{"id":794110,"date":"2026-10-06T21:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T21:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/794110\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T21:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T21:14:10","slug":"norwegian-princess-martha-louise-and-husband-sue-ex-friends-for-betrayal-of-trust-norway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/794110\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwegian princess M\u00e4rtha Louise and husband sue ex-friends for \u2018betrayal of trust\u2019 | Norway"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Norwegian princess M\u00e4rtha Louise and her husband, the American businessman Durek Verrett, are suing several former members of their inner circle for defamation over what they described as a \u201ccalculated betrayal of trust\u201d.<\/p>\n

Court documents filed in Los Angeles<\/a> on 14 September claim the former friends and colleagues took \u201cprivate access once afforded to them and weaponised it\u201d. The accused include \u201cformer intimate partners, trusted business associates, a family member\u201d.<\/p>\n

The documents allege that information including \u201cconfidential communications, disputed accusations and claimed insider knowledge\u201d was used against M\u00e4rtha Louise, Verrett and his company, Ohana, in what the couple describe as a \u201ccoordinated series of devastating public attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n

The compensation claims total in excess of $80m, the newspaper VG reported.<\/p>\n

The legal action comes during a particularly challenging period for the Norwegian royal family. King Harald died in August aged 89<\/a>, to be succeeded by his son, Haakon, who is M\u00e4rtha Louise\u2019s brother. Harald\u2019s sister, Princess Astrid, died aged 94, two days after attending his funeral in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A portrait of King Harald at a makeshift memorial outside the Royal Palace in Oslo on the eve of the late monarch\u2019s state funeral. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

At the same time, the royal family has been embroiled in several scandals including revelations about Queen Mette-Marit\u2019s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Her son Marius Borg H\u00f8iby was found guilty of two counts of rape<\/a> in June. The queen, who has pulmonary fibrosis, underwent a lung transplant in the same month.<\/p>\n

Marius Borg H\u00f8iby with his mother, Mette-Marit, in 2022. Photograph: Lise \u00c5serud\/NTB\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

M\u00e4rtha Louise and Verrett have been the subject of multiple headlines in recent years.<\/p>\n

In 2023, before marrying Verrett, who describes himself as a sixth-generation shaman, the princess renounced her royal duties to focus on the couple\u2019s alternative medicine business. Last year they starred in a Netflix documentary about their lives, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story.<\/p>\n

The papers, filed to Los Angeles county superior court, state that the case was prompted by a \u201ccalculated betrayal of trust\u201d and mention the \u201crecent loss\u201d of the late king. The alleged \u201cincessant misconduct\u201d was said to have started years ago, but \u201ccontinued and escalated\u201d in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring that period, plaintiffs experienced significant medical and personal circumstances, including Verrett\u2019s serious kidney failure, dialysis treatment, health deterioration and recent kidney transplant, as well as Princess M\u00e4rtha Louise\u2019s recent loss of her father,\u201d the papers state.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough plaintiffs would ordinarily have preferred to devote this period to their health, family, grief, and recovery, the timing of this filing is governed by applicable legal deadlines. Plaintiffs must proceed at this unfortunate time to preserve their claims and protect their rights arising from defendants\u2019 publications and conduct in 2025 and 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple at their wedding in Norway in August 2024. Photograph: Robin Utrecht\/dana press\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The lawsuit says the accused people, \u201cfar from being distant critics reporting from the outside\u201d, were \u201cat one time in the inner circle of Verrett and Princess M\u00e4rtha Louise\u201d. It adds: \u201cThey had been welcomed into Verrett\u2019s private life, family relationships, communications, client-related affairs and business operations through relationships of intimacy, trust, confidence, and professional responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s US lawyer Richard Roth told VG: \u201cOur clients\u2019 reputations have been judged by the public for years. Now the facts will be tested in a court of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Court documents list two future hearings for the case in December.<\/p>\n

The palace and representatives of the couple have been contacted by the Guardian for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Norwegian princess M\u00e4rtha Louise and her husband, the American businessman Durek Verrett, are suing several former members…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-794110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}