Princess Martha Louise of Norway says stepping down from royal duty came with ‘turmoil’

Princess Martha Louise of Norway has revealed her decision to step back from royal duties was filled with ‘turmoil’.

The princess, 51, who describes herself as ‘spiritual’ and claims to be a clairvoyant spoke to the BBC for the first time since she announced she was stepping back from royal duties in November, admitting it had been a process filled with ‘turmoil’.

In an interview with the BBC, she also spoke about being able to ‘see things’, a gift she believes she has had from being a young child.

When asked about her decision in comparison with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who also stepped down as senior royals, she spoke about her ‘amazing’ family, including King Harald and Queen Sonja, and how the dialogue between them has always remained open.

‘What I think has been amazing through this whole cycle has been the conversations we have had through it all,’ she said.

‘From a very young age I remember my mum and dad saying (the King and Queen saying) that we always have to stick together. We always have to talk things through even if it’s hard, we have to put all the cards on the table because we are family and we have to work things through.’ 

The Norwegian royal, who is engaged to American businessman Durek Verrett, also discussed how her fiancé’s controversial ‘views’ had contributed to how the public viewed her position in the royal family.

She said: ‘The Norwegian people I guess… have decided it’s best for me to step down because of his views about things.’

Durek, who describes himself as a ‘Shaman’, was dropped by his publisher shortly after the couple announced their engagement in June 2022 over pseudoscientific claims he made in his book ‘Spirit Hacking’.

Princess Martha Louise announced her engagement to Durek Verrett, an American businessman, last June 

The royal praised her parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, for always keeping channels of communication open and encouraging conversation, even in difficult times

Among the claims were that children ‘can get cancer from being unhappy’.

Durek has also claimed he once came back from the dead, recovering from a month-long coma, by letting his soul ‘burn’ and he has also spoken of having to undergo a kidney transplant from his sister as a child.

It is unclear why he needed the kidney or how he became wheelchair bound, as he has described. The illness which sent him into a coma is also undisclosed.

Elsewhere in the interview, Martha Louise claimed she first began to experience psychic premonitions as a child.

She said: ‘When I was little I would see things in you. If you were sad or if you were happy… if you had a pain in your shoulder I would get a pain in my shoulder.

‘And I understood that that’s a talent and, you know, I could help other people. And that’s when the whole ball started rolling.’

The Princess said she decided she wanted to ‘earn my own money’ which she could only do by giving up her ‘money from the state’ and paying taxes for the first time in her life.

After giving up her position in the royal family, the Princess revealed she has had to deal with ‘lots of scrutiny’ – particularly when she takes on new roles.

‘Everything you do that’s a first, that goes out of the box that you’re put in,’ she said, adding that press scrutiny has ‘continued’. 

She added that, in Norway, spiritual beliefs like the ones she holds are ‘taboo’.

Her comments echoed an interview she gave on Swedish TV in March, in which she claimed she had ‘received the most criticism of anyone in Norway’ for her beliefs. 

As she sat down with Anna Hedenmo on Min Sanning – which translates to My Truth – the royal said she felt she needed to step back because of public image.

She said: ‘I am probably the one in Norway who has received the most criticism of all, I think.’ 

Elsewhere in the television special, the mother touched on how her ex-husband Ari Behn – who took his own life in December 2019 – handled being in the spotlight.

Following their wedding in 2002, the royal said the father of her three children – who made a name for himself as an author -said he didn’t receive good reviews of his work.

She added: ‘His mental health depended a lot on him getting criticism in the media.

‘But I am not saying it was anyone’s fault. It is always how you handle criticism. The press took self-criticism after he died, that they were perhaps a little harsh towards him, and that he only received criticism and was actually a very nice person.’

In June 2022, the newly-engaged couple appeared in a video together on Durek’s Instagram account where the American spiritual guide – whose celebrity clients have included Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev and James Van Der Beek – hit back at online trolling they’ve faced.

He said: ‘One, they don’t want to see a black man in the Royal Family because there’s never been one in the history of the European royal family.

‘Second, she’s a female – it’s different when a royal prince chooses a woman of colour because it’s like, “oh he’s a man, he can choose whoever he wants”.

‘But for a princess to choose a man of colour, has never been done in history. So it’s really though for a lot of people to be able to handle that.’