King says wedding “better than expected”
Discussion sparked by Märtha Louise’s unconventional wedding in Geiranger
Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB
King Harald and Queen Sonja were photographed after the wedding ceremony in Geiranger on Aug. 31, when his daughter, Princess Märtha Louise, married Durek Verrett, a Los Angeles-based shaman.
NTB
The marriage of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway to Durek Verrett, a self-proclaimed shaman from Los Angeles, took place in Geirganer, Norway, the last weekend of August, but the discussion around it is far from over. King Harald and the rest of the royal family were in Geiranger to celebrate. The royal family stayed on the royal ship Norge, which was anchored in the fjord. Our coverage from the Norwegian News Agency, Norsk Telegrambyrå (NTB), includes King Harald’s thoughts about how the unconventional wedding celebration went.
“The wedding in Geiranger was better than expected,” King Harald told NTB. At the same time, he said that new contract talks with Märtha Louise will be taking place.
“It was absolutely fantastic. It was better than I thought it would be,” the king said.
What was good?
“Everything, almost. Yes, it was a little delay, yes,” the king said.
The king was making reference to how the actual wedding ceremony in Geiranger, which took place in a tent a stone’s throw away from the Hotel Union, was almost an hour late in getting started. The bride arrived at the tent almost an hour behind schedule, hidden by a sea of white cloths, hiding her from the Norwegian press and the general public.
When asked by NRK if it is time for a new talk with Märtha Louise about the agreements with the royal palace, the king replied, “We have said that.”
Media rights sold
Crown Prince Haakon spoke about the agreements with Märtha Louise during the ONS oil fair in Stavanger on Aug. 26, just a few days before the wedding weekend.
“Well, first, it’s your wedding [referring to his sister, Märtha Louise], and we’re looking forward to it. Well, first we have to implement it. It will be nice. And then there is also time to talk further about the agreements and how we handle it,” he said.
Criticism from the Norwegian and international press has been very pronounced in regard to the event’s commercialization.
The royal family excluded itself from exclusive photo agreements during the princess’ wedding. In other words, the royal family refused to allow themselves to be filmed and photographed by the media outlets that had been given exclusive rights during Märtha Louise and Durek’s wedding.
It was the British weekly magazine Hello! that obtained exclusive photography rights to the princess’ wedding.
In addition, a Netflix documentary is currently being made about Märtha Lousie and Verrett. A TV crew followed the wedding party closely, both in Ålesund and Geiranger.
History of criticism
Märtha Louise has previously drawn criticism for mixing commercial interests with her princess title.
In Nov. 2022, it became known that Märtha Louise would keep her princess title, but she would relinquish her official duties for the royal house. Already in 2002, she renounced the title “Her Royal Highness.”
Earlier this summer, some royal house experts advocated that Märtha Louise should be stripped of her princess title altogether. The reason behind this was the much talked-about wedding gin, for which the princess title was initially used commercially on the label. It was later removed.
“When the agreements are not respected, it is time to remove Märtha Louise’s princess title before King Harald’s life’s work is further damaged,” wrote historian and royal house expert Trond Norén Isaksen in a chronicle in Aftenposten.
Royal court makes changes to its website; removes the “royal family” category
The website for the Norwegian royal house underwent a change on Tuesday. They have removed the “Royal Family” category.
It was the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK, that reported the change first. The category formerly called “The Royal Family” has changed to “The Royal House” and “Other Royals.”
Thus, there is no place for Marius Borg Høiby, Maud Angelica Behn, Leah Isadora Behn and Emma Tallulah Behn, or Durek Verrett, in the official categories.
“The changes on kongehuset.no have been made to clarify who represents the royal family, as well as who the other royals are. This is in line with current definitions of the royal house and its members,” said Guri Varpe, communications manager at the royal palace to NRK.
Varpe denied that the changes have anything to do with Durek Verrett or Marius Borg Høiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son, who was arrested on charges of physical abuse of his girlfriend and destruction of property while under the influence of cocaine. A police investigation is ongoing.
The press contact at the royal court, Sara Svanemyr, explained to NTB that several members of the king’s family are mentioned in the royal biographies. This applies to Høiby, Verrett, and the three daughters of Princess Märtha Louise.
Survey shows majority wants to strip Märtha Louise of her princess title
According to a recent survey, the majority of Norwegians think that Märtha Louise should be stripped of her princess title.
About 61.7% believe that Märtha Louise should not retain the princess title, 22.4% would like her to retain it, while 15.9% answered “Don’t know” in a survey InFact carried out for Nettavisen.
The question that was asked was: “Do you think that Märtha Louise should retain her royal title?”
More men (66.2%) than women (57.2%) believe that she should not retain the title. Most (66.9%) in the age group 45–64 believe that she should be stripped of the title, while half of those between 18 and 29 years of age think the same.
The survey was conducted on Sept. 4.
