What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege

It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.

- Aslak Nore

In the picturesque village of Geiranger, the jewel of Norway's fjords and a Unesco world heritage site, Princess Märtha Louise was hurried to a tent, covered by sheets to thwart rival photographers. The photo rights of her marriage last month to Durek Verrett, an American shaman, had been sold exclusively to Hello! magazine.

Netflix was presumedly present as well because it holds the movie rights to the love story between the princess and the shaman. Whether the newlyweds - infamous for their promotion of pseudo-scientific quackery, royal profiteering and, in Verrett's case, a belief that he's a hybrid reptile from Andromeda who can cleanse spiritual imprints in promiscuous women's vaginas - have found a good fit in Rebecca Chaiklin, the Tiger King director, well, that remains to be seen.

Märtha Louise, 52, is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. From her co-founding of the notorious Angel academy, where students paid to learn the art of clairvoyance, to her many dubious ventures with 49-year-old Verrett, she has always exploited her royal title for private gain, despite numerous warnings.

Fitting the general theme of her wedding, clothes from Märtha's own fashion collection were on sale to the guests in a pop-up shop. The bride's father, King Harald V - refusing to take part in any commercial endeavour - patiently waited in a car with the other royals while the photographers finished. Who knows what was going through his mind.