The poster Somebody posted this quote from the Times in a post both here in this thread and in the Märtha and Durek thread in October last year:
Martha Louise’s private life has long provided fodder for her homeland’s tabloids; in 1994 she was named as co-respondent in a divorce case by Irene Morris, a cashier in an Asda in Chester, who claimed the princess, a keen horsewoman, had been having an affair with her showjumper husband, Philip. She was spared an appearance in court only after lawyers acting for the King successfully argued she was entitled to diplomatic immunity.
Other posters replied in the Märtha and Durek thread:
It's not new. I've heard that about ML and Harald pulling her out for a long time (this would be a "spoiling" example), but these would be the concrete details.
I think it's a very good example of the lack of parenting skills of Harald and Sonja. I like them both, but I don't think they were tough enough with ML if she felt entitled to date a married man at such a young age.
And for Harald, yes, now, it seems like not letting ML face the music was an awful decision but if your panicky early-twenties child gets themselves into trouble in a foreign country and you can not only relieve them but spare yourself and your country bad international press, why wouldn't you fix it? I don't think Harald could have envisioned she wouldn't have grown up much almost thirty years later.
It was also mentioned by Adda in a later post:
I'd feel sorry for Harald and Sonja if they hadn't been the first ones to allow her to be this entitled and delusional. 20 something year old ML sleeps with a married man? No worries hon, Daddy will get you diplomatic immunity and out of the UK immediately.
Let's go through the King's involvement because this was not about him spoiling and enabling Märtha or not letting her face the music, etc.
Not much information on the internet about it, but I found an article from the regional newspaper Fædrelandsvennen from April 13, 1994 (
link), which is only available on PressReader, so I don't think you will be able to translate it into English.
Summary of the article: The palace said the King took the decision that Märtha should not answer questions in any court (Norwegian or British) after the Norwegian Ministry of Justice conducted a legal investigation on the matter.
I've also read an article in the print edition of the national tabloid Dagbladet from the same date, which is only available in Dagbladet's digital newspaper archives, which are under a subscription and not possible to copy links from, so you just have to take my word for what they write.
Summary of the article: The government told Dagbladet that the palace had contacted the Prime Minister's office and said they wanted a legal investigation into whether Märtha was obliged to appear in court or whether she was covered by article 37 in the Norwegian constitution, which states that ''The Royal Princes and Princesses shall not personally be answerable to anyone other than the King, or whomever he decrees to sit in judgment on them.''
And after a week-long legal investigation by the Ministry of Justice, the government decided that she was indeed covered by article 37 as long as she stayed in Norway.
The King (IMO, in all likelihood, after advice from the Norwegian government) then decided that Märtha should not answer questions in any court (British or Norwegian).
And here's an article from the gossip-mag Se og Hør (
link), which is, unfortunately, also under a subscription.
It says that the Norwegian government sent a letter to the British Foreign Office where they wrote the following: ''His Majesty the King has decided that Princess Märtha Louise shall not be held responsible in any court. It follows, according to the constitution, that the princess cannot answer accusations or give evidence.''
And that decision by the King/government was IMO the right and only thing to do. I mean, having the then 22-year-old princess and daughter of the monarch be part of a British court case regarding her alleged relationship with her then 40-year-old married rider-friend Philip Morris would have been extremely embarrassing for not only the Norwegian monarchy but also for Norway as a whole!
And here is a press release from the Norwegian Prime Minister's office on April 12, 1994, which is only available as a pdf (
link).
Due to forum rules, I can't translate the whole of it, but here's the most important part:
''As long as HRH Princess Märtha Louise stays in Norway, a British court will not be able to order her to appear and give evidence directly before the court. The princess is also under no obligation to testify before a Norwegian court if a British court asks for evidence to be taken in Norway. This is evident from a report that the Ministry of Justice's legal department has drawn up for the Prime Minister's office. In the report, reference is made to article 37 in the constitution, which states that royal princes and princesses are not answerable to anyone other than the king or whomever he decrees to sit in judgment on them. Reference is also made to section 208 of the Civil Procedure Act, where it is stated that a witness may, among other things, refuse to answer questions that are of such a nature that the answer could expose the witness to loss of civil esteem.''
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BTW: Märtha did part of her horse training at the riding centre Arena UK, which was owned by a man named John Lanni, who gave an interview to Dagbladet, which was published on April 6, 1994 (and is only available in their digital newspaper archives). Lanni, who knew both Märtha and Philip Morris, said that he could guarantee that there was no love affair between Märtha and Morris and that Morris' wife Irene was only out after money.
And in an interview with Dagbladet, which was published on April 11, Philip Morris himself said that he had never had anything that could be characterized as a relationship with Märtha and that his wife was only out after money.
And I also think I have read somewhere that Märtha had another boyfriend at the time, who was even invited to spend time with the Royal Family.
And although Märtha is many things, she doesn't give me the impression of being a person who would have had a relationship with a married man, but that said, she was very young!