Princess Sofia of Sweden was back in the spotlight at her father-in-law, King Carl Gustaf XVI’s 80th birthday celebrations on Thursday.
The former glamour model and reality TV star, Sofia Hellqvist, 41, seemingly attempted to shun attention with a wide-brimmed blue hat, which guarded much of her face from the camera’s view in a selection of images.
It comes after Sofia broke her silence on her links with Jeffrey Epstein as she admitted to meeting the paedophile at two social events.
The wife of Prince Carl Philip met with the late sex offender on multiple occasions before marrying into the royal family, but revealed she is ‘grateful’ to have had ‘nothing to do with him’ since.
She attended the Te Deum mass alongside other senior members of the Swedish royal family earlier this week – and wore a light blue hat that largely covered her face as she stood on the terrace of Lejonbacken for the flypast.
Carl Gustaf, who is a distant cousin of King Charles, is the first king in the Swedish monarchy’s more than 1,000-year history to reach 50 years on the throne and marked his birthday with the traditional mass.
Sofia and Carl Philip’s children, Prince Alexander, 10, Prince Gabriel, eight, Prince Julian, five, and Princess Ines, one, were also in attendance.
The princess, who was a regular face on the New York party circuit before marrying Prince Carl Philip in 2015, is mentioned in the tranche of Epstein files published by the US Department of Justice in February.
Princess Sofia of Sweden joined members of the family for the celebrations – but hid much of her face with a wide-brimmed hat (pictured from L to R: Sweden’s Prince Oscar, Princess Ines, Princess Estelle, Queen Silvia, Princes Sofia and Prince Gabriel during the 80th Birthday celebrations of King Carl XVI Gustaf)
She is included in a document which lists her as the late paedophile’s companion on a guest list for a private screening and dinner of the film Les Miserables in New York in 2012.
Reacting to the list, Epstein wrote: ‘Amazing!!!’.
Speaking about their relationship for the first time, the princess confirmed they met at the film screening but said she hoped there would be ‘justice’ for his victims.
She said: ‘Now that I have read about all the terrible crimes he has subjected young women to, I am so grateful that I have had nothing to do with him since the few occasions in my twenties.
‘My thoughts go out to all the victims. I hope there will be justice in this,’ she told reporters.
‘We met at a restaurant in a social context when I was introduced and at a film screening with many others. Thankfully, that was all,’ she told reporters.
Princess Sofia previously denied that she would have participated in a film screening with Epstein.
‘The princess was in Sweden on the relevant date and has no knowledge of how her name ended up on the document you refer to,’ a spokesman told Swedish outlet Expressen.
The Swedish royal family previously disclosed that the princess met with the disgraced financier multiple times in 2005.
Pictured: Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia at the 80th birthday celebrations of King Carl Gustaf on April 30 at City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden
Carl Philip and Sofia of Sweden are pictured at their wedding ceremony at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace on June 13, 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden
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 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 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 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.
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 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.
The Swedish media made much of the princess’s 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.
