they were trafficked and abused.
They did not disclose where, how, or why the princess ever met Epstein.
Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, and Princess Sofia of Sweden, pictured at their wedding ceremony at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace on June 13, 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden
Before exchanging vows with Prince Carl Philip in 2015 and becoming princess of Sweden, Sofia Hellqvist was a glamour model and reality television star
The Swedish royal family has disclosed that the princess met with the disgraced financier multiple times in 2005
Before marrying the son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Princess Sofia was a well-known face in Stockholm’s nightlife.
She participated in the reality show ‘Paradise Hotel’ in 2005, launching her career, before she moved to New York.
She attended exclusive parties and blogged about her glitzy life full of celebrities and Hollywood stars on sites such as Glife and Nattstad.
She married the prince in a lavish ceremony in the chapel at Stockholm’s Royal Palace, where thousands of of well-wishers lined the streets celebrating the commoner-turned-princess.
A few months after the first emails she sent to Epstein in 2005, the Swedish financier received another email from his assistant, in April 2006.
It said: ‘Jeffrey wonders what really happened with Camilla. Did you tell her she has a ticket to New York anytime she wants?’
‘I think he means Sofia, the little beautiful dark-haired girl who had her friend Camilla with her,’ replied the businesswoman, according to a report in Dagens Nyheter based on leaked emails.
She goes on to write that Epstein offered both Sofia and her friend places at an acting school, but that both women had issues with their visas.
They allegedly called Epstein about this, the businesswoman wrote.
According to German outlet Bild, Princess Sofia met Epstein during one of the dinner parties the mentor allegedly helped to organise at Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion.
The royal family indicated this was before his 2008 conviction, however.
‘Princess Sofia has been introduced to the person in question on a few occasions around 2005,’ it said in a statement.
Before marrying the son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Princess Sofia was a well-known face in Stockholm’s nightlife
The Swedish media made much of the princess’ past in the lead up to the royal wedding, including the fact that she posed topless with a boa constrictor for a men’s magazine in 2004
The businesswoman sent a picture of Princess Sofia to Epstein, and suggested that they meet in December 2005, according to an email published by Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter
Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, pictured after the wedding of Durek Verrett and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway in Geiranger, Norway, August 31, 2024
Jeffrey Epstein was in 2008 convicted in a state court in Florida of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute
The Swedish media made much of the princess’ past in the lead up to the royal wedding, including the fact that she posed topless with a live boa constrictor for a men’s magazine in 2004.
A year later, she appeared on a Swedish reality TV show, in which scantily dressed singletons compete to stay in a luxury holiday resort.
In response to the media backlash, she told Swedish television that she had long since moved on.
Five years after appearing on ‘Paradise Hotel’, Sofia met her future husband in a nightclub in Stockholm.
Within a year, the couple moved to Djurgården of Stockholm, where they still live in the Villa Solbacken.
Amid rumours that her past had caused concern among the royal family, the palace emphasised her charity work ahead of the wedding.
In 2010, she co-founded the Project Playground charity which helps disadvantaged children in South Africa.
The revelations arrive at a particularly delicate time for Princess Sofia, who gave birth to her daughter, Princess Ines, in February.
The mother of four apparently remains in a family retreat to focus on the baby.
According to the royal family, Princess Sofia had no contact with Epstein after their meetings in 2005.
The family did not indicate whether it was true that Princess Sofia received the financier’s offer for acting school.
‘Princess Sofia has neither applied for nor attended any form of acting training,’ the royal family said.
Camilla, her friend, was apparently uninterested in the billionaire’s offer.
‘Thank God, you know when the truth has come out. I was 22 years old. It’s really unpleasant to think what could have happened,’ she told Dagens Nyheter.
‘He probably mostly wanted to throw out an offer, to show that he could and had power and money.’
Sofia Hellqvist and Prince Carl Philip announce their engagement, June 27, 2014
Princess Sofia participated in the reality show ‘Paradise Hotel’ in 2005, launching her career, before she moved to New York. Pictured above at the Christening of Princess Estelle at the Royal Palace, Stockholm, 2012
Epstein took his own life in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in 2019 while awaiting trial over sex-trafficking charges.
The Swedish Royal Court did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.co.uk ’
