The Royal Household reserves itself against photo agreements – still problematic, the editor believes

– We are aware that exclusive rights have been granted to two media for the coverage of the wedding of Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett, writes the Royal Palace in an email to NTB.

The bride and groom have given the weekly Hello Magazine exclusive rights to document the wedding ceremony itself.

According to what NTB learns, the other media is a TV team that is already following and documenting the couple’s life in the run-up to the three-day party in Geiranger. The upcoming wedding is followed and filmed by a Netflix director, writes Aftenposten.

– The members of the Royal Household have reserved themselves from being photographed and filmed by these two media, in those cases where the press otherwise does not have access, emphasizes the Royal Household.

The exclusivity agreement during the wedding has garnered criticism from editorial teams in several media, partly because it puts the royal couple and the crown prince’s family in a difficult situation and can create confusion about roles, as they have no tradition of entering into such agreements.

Praises the Royal House

It is not known what Hello Magazine may have paid for the rights, but Se og Hørs editor Ulf André Andersen believes that it is obviously a commercial agreement.

– It is good that the Royal House and the royal family reserve the right to photograph and thus clarify their role. But it will be very exciting to see how they intend to solve this in practice, says the editor to NTB.

Andersen believes that the princess and her husband-to-be put the king and the rest of the royal house in a difficult situation, since they will inevitably be associated with a commercial agreement.

– This is a step towards the commercialization of the Royal Palace. Märtha Louise uses her position in the royal family to sell rights. They wouldn’t have had much value, he notes, if it weren’t for her position as a princess.

Se og Hør has not been offered photo rights to the wedding, according to Andersen, who does not hide the fact that he is always envious when others get exclusive photos.

The castle: The agreement applies

According to Hello Magazine both King Harald, Queen Sonja and the Crown Prince couple, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus will participate in the wedding, but the royal house has not confirmed this.

The castle refers to the previous agreement concluded with Princess Märtha Louise regarding restrictions on the use of the title.

Neither she nor Verret shall use the title of princess or refer to members of the Royal Household in their own social media channels, in media productions or in connection with other commercial activities.

The king emphasized when the agreement was made known in 2022 that he wanted the princess to retain the title and thanked her for “the important efforts the princess has made through her official work for decades”.

The Royal Household has so far not responded to NTB’s request for comment on Andersen’s latest statements.

– Private arrangement

– The wedding party for Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett is a private event, communications manager Simon Eriksen Valvik emphasizes to NTB.

He does not answer fundamental questions about the use of the princess title in this context.

– Accredited press can turn up to take pictures, film and in some cases get access to talk to both guests and the bride and groom. We will also distribute photos of the bride and groom and family to anyone who wants it, says Valvik.

To call the princess wedding “a private event” is naive at best, Andersen believes and points out that Märtha Louise is fourth in line to the throne.

– It is only natural that the Norwegian public gets to take part in this great event. Here, the airspace is closed, and the police have set aside large resources. Then you can no longer call it a private wedding, he says.

TV 2: Excludes the public

Police, defense and other local authorities are mobilizing and putting great resources into the celebration, news editor Karianne Solbrække also points out in TV 2 to NTB.

– When, on top of it all, you expect representation from other royal houses, as well as other high-profile guests, it is difficult to call this a private event, she says.

Solbrække believes it is a shame that someone who is so high in the line of succession to the Royal House – shuts out the Norwegian public.

– This is a historic moment that has very high public interest in Norway. Instead of facilitating broad public coverage that Norwegian media have a long tradition of collaborating on on the video and image side, they sell the rights to a foreign celebrity magazine, she says.

NRK and NTB: – Unfortunate

NRK’s ​​news editor Knut Magnus Berge thinks it is unfortunate that the Norwegian press is not given access. The statements are given before the announcement about the Royal Palace’s reservations.

– This wedding has obvious public interest. We think it is fundamentally unfortunate that the Norwegian media and other press do not get access to the wedding of the woman who is number four in the Norwegian line of succession, he says to NTB.

NTB’s news editor Christina Dorthellinger also calls the decision unfortunate and surprising in an interview with NRK.

When asked if this violates the princess’ promise not to use the princess title in commercial contexts, Dorthellinger replies that it is difficult to balance.

– But we cannot ignore the fact that she is Princess Märtha Louise, it is Princess Märtha Louise who is getting married, and the interest is linked to the fact that she is Princess Märtha Louise.