Earlier this year, Norway’s Princess Martha Louise got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, business partner and lover, Shaman Durek Verrett. The reaction from Norway’s royal house was pretty muted, although I should note that Martha has been based out of LA for years now, and she only returns to Norway for “visits” throughout the year. She’s already built a life for herself outside of the Norwegian royal system, and the royals banned her from using her royal status from hawking her spiritual, holistic and shaman-related stuff two decades ago, and in 2019, she was no longer allowed to used “princess” commercially either. There was a lingering question as to whether the Norwegian royals had gone far enough, and whether they would take away everything “royal” now that she’s engaged to a shaman. Her brother, Crown Prince Haakon tried to thread the needle last month, basically saying that the family was fine with Martha marrying a a Black man, but they didn’t want to associate the family with Martha’s shaman-related commercial ventures. Well, the family has finally stripped Martha of her royal role. She seems fine with it:
Princess Märtha Louise of Norway is stepping away from her royal role. The 51-year-old daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja has renounced the royal responsibilities she inherited at birth, the Royal House of Norway announced Monday. The decision was made so that Märtha Louise can more freely pursue other interests without the restrictions of being affiliated with the crown, and comes ahead of her wedding to her fiancé Shaman Durek.
“Princess Märtha Louise wishes to differentiate more clearly between her own activities and her relationship to the Royal House of Norway. The Princess has therefore decided, in consultation with His Majesty The King and other close family members, that she will not carry out official duties for the Royal House at the present time,” the palace said in a statement.
“The Princess is patron of various organisations, and today she informed them that she is relinquishing her patronage role, which has provided the framework for her official duties. The Princess is taking this step to create a clearer dividing line between her business activities and her role as a member of the Royal Family. The organisations previously under her patronage will be offered the patronage of other members of the Royal Family,” it continued.
The release specified that Märtha Louise and Durek “are seeking to distinguish more clearly between their activities and the Royal House of Norway,” and will not use her princess title or reference other members of the royal family on social media, in media work or for other commercial purposes. An exception has been made for Märtha Louise’s @PrincessMarthaLouise handle on Instagram, and her father the King is allowing her to keep her princess title.
“The King and Queen wish to thank Princess Märtha Louise for the important work she has carried out in her official capacity for several decades. She has performed her duties with warmth, care and deep commitment,” the statement added.
[From People]
Martha confirmed the news on her Instagram and basically repeated the party line from the palace, that it was her choice, in “consultation” with her parents, to step away from everything. From a PR perspective, this was handled pretty well – it definitely feels like there was an actual conversation and consultation, and that Martha has been able to set up a separate life for herself in California for years, almost like her family was like “try it out, if it doesn’t work out, you can come back.” And she decided not to come back. Now, if you told me that there was some shady stuff happening behind the scenes, sure, I’d believe that. There’s shady sh-t happening in most families, especially old royal houses in countries without a lot of diversity. But the Norwegian royals are doing a much better job than the Windsors and the Dutch royals for keeping their familial infighting quiet and civil in public.
Photos courtesy of Martha’s IG.
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