Up three steps with a white flag in hand. This is how Märtha Louise entered the stage during this year’s Skup conference, a conference organized by the Foundation for a Critical and Investigative Press.
On the roof, where she was interviewed by TV director Mads Andersen in Aller Media, she asked the journalists in the hall:
— Have any of you been exposed to the kind of media pressure that I have been exposed to over 30 years?
— I have to put up with a lot of criticism from you, and you might not put up with much criticism from me, so to speak.
Märtha compares the criticism she has received with the criticism that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has received after assuming the role of Prime Minister.
— I am criticized for things in my private life. For example, I am ridiculed for the names I have chosen for my children, she says.
Defender Durek Verrett
In front of around 650 journalists, Märtha Louise defended also her fiancé, Durek Verrett.
As before, she argued that there is a cultural barrier between the American Verrett and the Norwegian press.
Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen/ Rune Stoltz Bertinussen
— When he does interviews here in Norway, it goes far beyond Norway’s borders. When you misquote it spreads a lot, she says and adds:
— I don’t vet if you do it on purpose, to get clicks or something, I don’t vet.
Controversial elections
The princess was “offensive” and had “a clear message”, says general secretary Reidun Kjelling Nybø of the Norwegian Editors’ Association after the session.
To NRK, she praised Märtha Louise for sharing her experience of the Norwegian press, and acknowledged that Märtha Louise herself experiences the press spotlight as too much.
— So the princess has chosen a public role: She has, in addition to being a princess, chosen to make a number of controversial choices.
The most criticized
In November last year it was known that Märtha Louise
is no longer a representative of the Royal House The announcement came after a number of associations withdrew from cooperation with Märtha Louise as patron .
Shortly afterwards, in February of this year, Märtha Louise came out harshly against the Norwegian press in an interview medication Swedish SVT.
With a rhetorical question she challenged the Norwegian press on equality.
— It feels a little difficult in a time where women’s rights are so strong, and we women stand on the “equal line”, as it were, as men. Guy are we really doing that? Would it have been the same if I had been a man?
Then Märtha Louise called herself “the most criticized person in Norway”, before criticizing the Norwegian media for their treatment of her late ex-husband Ari Behn and fiancé Durek Verrett.
— Best for the family
— How did you come to the conclusion that you should not represent the royal house? Andersen asked on stage on Friday evening.
— It was a demand from many quarters. I am of the opinion that I am doing what is best for the family. I am asking whether it is the case that we women must always bow down, replies the princess.
— Did you tell your mom and dad?
— I won’t go into those conversations. It was a good dialogue. They got to learn a lot about Durek and he got to learn about them and Norwegian society.
MEDAL STORM: In a video on Instagram, Durek Verrett told his over 260,000 followers that he had used a medallion to recover from corona.
Photo: Screenshot from Durek Verrett’s Instagram
Much talked about
Verrett has received a lot of criticism after several controversial statements on health issues.
Among other things, his so-called “spirit optimizer” was the subject of much criticism. In a video, Verrett claimed that he refused hospital treatment, and that it was a medallion that helped him recover from corona infection.
On his own website, a medallion with the same issue was for sale for approx. NOK 2,000.
Afterwards, Verrett also criticized the press , for twisting and turning his statements, and adding that he is in favor of school medicine.
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