Norwegian heiress denies being paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s secret mistress
EXCLUSIVE: ‘I never had ANY romantic relationship with Epstein’: Glamorous Norwegian heiress Celina Midelfart – named as paedophile’s secret mistress during Ghislaine Maxwell trial – says they were just business partners as she also denies Trump fling
Ghislaine Maxwell’s former personal assistant told her child abuse trial in New York that Jeffrey Epstein cheated on Maxwell with Celina Midelfart, a Norwegian heiress, when they first got together Midelfart was the heir to her family’s cosmetics fortune and flight logs show she took at least 13 trips on Epstein’s private jetMaxwell’s ex-PA claimed the pedophile was seeing Ms Midelfart in the mid 1990s, around the same time he was dating other women, and he even sent flowers to the businesswoman from his office.But glamorous socialite Ms Midelfart, now 48, hit back at the claims that she was ever Epstein’s lover to insist they were in business together and have had no contact for 25 years
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The glamorous Scandinavian heiress named as Jeffrey Epstein‘s lover while he was dating Ghislaine Maxwell has hit back to deny claims that she was in a sexual relationship with the paedophile financier, MailOnline can reveal.
Maxwell’s high-profile trial in New York heard sensational claims that Epstein was seeing stunning Celina Midelfart in the mid 1990s around the same time he was dating Maxwell and other women.
The claims were made by Maxwell’s former personal assistant during the trial in which she was found guilty of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Ms Midelfart, 48 has been hiding since she was named in court as Maxwell’s love rival.
But in a statement issued through her lawyer to MailOnline, she vehemently insisted that her relationship with Epstein was a brief, professional one that finished in 1997.
The statement said: ‘[I have] never dated, or had any romantic relationship, with Epstein.’
Celina Midelfart (pictured) was named as Jeffrey Epstein’s lover while he was dating Ghislaine Maxwell
But Ms Midelfart, now 48, has denied the claims, insisting that they only shared business interests
Ghislaine Maxwell (left) began dating Epstein (right) in the mid-1990s, Maxwell’s personal assistant told her trial
The glamorous blonde, who inherited her father’s health and cosmetics empire in 1995, was later romantically linked to Donald Trump before he went on to wed third wife Melania.
The former socialite has also been romantically linked to British pop-star Robbie Williams and Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne.
Ms Midelfart, a millionaire in her own right, later married oil and gas industry billionaire Tor Olav Troim and the family live in Oslo with their son Olav.
The family also own a stunning £4 million water-front summer house in the south-coast fishing village of Portor.
A keen tennis player, the fit 48-year-old is a member of the Oslo TK tennis club and regularly competes in competitions.
Epstein appears with his arm around Ghislaine as he takes a phone call in this evidence photo
She has been lying low since she was sensationally named as a love rival to Ghislaine Maxwell at her sex trafficking trial in New York City earlier this month.
She has not been seen at the waterside offices of her finance company Midelfart Capital that overlook the Olso fjord or at her traditional three-storey town house nearby.
But now the mother-of-one has broken her silence to counter ‘false claims’ that she had ‘romantic relationships with Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump and Robbie Williams’.
A statement issued through her Oslo lawyer Kyrre Eggen said: ‘Celina Midelfart has never dated, nor had any romantic relationship, with Epstein.’
The businesswoman stated she had a brief business relationship with Epstein after she was introduced to him by a Norwegian financial adviser.
And she revealed her shock at being named at the Maxwell trial.
Ms Midelfart went on to explain that she became friends with Donald Trump after she rented an apartment from him in the 1990’s.
She added her only involvement with Robbie Williams was watching him perform at a concert in Oslo.
The statement stated: ‘The true facts are as follows: Around 25 years ago Celina Midelfart had plans to invest some funds in the US markets.
‘In that respect a Norwegian financial adviser, who had a business relationship with Epstein, advised Celina Midelfart to talk with Epstein.
‘At that point in time Epstein was a financial adviser at the renowned American brokerage house, Bear Sterns.
‘For a short period of time Celina Midelfart had some funds placed in the US markets by Bear Stearns, represented by Epstein.
‘Celina Midelfart have not had anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein after 1997.
‘It is very hard to understand how this short business-relation from around 25 years ago, has any relevance whatsoever to the very serious criminal charges against Maxwell.’
Ms Midelfart went on to deny she had had a romantic relationship with Donald Trump.
The statement said: ‘Celina Midelfart has never dated, nor had any romantic relationship, with Donald Trump.
‘The correct facts are that Celina Midelfart rented an apartment in the Trump Tower during her studies in New York in 1996 to 1998.
‘In this period of time she got to know Trump as a friend and she accompanied Trump to many, mostly work related, events.
‘They were never in a romantic relationship, but they enjoyed a mutually respectful friendship.’
The statement added: ‘Celina Midelfart have [sic] no other relation to Robbie Williams than having seen him perform once, at a concert in Oslo, Valhall, in 2003.’
Ms Midelfart declined to comment on evidence heard during the trial that she had travelled on Epstein’s private jet at least 11 times.
Ms Midelfart also used her statement to deny ever having a fling with Donald Trump, as had been previously reported
Ms Midelfart, who took over running Midelfart AS at the age of 22 in 1995, married entrepreneur Tor Olav Troim in 2010 and moved to Belgravia, London.
She became the company’s chairman in 2000, later selling the operative business to Procter & Gamble and Midsona AB, respectively.
She continued to work in business, and became Executive Chairman and 100 per cent owner of the investment company Midelfart Capital AS, which she remains to this day.
Meanwhile she is also a large shareholder and board member of the Swedish consumer finance bank Avida AB.
While she tends to keep a low-profile, she has remained close to royalty in recent years – and was among those who attended Princess Madeline’s wedding to Christopher O’Neill in 2013.
A member of the Midelfart family, Celina is the granddaughter of Ole Midelfart, the founder of the Midelfart cosmetics company. He founded the company in 1923.
Her father was businessman Finn-Erik Midelfart, while her mother is socialite Kristin Hermine Muhle.
While she enjoyed a close relationship with her father, she is said to have said of her mother she is ‘almost more fond of animals than humans’.
Having grown up in Oslo, Celina enrolled in London School of Economics in 1994, where she studied economics with management.
She later transferred to New York University Stern School of Business, with Bachelor of Science summa cum laude in Finance in 1998.
In 1995, her father died and she took over the running of the family’s health and beauty care business, Midelfart AS.
While she tends to keep a low-profile, she is known to be a keen tennis player and even attended Princess Madeline’s wedding to Christopher O’Neill in 2013
In a 2005 documentary, her ex-boyfriend Petter Stordalen explained they had a close bond before his death, saying: ‘She remembers her father as if it were yesterday.
‘If you talk to Celina about her father, it is a vivid picture that is presented.’
Meanwhile her mother remarried to Nicholas Paus – who was a real estate investor, and a member of the respected Paus family in Norway.
It was during this period that Midelfart is said to have been the woman that Donald Trump dumped to date Melania Trump, his third wife.
The former president supposedly ditched her in 1998, after she had been dating Epstein.
Trump and Celina were supposedly on a night out at the Kit Kat Club in New York when he saw Melania and asked her for her number.
The former First Lady refused but Trump persisted and she eventually agreed.
Despite their history, in a 2008 interview, Trump spoke fondly of Celina, calling her a ‘wonderful person and businesswoman.’
She later said she was following Trump’s run in the 2016 with ‘excitement and wonder like many others.’
Epstein and Celina posed together at a reception at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, March 19, 1995
In 2011, Celina gave birth to the couple’s only child so far, a son.
The couple have since moved from their native country to England, and are now living in London.
A 2017 article claimed Trøim and Celina earned over a billion kroner in just two years from insurance, gas and rig businesses.
