NEED TO KNOW

  • Footage of Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, was reportedly removed from his sister Princess Märtha Louise’s new Netflix documentary
  • Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story premiered Sept. 16 and followed Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett as they prepared for their August 2024 wedding day
  • Hello! reported that the scene featuring Haakon was deleted at the last minute, per the palace’s request

Was footage of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway deleted from his sister Princess Märtha Louise‘s Netflix documentary?

On Sept. 23, Hello! magazine reported that a clip of Crown Prince Haakon, 52, was deleted from his sister’s Netflix documentary, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story, which premiered on Sept. 16.

The outlet reported that footage of the heir to the Norwegian throne was originally featured in the documentary despite the royal family’s request that they not be filmed at the August 2024 wedding of Princess Märtha Louise to Durek Verrett.

Hello! said that the scene featuring the Crown Prince was deleted at the last minute, at the palace’s request.

PEOPLE has contacted Netflix for further comment.  

Princess Märtha Louise, 54, and Durek, 50, pulled back the curtain on their courtship and love story in Rebel Royals, which followed them on the road to their royal wedding last summer.

The film from Emmy-nominated director Rebecca Chaiklin of Tiger King fame didn’t shy from highlighting the challenges the couple faced along the way, from how the Norwegian press scrutinized Durek as his romance unfolded with Märtha to King Harald and Queen Sonja‘s skepticism around their daughter marrying a Hollywood shaman.

King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, all attended the couple’s nuptials last summer, a three-day celebration crowned by a ceremony on Aug. 31, 2024, in picturesque Geiranger, Norway.

However, Princess Märtha Louise’s royal family members were not interviewed in the documentary, which premiered almost two years after Princess Märtha Louise officially relinquished her royal role.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra, King Harald, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja and Prince Sverre Magnus in Geiranger, Norway on Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verrett’s Aug. 31, 2024 wedding day.

CORNELIUS POPPE/NTB/POOL/AFP via Getty 

In 2022, Märtha Louise renounced the royal role she inherited at birth in order to more freely pursue her business interests without the restrictions of being affiliated with the Royal House of Norway. The statement said that Märtha Louise would keep her princess title and that Durek would become part of the royal family when they married, but that the couple wished to differentiate between their interests and the Royal House. 

“The Princess and her fiancé, Durek Verrett, are seeking to distinguish more clearly between their activities and the Royal House of Norway. This means, among other things, that they will not employ the title of Princess or refer to members of the Royal House in their social media channels, in media productions or in connection with other commercial activities,” the statement said in part then.

Durek Verrett and Princess Martha Louise in “Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story” on Netflix.

Courtesy of Netflix

During a royal outing in Hallingdal, Norway, on Sept. 23, Crown Prince Haakon spoke about Rebel Royals for the first time, saying there could be “a clearer distinction” between the royal house and his sister’s business activities. 

“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. I hope we can achieve that a little better,” Crown Prince Haakon said, according to a translation from Se og Hør. “Now they have issued a statement saying that they are concerned about the integrity of the agreement that we have from 2022, so there is something to build on.”

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Crown Prince Haakon added that Märtha Louise and Durek said they intend to respect the agreement, said that he has seen the film himself and wished his sister and brother-in-law well.

“Yes, I’ve noticed that many people have said a lot of nice things about the royal couple afterwards, so I think it’s nice that they get support,” the Crown Prince said about the buzz, per Se og Hør.