The Norwegian royal family cannot escape the media spotlight. In one of the most complicated chapters of their recent history, King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway have had to face the appearance of Princess Mette-Marit in the Epstein files, the trial of Marius Borg Høiby, and the constant controversies involving Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and her husband, the shaman Durek Verrett. Although the couple is not part of the active members of the royal family, each of their moves continues to affect the rest. The latest has been becoming speakers at a spiritual event to be held in September in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. This could well be just another of their outrageous businesses related to spirituality and energies, but the problem goes much further: they have once again broken one of the agreements they committed to with the Norwegian crown and, specifically, with King Harald.
On November 8, 2022, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway announced that she was renouncing her royal duties but would keep her title of princess. She stopped being part of the royal family’s agenda and activities to create distance between her personal activities and those of the royal house. The goal was for her and her then fiancé to enjoy greater freedom to carry out their controversial businesses away from the palace. In this agreement, they committed not to use the title in their commercial activities, not to make the connection between them visible, and not to use labels or images related to the royal family or mention other members in those activities, including interviews.
Once again, they have broken that agreement. The Om & Bassen festival in which they will participate has been promoting their participation in two exclusive workshops using the title of princess as a commercial lure up to seven times. All to sell meetings with the couple and other activities priced at 280 euros. The royal title, which is prohibited from being used for commercial purposes, appeared both in the description of the workshops and in the priority access categories and in the photo package with the couple, as revealed by the Norwegian media Se og Hør, advertising them as “the shaman and the princess.”
Carina Scheele Carlsen, representative of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, attributed the error to the organizer. As explained in the released statement, that text was “an old draft” that was published by mistake. Once the matter became public, the event website removed almost all mentions of the princess title, although some were still visible hours later. For their part, the royal house spokespeople have also spoken publicly: “We agree that the title should not be used for commercial purposes.”
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This is not the first time Princess Märtha Louise of Norway has ignored that agreement. On the gin bottles from her wedding in 2024, the title of princess and a monogram appeared. Also, the wedding became an exclusive for HELLO!. Furthermore, last September her documentary, Rebel Royalty: an unusual love story, premiered, in which they talked about the royal family and even had an image of Prince Haakon, which they had to remove. The palace then denounced the violation of the agreement.
The next controversy does not yet have an exact date, but it is expected from autumn, when a six-episode reality series about esotericism in which the couple has participated will premiere. “I am connected with God, and if that makes people uncomfortable, then they will feel very uncomfortable,” the shaman says in the released trailer. “I am very happy to be able to help create a bridge and normalize this, so that more people dare to express themselves and say who they are. The most important thing in life is to dare to be ourselves,” the princess declared at the presentation to channel TV 2. Both are aware that they will be targeted: “We have received a lot of criticism, so we will probably be able to handle it if we receive it now as well. But I hope people dare to face it with a little more openness of heart and realize that: ‘Oh, maybe I am a little like that too,’” explained the eldest daughter of the Norwegian kings. “Most of us are a little like that and can perceive the energy of a room, among other things. And that is also a way of interpreting energy. Criticism, if it comes, we can face it,” she added in the interview.
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