Before Princess Sofia became a princess by marrying Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip, she was Sofia Hellqvist, lad-mag model and reality star. She lived in New York briefly and she widely circulated in Europe, trying to get famous or get work. Well, in 2005, Sofia was in New York and one of her closest friends and mentors introduced her to… Jeffrey Epstein. I cannot believe this is all coming out now. Sofia would have been 20 years old at the time.
The Swedish Royal Court confirmed that Princess Sofia met Jeffrey Epstein after emails connecting them were revealed.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter published emails between Epstein and financier Barbro Ehnbom, who has been described as a mentor to Sofia and attended her 2015 wedding to Prince Carl Philip, the son of Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. According to a translation, Ehnbom reportedly wrote in a December 2005 email featuring a photo, “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?”
Epstein reportedly replied, “I’m in the Caribbean. Does she want to come for a couple of days? I’ll send a ticket.”
The Swedish Royal Court confirmed to the outlet that Princess Sofia “has been introduced to the person in question on a few occasions around 2005,” before Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution, including with a minor, in 2008, and later faced federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.
According to the court, Princess Sofia, now 41, did not accept the invitation to join Epstein in the Caribbean, where he is suspected of committing sexual assaults against multiple girls and women.
“The princess has not had any contact with the person in question for 20 years,” the court told Dagens Nyheter.
The outlet also published a 2006 email from Epstein’s assistant to Ehnbom: “Jeffrey wonders what really happened with Camilla. Did you tell her she has a ticket to New York anytime she wants?”
Ehnbom replied, “I think he means Sofia, the little beautiful dark-haired girl who had her friend Camilla with her,” adding that Epstein offered both women spots at an acting school, but there were issues with their visas.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Swedish Royal Court for comment.
Holy sh-t! I guess it’s not that much of a surprise, but I really didn’t think Sofia would be the one with a connection to Epstein. While they’re taking pains to say that Sofia never went to Epstein’s private island, the statement clearly confirms that Sofia met Epstein a few times. Probably in New York, just my guess. While Epstein preferred teenagers (ugh), he didn’t ban young women in their early 20s from his company. Around this time, he knew a lot of models around Sofia’s age. God, I hope Sofia wasn’t any part of that.
Also: Sofia skipped the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden last night. Her husband attended though.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.
