Princess Martha Louise of Norway

Princess Martha Louise of Norway (born 22 September 1971) is a member of the Norwegian royal family, a businesswomen and a self-described clairvoyant.

The only daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja, she is fourth in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, after her younger brother Haakon, and his children, but is not a member of the royal house. Like her aunts Ragnhild and Astrid, she had no inheritance rights to the Norwegian throne at the time of her birth due to Norway's agnatic primogeniture succession. This only changed in 1990, when the Norwegian parliament adopted male-preference primogeniture succession for those born before 1990, which made her third in line at that time, after her younger brother.

She is active as a private businesswomen and alternative therapist, and does not carry out engagement on behalf of the royal house. From 2007 to 2018 she led her own alternative therapy center, commonly known in Norway as the "angel school" (Norwegian: engleskolen), which provided training in clairvoyance and communication with angels and communication with the dead.

She was married to the later writer and visual artist Ari Behn from 2002 to 2017. In May 2019 she publicly announced her romantic relationship and professional collaboration with Durek Verrett, a self-described shaman who has served time in prison and who been characterized by Norwegian media and other critics as a conman.

AS part of her withdrawal into private professional life, she lost the style "Royal Highness" in 2002, and she holds no style in Norway; the lower style "Highness" is occasionally used informally abroad, but does not officially exist and is not used in Norway. She has often faced criticism in Norway for her claims of being clairvoyant and for exploiting her constitutional title as princess commercially; in 2019 the royal court announced that she will no longer use the title princess in her business activities as a clairvoyant.

Early Life

Princess Martha Louise was born on 22 September 1971 at The National Hospital the Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, to the then Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja. Princess Martha Louise was named after her late grandmother and her paternal great-great grandmother. At birth, she was not in line to the throne, because until 1990, only males could inherit the Norwegian throne (Salic law). She was baptized a few months after her birth. Her godparents are King Olav V of Norway, Princess Margaretha of Sweden, Count Flemming of Roseborg, Princess Ragnhild of Norway, Dagny Haraldsen, Haakon Haraldsen, Nils Jorgen Astrup and Ilmi Riddervold.

In 1973, Martha Louise's youngest brother, Haakon Magnus, was born. In 1990 the Norwegian constitution was altered, granting full cognatic primogeniture to the Norwegian throne, meaning that the eldest child, regardless of sex, takes precedence in the line of succession. This change only affects those born in 1990 or later. Females born between 1971 and 1990 (i.e. only Martha Louise), were given succession rights, but their brothers would be before them in the line of succession, meaning that Prince Haakon still took precedence over Martha Louise in the line of succession. After the births of her brother's two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus, Martha Louise was relegated to fourth in line.

Education and Career

Princess Martha Louise id a certified physiotherapist, following education in Oslo and internship in Maastricht, the Netherlands. She has not practice her profession, however choosing instead, from her fascination in traditional Norwegian folk tales as well as a love of music, to established her own commercial entertainment business based on giving public and televised performances reciting folk tales and singing with well-known Norwegian choirs. In December 2003, she took part in Oslo Gospel Choir's Christmas concert with a solo performance, included on the companion CD album.

On 1 January 2002, Princess Martha Louise started her own business, in order to work with more freedom from her constitution role as a princess. She began paying income tax, and the King, after consulting her, issued a royal edict which removed Princess Martha Louise's style of Royal Highness (she is conventionally accorded the lesser style Highness abroad, although this style has no legal standing in Norway). However, she retains her place in the line of succession, and though her activities were reduced, she still carried out some public duties on behalf of the King.

After several postponements due to family births and her father's illness, during which the princess took on some representation duties, Princess Martha Louise and her husband moved to New York City in October 2004. In 2004, her first book, a children's story about the first royal family of Norway was released -Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns. Accompanying the book is a CD version of the Princess reading her story aloud.

Princess Martha Louise has studied physiotherapy, trained as a Rosen therapist and studied at an academy for holistic medicine. She claims she can communicate with animals and angels and started her own alternative therapy center named Astarte Education, after one of the oldest goddesses in the Middle East. Astarte Education offered a three-year course on healing, readings, and angels. The princess drew criticism in Norway after the announcement that she would start Astarte Education. The newspaper Bergens Tidende called for her to give up her royal titles. Norwegian state director of Health Lars E. Hanssen, Norwegian alternative medicine advocate Dr. Bernt Rognlien, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), religious historian Asbjorn Dyrendal and University of Oslo theology professor Inge Lonning all expressed misgivings about the princess's plans. Author Jan Guillou questioned the princess's mental health.

On 11 August 2007, Martha Louise defended the school on NRK, the Norwegian public service television network. In the interview, she regarded her relationship with angels as" creatures of light, which gave her a feeling of a strong presence and a strong and loving support." She responded to criticism that she should leave the Church of Norway by stating she still considered herself a Christian that was thankful the Church still had room for her.

On 2 October 2007, Princess Martha Louise became the first member of the Norwegian royal family to ever appear in a court of law as she wanted to halt sales of a book entitled Martha's Angels, which used her photo on its cover without permission. She stated that she felt "commercially exploited" by the book's use of her photo, which she regarded as misuse of her name and picture. Film critic Pal Bang-Hansen stated that Martha Louise was a "thief and hypocrite," claiming that she had stolen translated texts from his father's books.

In 2007, the Princess was editor of the book Princess Martha Louise eventyrlige verden, Eventyr fra jordens hyerte, Rodinia containing 67 fairy tales from 50 countries. In 2009, she and her Astarte Education partner Elisabeth Samnoy published Mot din skyttsengel (Meet your guardian angel), followed by Englenes hemmeligheter. Deres natur, sprak og hvordan du opp for dem (The secrets of Angeles: Their nature, language, and how you open up for them).

Princess Martha Louise's Fund

Her Royal Highness Princess Martha Louise's Fund was founded on 15 September 1972 and awards funds to projects carried out by non-governmental organization in order to provide assistance to disabled children under the age of 16 in Norway. Princess Martha Louise is the fund's chairperson. In 2005, the fund had assets of approximately NOK 13,285,000 and total annual allocations came to about NOK 500,000.

Controversy

In 2014, Princess Louise faced some criticism due to her association with British clairvoyant Lisa Williams. Williams was in Oslo on 14 September 2014, and gave a seminar for Soulspring, formerly known as the Angel School, which Princess Martha Louise co-founded. Williams is known for her claims that she can communicate with the deceased. The Soulspring website carried the following message: "We in Soulspring do not communicate with dead souls in our work. And here is where our work is separate from Lisa's. To be completely honest, we don't see the point of contacting the dead. They passed over to the other side for a reason and should be allowed to stay there. "No one representing the royal family commented.

Marriage and Family

On 24 2002, Princess Martha Louise married author Ari Behn (1972-2019) in Trondheim. The couple had three daughters: Maud Angelica, Leah Isadora, and Emma Tallulah-all of whom are untitled. The family lived in Islington, London and Lommedalen, Baerum. Emma Tallulah Behn is a junior member of the national equestrian team, and won a bronze medal during the Norwegian National Horse Jumping Championship in 2021.

The couple divorced in 2017. In 2016, the Royal Court had announced that Martha Louise and Behn would have joint custody of their three daughters. Ari Behn died by suicide on Christmas Day 2019.

In May 2019, the princess announced that she was in a relationship with American citizen, a self-styled shaman named Durek Verrett (born 17 November 1974). He has faced strong criticism in Norway and been characterized by Norwegian media and other critics as a conman. Together Martha Louise and Verrett have organized seminars titled "The Princess and the Shaman," which also were widely criticized. Verrett claims to have been initiated spiritually by the American women who calls herself "Princess Susana von Radic of Croatia." In June 2022, the princess announced that she and Verrett were engaged.

Titles, Styles and Honours

22 September 1971-1 February 2002: Her Royal Highness Princess Martha Louise of Norway

1 February 2002-present: Her Highness Princess Martha Louise of Norway

National Honours

-Norway: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Saint Olav

-Norway: Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Olav V of Norway

-Norway Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Harald V of Norway

-Norway: Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Haakon VII

-Norway: Recipient of the King Olav V Silver Jubilee Medal

-Norway: Recipient of the King Olav V Commemorative Medal

-Norway: recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V

-Norway: Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal

-Norway: Recipient of the Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal

Foreign Honours

-Denmark: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Elephant

-Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose

-Iceland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon

-Jordan: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordon

-Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown

-Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau

-Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry

-Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit

-Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

-Sweden: Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge of King Carl XVI Gustaf

-Sweden: Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

House: Glucksburg

(https://en.wikipedia.org)