Swedish royals subject new assertion on Princess Sofia’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as photograph emerges of her ‘that was despatched to the paedophile as a birthday current’

The Swedish royal family has issued a fresh statement on Princess Sofia‘s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after a photograph emerged that was purportedly sent to the billionaire as a present on his 55th birthday. 

Earlier this week, the royal family admitted the princess met with the disgraced financier ‘on a few occasions around 2005’, three years before he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. 

It came as Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published leaked emails allegedly showing a businesswoman introducing Epstein to the glamour model and reality television star, who was 21-years-old at the time. 

Epstein offered Sofia Hellqvist a trip to his notorious Caribbean island, nicknamed ‘Paedophile Island’ by locals, as well as free acting schools, according to the leaked emails.

The Swedish royal family issued a statement following the leaks, stating that the princess ‘has not had any contact with the person in question for 20 years’. 

Now, a further email has been published and is said to show Hellqvist’s then-mentor, Barbro Ehnbom, sending Epstein a photograph of the lingerie model as a gift for his birthday in 2008.

Following pressure to admit the full scale of the relationship between the princess and Epstein, the royal family put out a second statement.

‘No one can be expected to remember every person they have encountered throughout their life,’ it said.

‘However, Princess Sofia recalls meeting Epstein on a few occasions about 20 years ago. 

‘We wish to clarify that these meetings took place in social settings, such as at a restaurant and a movie premiere.’

The photograph purportedly sent to Epstein on his 55th birthday shows a smiling Sofia standing next to Ehnbom, with two young women on either side of them.

Sparkling Christmas trees can be seen in the background of the photograph, which was allegedly sent to Epstein on January 20, 2008, five months before he was convicted. 

The file name on the photograph is apparently ‘Swedish girls’, according to Expressen, the Swedish outlet which published the photo.

The email wishes Epstein ‘congratulations’ on his birthday and a wish to see him soon, according to the newspaper. 

Before exchanging vows with Prince Carl Philip in 2015 and becoming princess of Sweden, Hellqvist was a reality television star and a lingerie model.

She married the prince in a lavish ceremony in the chapel at Stockholm’s Royal Palace, where thousands of well-wishers lined the streets celebrating the commoner-turned-princess. 

She is now immured in scandal after the royal family was pressured to reveal that the former reality television star met Epstein several times before marrying the country’s prince.

She was introduced to the billionaire by Swedish financier and close friend, Ehnbom, according to leaked emails initially published by the nonprofit site ddosecrets.com, and reported in Dagens Nyheter.

According to the emails, businesswoman Ehnbom helped to promote the princess into high society during her 20s.

‘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 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. 

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 Ehnbom allegedly helped to organise at Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion.

In a fresh statement, following the purported birthday photo sent to Epstein, the royal family wrote: ‘Reports that the Princess received help from Epstein with acting lessons or with a visa to the United States are incorrect. 

‘The Princess has never been dependent on him in any way, nor has she had any contact with him for the past 20 years.’

‘Princess Sofia has neither applied for nor attended any form of acting training,’ the royal family said in a previous statement.

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.’

The princess, now 41, worked as a topless model and a yoga instructor and participated in the reality show ‘Paradise Hotel’ in 2005 before she married Carl Philip, 46, who is third in line to the throne.

Before marrying the son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, she was a well-known face in Stockholm’s and New York City’s nightlife.

She attended exclusive parties and blogged about her glitzy life full of celebrities and Hollywood stars on sites such as Glife and Nattstad.

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 the Swedish reality 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 new revelations about her relationship with Epstein 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.

She was not seen at the annual Nobel Banquet event on December 10, sparking curiosity about her whereabouts.

But the Royal Court had already announced on November 29 that Sofia would skip the Nobel gala to look after her 10-month-old daughter.

Press spokesman Johan Tegel said at the time: ‘Princess Sofia is still looking after Princess Ines, who is still very young.’

Epstein took his own life in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in  2019 while awaiting trial over sex-trafficking charges.