Discussion about Princess Sofia's Past & Future Role in the Royal Family

[maria-olivia]

Princes should not marry girls with a very strange past.
Why is it coming out now. ?
The Reputation of the Swedish Royal Family did not diserve that.
What will she do now ?

 

[LadyFinn]

Princes should not marry girls with a very strange past.
Why is it coming out now. ?
The Reputation of the Swedish Royal Family did not diserve that.
What will she do now ?

It came out some weeks ago, when The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an additional 20,000 pages of documents received from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.

 

[Maryrose]

For me she was a young girl at the time. She has never IMO put a wrong step forward once she married into the family. This is a non story as far as I am concerned regarding Sofia. Its another distraction from the more important question of who are these famous, powerful people caught up in Epstein's circle and what did they know and do.

 

[fortimo]

Princes should not marry girls with a very strange past.
Why is it coming out now. ?
The Reputation of the Swedish Royal Family did not diserve that.
What will she do now ?

Nothing serious. I am sure, that her husband knows her past very well. And latest, when the news came out with Epstein, she told him, that they met several years ago. I don't think it was a bad surprise for the royal family. And it is past. Nothing serious happened.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Has Barbro Ehnbom suffered any professional, social or reputational damage from the revelations about her relations with Jeffrey Epstein and/or her responses to them?

Archived version of the original Dagens Nyheter article:

Prinsessan Sofia träffade Jeffrey Epstein flera gånger

archived 9 Dec 2025 15:10:37 UTC

archive.ph

Discussion about Princess Sofia's Past & Future Role in the Royal Family

@Queen Claude I recall reading that Princess Sofia when asked about her past in a pre-wedding interview said she was not ashamed of the things she had done because your past experiences are what build your character but given the option now she would probably make a different choice. NOW before...

www.theroyalforums.com

 

[sophie25]

Nothing serious. I am sure, that her husband knows her past very well. And latest, when the news came out with Epstein, she told him, that they met several years ago. I don't think it was a bad surprise for the royal family. And it is past. Nothing serious happened.

Let's just say it truthfully, with her posing naked and partaking in Swedish 'Love Island' etc a lot of men, royal or otherwise, would not have married her. I don't think therefore that Carl Phillip will bail on his marraige whatever comes out. He seems to accept everything about her, no questions asked.

 

[Queen Claude]

Has Barbro Ehnbom suffered any professional, social or reputational damage from the revelations about her relations with Jeffrey Epstein and/or her responses to them?

Archived version of the original Dagens Nyheter article:

Prinsessan Sofia träffade Jeffrey Epstein flera gånger

archived 9 Dec 2025 15:10:37 UTC

archive.ph

Discussion about Princess Sofia's Past & Future Role in the Royal Family

@Queen Claude I recall reading that Princess Sofia when asked about her past in a pre-wedding interview said she was not ashamed of the things she had done because your past experiences are what build your character but given the option now she would probably make a different choice. NOW before...

www.theroyalforums.com

IIRC she lost support and/or funding for one or more of her endeavors.

As others have mentioned, I think those who have faced the most serious consequences are the ones who continued associating with Epstein after his sex offense conviction.

 

[LadyFinn]

Aftonbladet's royal expert Jenny Alexandersson's column, where she says among other things
No one can know everything – but everyone can put their foot down when the bomb explodes
* Jeffrey Epstein's shadow falls over both the royal house and the presidential palace. Now also over the Swedish royal house. Princess Sofia's former mentor Barbro Ehnbom has made offensive and inappropriate comments about her mentees in several emails to Epstein. Even about the princess. After reading several of the messages, I perceive Barbro Ehnbom's tone as flattering and tailored to his needs.
* I miss the princess's voice in the context. A couple of sentences in a statement that she thinks of the victims, that she is against all forms of exploitation of children and women. That's what Crown Princess Mette-Marit did a few years ago when her meetings with Epstein became public.

Ingen kan veta allt – men alla kan sätta ner foten när bomben briserar

Den dömde pedofilen Jeffrey Epsteins skugga faller över både kungahus och presidentpalats.

www.aftonbladet.se

 

[tommy100]

I have to say I can't say its a complete shock to me that Sofia ends up being mixed up with Epstein.
I certainly don't think this makes her unsuitable for being a royal - I already thought that before she married CP and still think it but no more or less because of her having being linked to Epstein.

 

[Blog Real]

This won't harm the Royal Family or Princess Sofia; she only knew him but had nothing to do with the things he did. And from what I've read, she was only with Epstein a rarely times.

 

[EllieCat]

People grow up. People can grow up. People should be able to grow up. People put their past behind them. And they should be allowed to do so. Just about everyone can say they made poor choices when they were young, some things minor, some not so. It's when they carry on doing the same wrong things that the finger should be pointed; this is why Andrew M-W is in the position he is today. As others have pointed out, Princess Sofia has not put a foot wrong since she married into the family, and I daresay from when she met the prince.

 

[hereditarytitles]

I am sure that after a while the press (which, by the way, is also reporting on this here in Germany) will fall silent and the matter will be forgotten, because there will be other topics.
I am much more interested to learn about those disgusting prominent politicians or CEOS or other well known men of the business world what they did, and they were the real villains in that saga. It isn't fair to only report on the victims or non-victims in case of Sofia and that because she belongs to a royal family. I am still waiting for that, will it ever happen?

 

[Alisa]

Is this why Sofia was not at the Nobel festivities?

I too was never a fan of Sofia Hellqvist. She clearly wanted fame and fortune. Regrettably she was dabbling with shady and unsavory people.

The past has a way of coming back and biting you in butt.

To her credit though she has been near flawless since becoming Princess Sofia.

 

[Halise]

If that's the case, I acknowledge that the court was right to exclude her. It's better that the articles are published without her wearing a tiara at the banquet
Although some keep looking for where to scrape

 

[xenobia]

It was announced more than a month ago that Sofia wouldn't attend this years Nobel since she is still partially on maternity leave. So unless the Royal Court knew what the press would report more than a month in advance, it's simply a case of maternity leave.

 

[Alisa]

It was announced more than a month ago that Sofia wouldn't attend this years Nobel since she is still partially on maternity leave. So unless the Royal Court knew what the press would report more than a month in advance, it's simply a case of maternity leave.

Leaks have been happening all year and certainly since October it was known that this would all come out. Perhaps someone at the State Department and/or the Swedish Ambassador gave the court a heads up.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

It seems Princess Sofia has been absent from many high-visibility royal events (e.g. Opening of Parliament, Nobel Prize) during her current maternity leave (more so than during her pre-Covid maternity leaves), but the Princess has continued to carry out some lower-profile royal engagements (including the visit with police a few days ago) while on maternity leave.

See the earlier discussion here:

Obviously she is prioritizing to be with her daughter this time. She didn't attend the Polar Music Prize celebration in May, the National day evening celebrations, Victoria's birthday concert in July.
When Alexander was born on April 19, Sofia attended the National Day celebrations and Polar Music Prize in June, Victoria's birthday concert in July and the Opening of the Riksdag in September.

Missing more events in general compared to earlier maternity leaves could certainly be attributed to older age and having more children to care for.

The pattern of particularly avoiding televised concerts, ceremonies and banquets, while continuing to work “bread and butter” engagements, is a bit more difficult to understand, if it is not linked to any public relations strategy.

 

[LadyFinn]

It was announced more than a month ago that Sofia wouldn't attend this years Nobel since she is still partially on maternity leave. So unless the Royal Court knew what the press would report more than a month in advance, it's simply a case of maternity leave.

Already over 3,5 years ago at least one Swedish media wrote about Barbro Ehnbom and Epstein, with Sofia's photo at the article. And it has been known that more documents of Epstein will come out.

The mentor of Swedish princess Sofia brought young women to Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion

• Unique photos of the young Swedish women visit the billionaire convicted of sex crimes • How the Stockholm School of Economics tried to cover up the collaboration.

www.etc.se

Leaks have been happening all year and certainly since October it was known that this would all come out. Perhaps someone at the State Department and/or the Swedish Ambassador gave the court a heads up.

Yes, that is possible.

The Swedish Stockholm School of Economics commented finally on December 11:
In recent weeks, media have once again reported that Barbro Ehnbom, an alumna of the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), has had connections to Jeffrey Epstein. We would therefore once again like to clarify what has happened from the SSE’s perspective. As soon as the leadership of SSE became aware in 2015 that there was a connection between Ehnbom and Epstein, we ended our collaboration with Ehnbom. We are appalled by these reports and strongly distance ourselves from everything that has come to light.
In 2015, the leadership of SSE was informed by the news agency Reuters that the School had been mentioned as a recipient of donations from Jeffrey Epstein. Following an internal review, we were able to conclude that two foundations, Enhanced Education and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, were linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
For several years, these foundations had donated to the Barbro Ehnbom Fund, which was a separate entity and was controlled by SSE alumna Barbro Ehnbom. The Stockholm School of Economics administered the fund but did not exercise active control over incoming donations and was not aware of who was behind the two foundations.

Clarification regarding media reporting on Ehnbom and Epstein - hhs.se - Stockholm School of Economics

In recent weeks, media have once again reported that Barbro Ehnbom, an alumna of the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), has had connections to Jeffrey Epstein. We would therefore once again like to clarify what has happened from the SSE’s perspective. As soon as the leadership of SSE became...

www.hhs.se

 

[maria-olivia]

This was known since a while. As it was his past and she never did a faux pas as Rooyal, She should attend the most important Swedish event the Nobel. Das that the press let us known just before the Nobel, was it by upset?.
I agree Alisa 's post

 

[hereditarytitles]

Sofia is still on maternity leave and perhaps she's still breastfeeding. In that case, I can understand why she's not attending large, time-consuming events, not wanting to leave the baby to a babysitter. I don't blame her for missing these events because the baby is presently more important. I think, next year she will attend important events again.

I don't believe her absence has anything to do with the Epstein Files.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

The Swedish Stockholm School of Economics commented finally on December 11:
In recent weeks, media have once again reported that Barbro Ehnbom, an alumna of the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), has had connections to Jeffrey Epstein. We would therefore once again like to clarify what has happened from the SSE’s perspective. As soon as the leadership of SSE became aware in 2015 that there was a connection between Ehnbom and Epstein, we ended our collaboration with Ehnbom. We are appalled by these reports and strongly distance ourselves from everything that has come to light.
In 2015, the leadership of SSE was informed by the news agency Reuters that the School had been mentioned as a recipient of donations from Jeffrey Epstein. Following an internal review, we were able to conclude that two foundations, Enhanced Education and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, were linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
For several years, these foundations had donated to the Barbro Ehnbom Fund, which was a separate entity and was controlled by SSE alumna Barbro Ehnbom. The Stockholm School of Economics administered the fund but did not exercise active control over incoming donations and was not aware of who was behind the two foundations.

Clarification regarding media reporting on Ehnbom and Epstein - hhs.se - Stockholm School of Economics

In recent weeks, media have once again reported that Barbro Ehnbom, an alumna of the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), has had connections to Jeffrey Epstein. We would therefore once again like to clarify what has happened from the SSE’s perspective. As soon as the leadership of SSE became...

www.hhs.se

Reading the Stockholm School of Economics press release vehemently condemning and distancing itself from Barbro Ehnbom, the tone strongly suggests that in Sweden, too, it is now stigmatized to even be two degrees of separation from Jeffrey Epstein (that is, being close to a person who was close to Jeffrey Epstein).

While there is no evidence that Sofia Hellqvist knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes or was close to him, there is plenty of evidence that Sofia Hellqvist was close to Barbro Ehnbom, and that Barbro Ehnbom remained close to Jeffrey Epstein for many years after Mr. Epstein's sex offense conviction.

So like the Stockholm School of Economics, Princess Sofia may have cause to dislike the spotlight for the time being even though she herself hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing.

I didn't know that, otherwise I wouldn't have worded my post that way. I was always under the impression that, unlike others, she never commented on it publicly. When and where was that?

I do not recall any statement of regret, either. The recent statements of the Royal Court included none such.

 

[hereditarytitles]

I remember reading that people were upset that Sofia didn't express any regret about her past, but on the contrary said she regretted nothing. There are also several old newspaper articles about this. Here's one from "People" from 2015.
She said: “A lot has been written over the years, not only following our engagement,” For me it’s pretty boring, it happened 10 years ago and I’ve moved on with my life. But no regrets. Experience shapes a person.”

Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist Defend Their Love

"From the beginning, there was a struggle for Sofia to be accepted," Swedish royals reporter Margareta Gotthardsson tells PEOPLE

people.com

​

 

[Emmily]

I am sure that after a while the press (which, by the way, is also reporting on this here in Germany) will fall silent and the matter will be forgotten, because there will be other topics.
I am much more interested to learn about those disgusting prominent politicians or CEOS or other well known men of the business world what they did, and they were the real villains in that saga. It isn't fair to only report on the victims or non-victims in case of Sofia and that because she belongs to a royal family. I am still waiting for that, will it ever happen?

Yes! When will the men and women in power who knew what was going on and looked the other way or who victimized young women be held to account?

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Already over 3,5 years ago at least one Swedish media wrote about Barbro Ehnbom and Epstein, with Sofia's photo at the article. And it has been known that more documents of Epstein will come out.

The mentor of Swedish princess Sofia brought young women to Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion

• Unique photos of the young Swedish women visit the billionaire convicted of sex crimes • How the Stockholm School of Economics tried to cover up the collaboration.

www.etc.se

Archived: The mentor of Swedish princess Sofia brought young women to Jeffrey E…

Eigil Söderin and Max V Karlsson’s investigative report raises serious concerns about Barbro Ehnbom’s attitudes towards sexual abuse and harassment, safeguarding, and gender equality.

A few excerpts from the article (as a reminder about the timeline, Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in June 2008 and this was reported in the news at the time):

“At the time, Selma was 20-years old and studying in New York. On the 15th of March 2012 she was invited to dinner by a friend who was a member of the American branch of the Swedish women's network Barbro’s Best and Brightest (BBB). The invitation listed the address of a "Mr. B"; short for Mister Billionaire. Dress code? Bare legs. Selma asked for more information and her friend replied: "We’re going to visit a convicted pedophile, haha."

[...]

Barbro Ehnbom, however, questions why Epstein was charged for trafficking before his death in 2019.
– Trafficking is something terrible. They’ll take a ten-year-old girl, put her in a truck and take her to a brothel in Queens, where they’ll beat her until she does what they want. That’s trafficking. I don’t know if sitting on a plane and drinking champagne with Prince Andrew is trafficking. Maybe another kind of trafficking.

[...]

Let’s return to Epstein's Manhattan luxury estate. In September 2013, Barbro Ehnbom escorted a new group of women. This time the 14 members of the BBB network [...]

[That night, Jeffrey Epstein] was served tea by young girls who were already present in the house when the guests arrived and who stayed in the house when the Swedes left.

– From what I can remember, the girls looked extremely young and were dressed in what looked like school uniforms. Strangely, after the event, Barbro told a few of the participants that it was a shame that Jeffrey had never met anyone long-term. But that he had always gotten along well with Swedish women. It felt like a strange comment to make in the context of a professional event.

After the evening at Epstein’s house, Barbro Ehnbom's assistant sent out a request to the BBB network via email: “Barbro wants everyone to get in touch with Jeffrey and thank him for the evening”, and provided Epstein’s email address. One of the BBB members, who was in her 20s, was later contacted by Epstein. They met and, according to the woman, Epstein made advances towards her. Dagens ETC has spoken at length with the woman who at the last minute has chosen not to participate in the article. We also have reliable information that Epstein asked women in the network to help him come into contact with potential victims.


One of the women who was invited to Epstein's house felt uncomfortable when she later read about his conviction. This was reported to Barbro Ehnbom's closest colleague in New York.
– She replied that similar criticism had been voiced before and that she herself felt badly about it, but that Barbro had chosen to disregard the criticism. Probably because he was such an important financial donor, says the woman who has requested to remain anonymous.

[...]

Barbro Ehnbom tells us that the Stockholm School of Economics promised her a doctor's hat.
– But that idea seems to have been forgotten now that this poison is spreading. Same thing with the King’s Medal.

[Barbro Ehnbom] has also claimed that she first became aware of the verdict against Epstein in 2015. [...] [But] she now explains that she was well aware of Epstein’s conviction once it was made public in June 2008.
– Of course I learned of the conviction when it occurred. But there was this explanation floating around that it was political [...]

When you were at Epstein's house, did you see girls serving him tea in school uniforms?
– No, I had no idea about that. But he was always surrounded by young, smart girls. He liked young girls. The ones I saw were 19–20 years old, says Ehnbom and adds that she never heard of Epstein making any advances towards women in the BBB network.”​

 

[JR76]

I didn't know that, otherwise I wouldn't have worded my post that way. I was always under the impression that, unlike others, she never commented on it publicly. When and where was that?

Sorry, I had intended to go back and add some more information to my post, but it had already been closed. What the princess has said might not technically qualify as an excuse, but she's said a few times that she has no regrets regarding her past, but would have made different choices today. I believe that one of those times was during her engagement interview. I'd provide a link if possible, but I haven't been able to find one.

 

[hereditarytitles]

Sorry, I had intended to go back and add some more information to my post, but it had already been closed. What the princess has said might not technically qualify as an excuse, but she's said a few times that she has no regrets regarding her past, but would have made different choices today. I believe that one of those times was during her engagement interview. I'd provide a link if possible, but I haven't been able to find one.

I posted an article from 2015 above, post 262. It is exactly like you wrote and I remember that from old articles. She did not apologize , but gave an explanation which was her choice and a honest answer. But there are always people who demand an official apology, I guess.

 

[victor1319]

I posted an article from 2015 above, post 262. It is exactly like you wrote and I remember that from old articles. She did not apologize , but gave an explanation which was her choice and a honest answer. But there are always people who demand an official apology, I guess.

Well, perhaps the rule is now: Never explain, never complain, never apologize...

The damage by Princess Sofia is done anyway! So, one can try to sit it out. But we know from experience, that this might not work. The Prince Andrew story comes to mind...

 

[xenobia]

The damage by Princess Sofia is done anyway! So, one can try to sit it out. But we know from experience, that this might not work. The Prince Andrew story comes to mind...

What damage? That she may potentially have been one of Epsteins victims? Just the fact that she met him doesn't mean much. If there is someone here who has reasons to be worried, it's Barbro Ehnbom.

 

[Lee-Z]

Granted i didn't read up on the case, but surely the position of then Sofia Hellqvist in Epstein circles was vastly different from the wealthy men like P.Andrew, Donald Trump etc?

What do people think she should apologize for? Pretty sure she was in no position to do something about Epstein at the time?

 

[Moonmaiden23]

When the Royal houses relaxed the vetting/standards for the men and women who marry in to their families in the last 25-30 years, in the name of "the only thing important is LOVE" pressure from press and public, this is where they found themselves.

Married in spouses with skeletons in the closet are one thing. Time bombs in the closet that can detonate at any time and damage or bring down the building are quite another.

There needs to be a happy medium between honoring the very human desire/need to make love matches BUTwith spouses who do not have pasts so controversial that they need to be whitewashed, explained and eventually apologized for.

I brought up the same problem in the NRF Forums regarding Mette Marit and Marius.

I hope the next generation of young Royals and their parents are paying very close attention.