Märtha Louise of Norway may have relinquished many privileges when she stepped away from royal duties in 2022, but one strict rule would not have benefited her had she remained a working royal.
Despite being two years older than her younger brother Crown Prince Haakon, Märtha Louise is not the direct heir to the Norwegian throne.
This is because Norway did not adopt absolute primogeniture until 1990, and the change was not applied retroactively. As a result, Haakon has maintained his position as heir apparent.
The change only affects those born in 1990 or later, meaning Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit's daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra has retained her place in the line of succession above her younger brother, Prince Sverre Magnus.
Born in 2004, Princess Ingrid is currently second in line to the throne behind her father, making her destined to become the Queen of Norway one day.
The Norwegian wedding
Princess Ingrid was among the 350 guests who attended her aunt Märtha Louise's wedding at the historic four-star hotel, Hotel Union, last week. The 52-year-old married Durek Verrett in a three-day celebration, which was exclusively covered by HELLO! Magazine.
Märtha Louise's three daughters Maud Angelica, 21, Leah Isadora, 19, and Emma Tallulah, 16, who she shares with her late ex-husband Ari Behn, were also there on the day. Maud played the special role of giving her mother away.
© AlamyIn their deeply personal vows, both the bride and groom referenced Märtha's three daughters.
Fighting back tears, the princess said: "I promise to love you with all my heart. I promise to take responsibility for my emotions. I promise to love you because I know you know that my girls come first."
Durek, likewise, said: "I promise to always listen to your wisdom. I promise to always hold space for you and your daughters and listen to them as well. I promise to love you with my last breath."
Speaking exclusively to HELLO! after the ceremony, Durek said: "I never thought I'd find a woman who'd be able to love all of me. But I always dreamed of a woman like that and I found her.
"I'm the happiest man because I get to spend the rest of my life with her. I can't wait to see her and share things with her."
Stepping back from royal duties
It's been two years since Märtha Louise stepped away from royal duties. In an Instagram post shared on New Year's Day in 2023, the Norwegian shared a glamorous photo of herself and remarked: "2022 was a challenging year for me in many ways. It was also a year filled with joy, happiness and love."
"Life has its challenges. No one can escape them, but it is up to each and everyone of us how to meet those challenges. When we manage to meet everything with the love from our core, we manage to rise above the fear, the disturbance, the anger, grief and everything else," she continued.
"But the times we can't live from our core, from love, we sink into despair, loneliness, anger, judgement and life's challenges."
Admitting to having her "fair share of ups and downs," she added: "I sincerely hope 2023 expands our deep love for each other. We all need to build a world where all of us can breathe freely, be who we are meant to be, grow and expand into our true selves from love.
"When we build our lives from our core of love we start respecting ourselves and in turn we respect and love others in a new and more profound way. Without judgment."
Märtha Louise concluded her post with: "Let 2023 be the year we step into love and shower ourselves with doing things that make us happy. Have a great 2023. Happy New Year."
To read the full exclusive interview with Märtha Louise and Durek and to see the full wedding album, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK now. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
