OSLO — Norway’s Princess Martha Louise on Tuesday
relinquished her royal duties in order to focus on her alternative medicine
business with her fiance, a self-proclaimed shaman.
اضافة اعلان
The 51-year-old princess’ relationship with Durek Verrett, a
popular Hollywood spiritual guru, caused waves in Norway after the
African-American “sixth-generation shaman” suggested in his book “Spirit
Hacking” that cancer was a choice. He also sells a $222 medallion on his website
dubbed a “Spirit Optimizer”, which he claims helped him overcome COVID-19.
A poll in September found that 17 percent of Norwegians now
have a lower opinion of the generally popular royal family, nearly all citing
the princess and the shaman as the reason.
In a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday, the princess said
she was stepping down “in order to bring calm to the Royal House”. The palace
said the princess was “relinquishing the role as royal patron... and will not
be representing the royal house at the present time”.
However, “in accordance with the king’s wishes, the princess
will keep her title”. King Harald, speaking to the press later with
Queen Sonja
by his side, said he was “sorry” the princess would no longer represent the
royal family. “She’s very good at it,” he said.
‘Agreed to disagree’
Martha Louise, who claims to be able to speak with angels,
lost her honorific “Her Royal Highness” title in 2002 when she chose to work as
a clairvoyant. In 2019, the divorced mother of three agreed not to use her
title as princess in her commercial endeavors.
And since becoming engaged to Verrett in June, the couple’s
belief in alternative therapies, often featured on their social media channels,
has raised eyebrows in no-nonsense
Norway. Several groups of healthcare
professionals had already dropped the princess as a patron because of her
fiance’s penchant for alternative medicine. “He’s an imposter, a charlatan, and
a quack,” columnist and humorist Dagfinn Nordbo has said.
According to the agreement announced on Tuesday, the couple
will refrain from any association with the royal family in their social media
channels, media productions, and commercial activities.
“This is intended to draw a dividing line that more clearly
separates commercial activity from the Royal House of Norway,” the palace said.
Speaking of Verrett, the king told reporters that following
discussions between all parties, “both we and he have a greater understanding
of what this is all about, and we’ve agreed to disagree.”
“We can live with our differences,” he added.
‘Spirituality important’
The royal family said it had “great confidence in the
Norwegian health service and the Norwegian health authorities”, stressing the
importance of “established medical knowledge and scientific research”.
Meanwhile, Martha Louise said she was “aware of the
importance of research-based knowledge”.
“I also believe, however, that there are components of a
good life and sound physical and mental health that may not be so easy to sum
up in a research report,” she said. “Spirituality, intimacy with other people
and animals, yoga, and meditation” could be important supplements.
It was key “to distinguish between myself as a private
person on the one hand and as a member of the royal family on the other”, she
said.
The palace said that once the princess and Verrett were wed,
her new husband would become a member of the royal family but would not hold a
title or represent the monarchy.
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