The wedding preparations have not been spared controversy either – but it was a completely different member of the royal family that recently made the biggest negative headlines. The model family of Märtha Louise’s younger brother, the heir to the throne Crown Prince Haakon, is currently experiencing stormy times. Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Haakon’s wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, became violent towards his girlfriend under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, as the 27-year-old himself admitted. Investigations are ongoing – including into how Høiby behaved towards his partners in previous relationships.
Things are bubbling around the bride and groom
What is unusual is that this time, Märtha Louise is not responsible for the recent negative headlines at the Norwegian court. But things are also simmering around the actual bride and groom, which is not least due to the accusation that the princess is mixing commercial interests with her official title.
This allegation has existed since the two went on a lecture tour as “The Princess and the Shaman” early in their relationship – that same year it was decided that Märtha Louise would no longer use her title for business purposes. In 2022, she finally resigned from all official duties for the royal family in order to more clearly separate her role at court and her business activities.
Märtha Louise is the eldest child of King Harald and his wife Queen Sonja (both 87). Although she is older than her brother Haakon (51), she is fourth in the line of succession behind him and his children Princess Ingrid Alexandra (20) and Prince Sverre Magnus (18).
No (realistic) prospect of the throne
Märtha Louise therefore has no realistic prospect of taking the throne. Instead, she is concentrating on her self-realization: among other things, she was a successful show jumper for a long time and trained as a physiotherapist. From 2002 to 2017, she was already married: from her marriage to the writer Ari Behn (1972-2019), she has three daughters: Maud Angelica (21), Leah Isadora (19) and Emma Tallulah Behn (15).
Durek Verrett says he is a shaman in the sixth generation of his family. He wants to help people find their true strength in a spiritual way – this was met with open arms by the princess, who is interested in esotericism, but met with incomprehension by many Norwegians. “He changed my life,” wrote Märtha Louise when she made the relationship public on Instagram in 2019. In the same breath, she preempted the critics: “It is not your place to choose for me or to judge me. I do not choose my husband to please any of you. (…) I choose out of love.”
This love is now reaching its climax on the beautiful Geirangerfjord in western Norway. The princess and the shaman want to celebrate their marriage for three days. The first event was to be a “meet and greet” party (dress code: “sexy and cool”) in nearby Ålesund on Thursday, before the wedding party was to be taken by boat through the fjord to Geiranger, where a Latin American-inspired pre-wedding party awaited them. The wedding ceremony by Pastor Margit Lovise Holte and the actual wedding reception will take place in the picturesque town on Saturday. Details of the guest list – and which members of the royal family will be there – are not yet known.
Access for Norwegian media severely restricted
The bride and groom are accompanied every step of the way by the British celebrity magazine “Hello!”, which has secured exclusive rights to the wedding ceremony and reception for an undisclosed sum – access for Norwegian media, however, is severely restricted, contrary to all usual conventions.
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Image: instagram (APA/LAND TIROL)
The fourth in line to the throne gets married, her partner is welcomed into the royal family – and the local newspapers and television stations are more or less left out? The Norwegian media were furious. The newspaper “Verdens Gang”, for example, accused the princess of getting paid for her own wedding. The “Dagbladet” headlined: “Royal family for sale!” The court itself has at least expressed reservations about being photographed exclusively by “Hello!”.
The princess and the shaman have once again found themselves in the crossfire of the media. There had already been other squabbles in the run-up to the wedding, including one over a wedding gin, the labelling of which the state alcohol monopoly complained was in breach of the strict Norwegian ban on advertising alcoholic beverages. There was also a public mudslinging match with the weekly newspaper “Se og Hør” and with Verrett’s mother, whom the couple accused of saying bad things about her son in the paper for money. “I want to warn all Norwegians about my own son,” she is said to have told “Se og Hør”. The royal wedding, it should be clear, will take place without the mother.
