King Harald speaks out about Princess Märtha Louise’s controversial Netflix documentary

King Harald spoke out about his daughter’s Netflix documentary, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story, saying that talks between the couple and the royal house must continue after Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verett appeared to breach their agreement with the Palace.

In an interview with NRK, the Norwegian national broadcaster, filmed during his visit to the World Wildlife Fund’s Norwegian offices earlier this week, King Harald said that “We have established” that Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verett have broken their agreement with the Palace not to use their royal connections in commercial ventures.

He continued that “We’re going to try to do something about this through conversations. We’re continuing the conversations with them. I think they’re more in line with us than it seems.”

Princess Märtha Louise will not lose her title over this, King Harald confirmed, though she has not been permitted to use her title in commercial ventures as part of their agreement with the Palace.

King Harald drew the line at publicly commenting on the Netflix documentary’s contents, but reiterated that talks will continue with his daughter and son-in-law, as they’re a family who will have “to live together for the rest of our lives.” He added that Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, once they ascend to the throne, “will have to live with it. We have to find as solution.”

The Norwegian King sighed when it was pointed out that the talks they’d previously held with Princess Märtha Louise and Durek clearly didn’t work, with the reporter asking “what value [they] have?”

Crown Prince Haakon also spoke out about Royal Rebels with NRK, telling the broadcaster that “We want there to be a clearer distinction between the activities of the Royal House and Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett’s projects and commercial activities. And I hope we can achieve that a little better.”

The future king likewise has seen the documentary but did not publicly comment on its contents, though a clip of him had to be quickly edited out before it was widely released.

It came to light before release that a conversation between Crown Prince Haakon and Durek was included in the documentary, in violation of the agreement during their wedding festivities last August that no member of the Norwegian Royal Family would be used in media that was not open to all media channels.

Netflix’s Royal Rebels: An Unlikely Love Story premiered mid-September on the streamer and, according to its official logline, “follows the couple as they prepare for their wedding, seek spiritual guidance, and navigate a media storm.”

Princess Märtha Louise and Durek entered an agreement with the Norwegian Royal Palace in 2022 that dictated how they could enter into commercial ventures without compromising the Royal Family. The royal has also been barred from using her title and style in commercial ventures, and no longer represents the Royal Family, though she and Durek still attend family events.