Comments on recent Instagram posts involving the Crown Princess have been disabled
The Royal House of Norway is restricting the comments on social media pages as Crown Princess Mette-Marit was named in the latest batch of files related to the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein.
On Feb. 4, Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet reported that the Royal House confirmed they have restricted the comments sections of its official Instagram and Facebook pages.
The Royal House's Head of Communications, Guri Varpe, told the outlet the measure was "temporarily" put in place as several comments violated ethical guidelines.
"There are many comments that violate our ethical guidelines, and we therefore see it as right to temporarily close some of our comment fields on Instagram and Facebook," Varpe said.
PEOPLE has contacted the Royal House of Norway for comment.
According to Dagbladet, tensions were high in the comments sections across the respective platforms, which have a combined 771,000 followers.
A close look at the palace's Instagram shows that comments have been disabled on recent posts involving Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 52, while followers are still able to chime in on posts not involving her.
Meanwhile, on Facebook, Dagbladet said the Royal House has restricted who can comment on its posts, and the comments sections of its posts are no longer open to all users.
The changes come a few days after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published over three million additional pages relating to the Epstein Files Transparency Act on Jan. 30, including many emails between Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Epstein. Mette-Marit is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the future king of Norway, and has a prominent role in the monarchy.
The Crown Princess Mette-Marit was mentioned in over one thousand files released by the DOJ, Norwegian newspaper VG reported. The outlet claimed the two had "contact and meetings" between 2011 and at least 2013. Their correspondence seemed to reveal a friendship between them, as Mette-Marit gave Epstein advice for his "wife hunt" in an October 2012 email and called him "very charming" in a November 2012 email exchange.
American financier Epstein died in prison while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges in August 2019 and following the latest release of files, Crown Princess Mette-Merit apologized for her ties to the disgraced American financier.
"Jeffrey Epstein is solely responsible for his actions. I must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein's background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was. I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility I must bear. I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing," the Crown Princess said in a statement shared with PEOPLE via the Royal House on Feb. 2.
"I wish to express my deep sympathy and solidarity with the victims of the abuse committed by Jeffrey Epstein," she said.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit previously said she regretted her association with Epstein in December 2019 after Britain's former Prince Andrew announced that he was stepping back from his royal role following a disastrous BBC interview about his ties to him.
Mette-Marit's latest statement came just before her son Marius Borg Høiby headed to trial in Oslo on Feb. 3 on 38 charges, including four counts of rape. During his appearance at Oslo District Court on Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to four charges of rape and to other charges of filming women without their consent, NRK and BBC reported.
While in court on Feb. 4, Reuters reported that Marius, 29, broke down crying and said it was difficult for him to testify in a courtroom full of reporters.
"I have been surrounded by the press since I was 3. I have been harassed ever since," he said then, referencing his entry into the royal spotlight as a young child.
Mette-Marit welcomed Marius during a relationship prior to her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon in 2001 and he does not hold a working royal role.
Crown Prince Haakon, 52, previously said in a statement that the royal family sympathized with everyone affected by the court case, clarified that he and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were not planning to attend the trial and emphasized that the Royal House of Norway would continue its usual operations as the trial proceeded.
The proceedings are expected to run for about six weeks and if convicted, Marius could face years up to 10 years in prison, NBC News said.