Princess Sofia of Sweden met with convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein a number of times in 2005, ten years before marrying Prince Carl-Philip.

Per People,the palace confirmed to the tabloid that she had "been introduced to the person in question on a few occasions around 2005," but emphasized that Sofia has not been in contact with Epstein for 20 years.

The revelations come after leaked emails and documents suggested Epstein invited Sofia, who was then 21 and still known as Sofia Hellqvist, to his private Caribbean island.

Swedish businesswoman Barbro Ehnbom, a mentor of Sofia's, sent an email introducing her to Epstein, referring to her as "an aspiring actress who just arrived in New York." Epstein reportedly responded, "I'm in the Caribbean. Does she want to come for a couple of days? I'll send a ticket," per Dagens Nyheter (Sweden's leading newspaper).

A Swedish Royal Court representative earlier said Sofia had never been to Epstein's island, which was the nexus of the sex-trafficking operation he operated, and that she had no ongoing relationship with him. Epstein died in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Before marrying into the royal family, Sofia was a high-profile model and reality TV participant; she won Miss Slitz back in 2004 after posing for the now-defunct men's magazine and made an appearance on the reality show called Paradise Hotel way back in 2003.

Writing in a personal blog reflecting on her New York days, "To be a woman in NY is an advantage. Don't take this the wrong way, but here the men aim to please." She described a party meeting with actor Mark Wahlberg: "He was calm and laid-back! We weren't. We had fun with our crew, sang karaoke, and rocked standing on the sofas."

She met Prince Carl-Philip, 46, at a Stockholm nightclub back in 2009. The then-couple soon started a love affair, with Carl-Philip proposing to Sofia in 2014. The two then married in a royal wedding in June of 2015.

The couple shares four children: Prince Alexander, 9, Prince Gabriel, 7, Prince Julian, 4, and Princess Ines, 10 months. "Regarding the past, Sofia admitted to media in 2013, "It was very tough. People had comments on everything possible, on what I do and how I look."

Since her marriage into the royal family, she has won some hearts among the general public, being involved with charities-which include having voluntarily worked as a medical assistant during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Stockholm hospital.

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