LONDON Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III in September, the Firm - as the British royal family is unofficially known - hasn't just been grappling with a major management reshuffle. In a Netflix series and his splashy new memoir, Prince Harry has been lobbing a near constant stream of bombshell revelations into the public domain, airing intimate personal details as well as allegations of treachery and familial betrayal afoot behind palace doors in the House of Windsor.
But Britain doesn't have a monopoly on royal dirty laundry. Behold, four other messy monarchies that have also been engaged lately with dysfunction, disorder and high drama of their own.
NORWAY
There were waves in Norway in November when Princess Martha Louise relinquished royal duties to focus on her alternative medicine business with her fiance, Durek Verrett, a celebrity shaman whose clients have included Selma Blair and Nina Dobrev. It was the latest in a series of controversies stemming from the princess' relationship with Mr Verrett, who suggested in his 2019 book, Spirit Hacking, that cancer was a choice. The self-described "sixth-generation shaman" also sells a "spirit optimiser" medallion on his website that he claims helped him recover from Covid-19. For her part, Princess Martha has frequently suggested that she can communicate with animals and angels.
DENMARK
This story is from the January 21, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the January 21, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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