Princess Märtha Louise, the only daughter of King Harald of Norway has reportedly decided to relinquish her Royal status.
According to the Princess, she will no longer officially represent the Norwegian royal house following “many questions relating to me and my fiancé’s role.”
The 51-year-old princess, who is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, got engaged in June to Durek Verrett, a Hollywood spiritual guru who describes himself as a shaman and a healer on his website.
He also sells a medallion on his website labelled a “Spirit Optimizer”, which he says helped him overcome Covid-19.
“I have decided that at the present time I will no longer carry out official duties for the royal household,” the princess said in a statement issued by the palace, adding that the decision was made in coordination with her parents “to create peace around the royal household.”
“The princess … is relinquishing the role as royal patron … and will not be representing the royal house at the present time,” the palace said in a statement.
However, “in accordance with the king’s wishes, the princess will keep her title”. However, she cannot use it in conjunction with her upcoming marriage to the spiritual guru. The palace also added that Verrett would become a member of the royal family but would not have a title or represent the monarchy.
Norwegian media have accused the princess and Verrett of allegedly using her royal title for commercial gain along with promoting alternative health care methods. Märtha Louise has three daughters from her first marriage, which ended in 2016.
Verrett has previously claimed that some people do not want a Black person in a European Royal family. “White people write all this hate and death threats to us and all this stuff for being together,” he said in a June Instagram live. “They don’t want to see a black man in the royal family.”
