Royal Musings: Members of the Royal Family will attend Martha Louise's wedding

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Princess Martha Louise of Norway and Shaman Durek Verrett will be married tomorrow in a tent at Vinjevollen, next to the Hotel Union in Geiranger, Norway, which will be attended by family and friends, several reality TV stars, and Hello! magazine, which has exclusive coverage.

The celebrations began last night in Ålesund with a "meet & greet" [arty at the Hotel 1904. The dress code for this party was "sexy and cool."

Today was the travel day for Martha and Durek and their guests as they traveled by boat to Geiranger. The King and Queen, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, and his British-born girlfriend, 17-year-old Amalie Giæver Macleod arrived on the royal yacht, Norge, in Geiranger.

The Norwegian royal palace has confirmed the attendance of TM King Harald V and Queen Sonja at Princess Martha's wedding on August 31. The Crown Prince and Princess, HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, and Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner will also attend the ceremony.

Do not expect to see photos of Martha's parents, brother and sister-in-law, niece and nephew, and her aunt in Hello! as they refused to support Martha and Durek's continued violation of an agreement to not use her title for commercial purposes. However, the Royal family is "looking forward," to Martha Louise's wedding.

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The Danish palace confirmed to the Danish royal magazine, Billed-Bladet that members of the Danish royal family "will not be officially represented" at Martha Louise's wedding. In other words, they declined the invitations to the wedding.

Martha Louise's friend, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, daughter of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, may find it difficult to attend the wedding as she may attend the baptism of her niece, Princess Mafalda of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, at Schloss Berleburg, which takes place on August 31.

According to the Swedish royal family's press office, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Sofia will attend the wedding. Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands are also attending the wedding. Laurentien is the godmother of Martha Louise's daughter, Leah Behn.

https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/714032/princess-martha-louise-norway-durek-verrett-pre-wedding-interview-exclusive/

In November 2022, the couple agreed to not use the princess's title or the royal family for commercial deals.

The Hello!/Netflix deals are violations of that agreement, according to Trond Noren Isakson, one of the foremost Norwegian royal historians. He said: "The agreement that Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett concluded with the King in November 2022 forbids using her royal title, highlighting their royal connection, or mentioning members of the royal house for commercial purposes, including media productions. This agreement is now disregarded daily as Hello! advertises its exclusive rights to «the royal wedding» of «Princess Märtha Louise», «the daughter of the King and Queen of Norway»."

This would not be the first time the Princess and her fiance have violated the agreement. In July, Martha Louise was investigated for her name used on a commemorative bottle of gin.

The princess no longer carries out engagements on behalf of the Royal House. She and Durek agreed to not use the title of princess or refer to members of the Royal House on their social media accounts. This agreement does not allow the princess or Durek Verrett to capitalize on her title or the Royal House, including her parents, her brother, and his family.

The Hello! contract between Martha Louise and Durek violates that agreement. There is no doubt that the couple has been compensated for allowing the magazine to have exclusive coverage of their wedding.

The director of the Palace's communication department, Guri Ofstad Varpe, acknowledged that the King and other members of the Royal House will not be interviewed during the wedding celebrations. The King and Queen and Crown Prince and Crown Princess made it clear that they would only be photographed or filmed during the three days of celebration if the rest of the press had access to the wedding. If the king gives a speech at the reception, it will not be made public, as this is considered a private wedding.

Several days ago, Crown Prince Haakon was asked about his sister's selling the rights to her wedding.

"I think that now it is a wedding, and we are looking forward to that. At the same time, we have an agreement, which of course we assume will be followed. And then there is also a time for us to talk about it further."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/26/norwegian-princess-investigated-over-role-in-commemorative-wedding-gin#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20created%20this%20gin%20for,renounced%20her%20official%20royal%20duties.

A letter from the gin producer to Norway's health department proved Martha Louise and Durek's involvement in the design of the bottle's label. “Both DV [Durek Verrett] and ML [Märtha Louise] have been involved in the design of the text on the bottle.”

The wedding will be at 1:00 p.m,, and will last for an hour. The officiant is a Lutheran pastor Margit Lovise Holte, a close friend of Martha Louise. Michael Beckworth, a New Thought minister, will also be a part of the service. He is the "founder and spiritual director of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Beverly Hills, California."

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The newlyweds and their guests will walk to the hotel for afternoon tea, followed by cocktails. The gala dinner in the Hotel's salon starts at 6:30 p.m. The cutting of the wedding cake is scheduled for 10:15 p.m. and will last 30 minutes.

After the cake ceremony, the bride and groom will have their first dance - the bridal waltz, and then the party begins. There will be late-night snacks in the hotel's foyer at 1. a.m., and the bar will close at 3:00 a.m.

On Sunday, September 1, guests will have a continental breakfast before being shuttled from their respective hotels to the Hotel Union for brunch, which ends at 1 p.m. Guests will board buses at their hotels for the trip to the airport.

According to one Norwegian newspaper, VG, wedding guests won't be able to share images of the wedding or reception. w "It is true that a couple of days ago an email was sent out to all the guests, says the press and communications officer for the wedding, Simon Eriksen Valvik. "We asked there that we do not want photos from the organizers to be shared during the celebration."

This is because Hello! and Netflix have exclusive rights. The King and his family will not be in any photos because of the exclusivity.

In a pre-wedding interview with Hello!, Durek said: "Martha and I have weathered many storms but now we feel we can do anything together – it's made us stronger."

Support for the monarchy has fallen in the past few years. In 2017, 81 percent of Norwegians stated they supported the monarchy. This year's poll from NRK shows a deep decline in support for the monarchy with only 68% supporting the monarchy as a form of government. Thirty-six percent of those surveyed have a more negative view of the Royal House.

There are two reasons for the decline: Martha Louise and Durek Verrett and Marius Borg Høiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship, who has been charged with "bodily harm, threats and damage" to his then-girlfriend. He was arrested on August 4 and has admitted to the violence while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. The police are also investigating abuse charges made by several of Marius's former girlfriends. Martha Louise and Marius are not members of the Royal House but are members of the Royal Family. Marius has never had an official role.

Durek Verrett will become a member of the Royal Family, but not the Royal House, following his marriage to Princess Martha Louise.

The Princess and her soon-to-be husband have no plans to abide by the 2022 agreement. The best wedding gift, King Harald can give to his daughter, is the removal of her title. She could be known as Martha Louise Norge or Martha Louise Glücksburg or take her new husband's surname, Mrs, Durek Verrett.

This will be Martha Louise's second marriage. In 2002, she married writer Ari Behn. They had three daughters, Maud Angelica, Leah Isadora, and Emma Tallulah. The couple separated in 2016 and were divorced a year later.

In 2005, Verrett married Zaneta Marzalkova, allegedly to allow Zaneta to obtain a green card, which she acknowledged following their divorce three years later.

https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/715133/princess-martha-louise-durek-verrett-pre-wedding-boat-party/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/princess-shaman-norway-royal-wedding-rcna168930

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