Death & Funeral of Ari Behn: December 25, 2019/January 3, 2020

[Muhler]

No, it won't be a state.funeral but fairly close.

Representatives from the Norwegian government will be present.
The bishop of Oslo will conduct the funeral.
And since the cathedral can hold 900 and is expected to be full and the media coverage will be massive - it's pretty close.

ML - is IMO a must. If not for her own sake, then certainly because she will be going with hers and Ari Behn's children.
It is not yet known whether other representatives of the NRF will attend as well. - So all in all, it comes pretty close to a state funeral.

It will of course be most interesting - for a number of reasons - as to whether Durek will also be present.
But apart from that I don't feel any particular inclination to discuss him further here, we will hear from him soon enough...

[Blog Real]

Will members of the Swedish and Danish royal families attend the funeral?

[Hans-Rickard]

Originally Posted by Blog Real

Will members of the Swedish and Danish royal families attend the funeral?

The swedish RF’s Information Department told VG.no that they have not yet decided wether to attend. But as it is a public funeral, i am almost sure that Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel will be attending, unless they are far abroad. They were very close friends with Ari and Victoria and ML have been very close since childhood.

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

One can only hope that the Shaman will not make a great entrance at the funeral.

He and Ari seemed to be friends so i won’t rule out his presence.

But it is important to remember that if he is present, he is there because the family wants him to be there. I have often been very critical of him and for good reasons, but i have to say in his defense that he behaved perfectly on Christmas Day at Holmenkollen Chapel.

[Blog Real]

Ari and the shaman seemed to be friends. So it is normal if the shaman goes to the funeral.

[Moonmaiden23]

Even if Durek Verett and the deceased had formed a friendship, under the circumstances I feel that it is not appropriate for him to attend.

He is the lover of Ari's former wife. He is a controversial figure in Norway and throughout Scandinavia, and that is putting it mildly. There is going to be tremendous media coverage of this funeral.

It is going to be quite an emotional ordeal for the children, and even though ML was divorced from Ari, she would not be human if she was not now experiencing deeply conflicted emotions...grief, confusion, shock, regret, anger...

The presence of the man she has been proclaiming as her "eternal love"...the man who has been crowing online about the tantric sex he enjoys with her...is simply not needed at this time.

Durek and ML will have a lifetime together if that is what they want.

Let Ari's family...especially his girls...grieve their father publicly without having to endure the presence of their mother's controversial lover.

[tommy100]

Personally I don't think Durek should attend, just as I didn't think he should have attended the Christmas Day service. But that shouldn't be the issue here.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Victoria and/or Daniel attend, but assume they will only do so if the NRF attend.

[O-H Anglophile]

Why wouldn’t the King & Queen attend the funeral? He was their granddaughters’ father.

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by tommy100

Personally I don't think Durek should attend, just as I didn't think he should have attended the Christmas Day service. But that shouldn't be the issue here.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Victoria and/or Daniel attend, but assume they will only do so if the NRF attend.

And we have doubts the NRF will attend??? Haakon and MM were close to him. Not to mention wanting to support their nieces and ML. They are a given. I wouldn't be shocked if the king and queen went to. He was family for years and the father of three of their grandchildren.

Why shouldn't Durek have gone to Christmas? It wasn't an official royal event, simply the family church outing. The public questioning his work isn't grounds for the family to shun him.

But I agree he would be out of place at the funeral. If this was a few years down the road, and he was married to ML and close to her girls, maybe as support. But it isn't

[Sister Morphine]

Personally, M-L's new boytoy making an appearance at the funeral would be tacky, and that's the nicest way I can put it without running afoul of the TOS. This guy is...not acceptable for anyone, princess or not, and even if he was, he's not a member of the family. He's not a member of the royal family, he's not a member of the Behn family, he's not even a close family friend. He has no business attending. If he wants to "console" M-L, he can do it privately.

Of course, given how utterly bat guano M-L has turned in recent years, I fully expect her to show up in a fuschia pink dress, so who knows. For the sake of her children, I hope she defies my expectations.

[Hans-Rickard]

We have absolutely no idea how close or not close Durek Verrett is to Ari’s children. All we know is that Ari and Durek appeared to get along well. I think the Behn family is fully capable of deciding themselves who they want to invite and not.

If the Norwegian Royal Family decides to attend (wich i am almost sure all of them will do, including the King and Queen), i’m pretty sure Victoria and Daniel will do the same.

[Archduchess Zelia]

Originally Posted by Hans-Rickard

If the Norwegian Royal Family decides to attend (wich i am almost sure all of them will do, including the King and Queen), i’m pretty sure Victoria and Daniel will do the same.

Won't be surprised if Mary and Frederik attend either. Frederik has known ML since they were kids and M&F have always seemed like they got along well with ML and Ari.

[JR76]

Originally Posted by Archduchess Zelia

Won't be surprised if Mary and Frederik attend either. Frederik has known ML since they were kids and M&F have always seemed like they got along well with ML and Ari.

The couple is still scheduled to attend the last (and the biggest) of the New year's levees on the third of January. I wonder if they could both leave The Queen to handle it all by herself.

[Duke of Marmalade]

I fully expect the whole NRF there to support their granddaughters/nieces.

[LadyFinn]

Since Durek hasn't been in Norway many times during the time he has been dating Märtha Louise, he couldn't have met Ari very many times, so I doubt that Durek and Ari were friends. They had met and been polite towards each other because of Märtha Louise and Märtha Louise and Ari's daughters. That Durek wrote "Love you brother" to a photo of him and Ari to his Instagram story in his exaggerative style, they are just his words. Ari was nice and smart and didn't want to say anything negative about Durek to the press because of his daughters and good relationship he had still with Märtha Louise and the royal family.

Svensk Damtidning asked yesterday from the swedish royal court which Swedish royal will travel to Norway to honor Ari. But it is not clear yet.
- It is not decided, says Margareta Thorgren.
Då begravs Ari Behn _ Svensk Dam

EDIT:
Svensk Damtidning writes this morning
According to information of Svensk Damtidning, it is therefore a matter of course for Victoria to be by Märtha Louise's side when Ari Behn is brought to the final rest. ' The Swedish crown princess, who usually celebrates the New Year in the Alps or the Norwegian mountains, will, according to our sources, interrupt her holiday to be present on this heavy day.
Victoria åker till Oslo för att stötta Märtha Louise _ Svensk Dam

Victoria and Daniel have usually been on a skiing holiday in Norway or Sweden during New Year and Epiphany Day.

[wartenberg7]

Originally Posted by Hans-Rickard

He and Ari seemed to be friends so i won’t rule out his presence.

But it is important to remember that if he is present, he is there because the family wants him to be there. I have often been very critical of him and for good reasons, but i have to say in his defense that he behaved perfectly on Christmas Day at Holmenkollen Chapel.

He behaved perfectly? What could he have done wrong there? Perform a shaman ritual in front of the chapel....?

Originally Posted by Moonmaiden23

Even if Durek Verett and the deceased had formed a friendship, under the circumstances I feel that it is not appropriate for him to attend.

He is the lover of Ari's former wife. He is a controversial figure in Norway and throughout Scandinavia, and that is putting it mildly. There is going to be tremendous media coverage of this funeral.

It is going to be quite an emotional ordeal for the children, and even though ML was divorced from Ari, she would not be human if she was not now experiencing deeply conflicted emotions...grief, confusion, shock, regret, anger...

The presence of the man she has been proclaiming as her "eternal love"...the man who has been crowing online about the tantric sex he enjoys with her...is simply not needed at this time.

Durek and ML will have a lifetime together if that is what they want.

Let Ari's family...especially his girls...grieve their father publicly without having to endure the presence of their mother's controversial lover.

It´s not for us to decide who will attend this funeral or who will not. MLs boyfriend is not a criminal (I can almost hear some voices now claiming he was one.... Legally he is not!). So let´s just wait and see...
Märtha being in grief, in shock etc. is only natural. She was always a highly emotional person - too emotional, publicly, in many cases in my opinion if you would ask me. Often she started to cry during interviews or speeches when there was nothing really to cry about - but well, everyone is different. So, those who ask themselves if she will grieve "properly", she definitely will. And to one poster claiming she will probably appear in fuchsia pink at the funeral I can only say, no, she will definitely wear black....!

[Archduchess Zelia]

Originally Posted by JR76

The couple is still scheduled to attend the last (and the biggest) of the New year's levees on the third of January. I wonder if they could both leave The Queen to handle it all by herself.

Oh, I somehow forgot all about the annual New Year's hullaballoo. Can't imagine Frederik would be able to go then and very doubtful about Mary too. What a shame.

[Stefanie]

Maybe Alexia Greece will attend since she is Emma's godmother.

[carlota]

Originally Posted by Moonmaiden23

The presence of the man she has been proclaiming as her "eternal love"...the man who has been crowing online about the tantric sex he enjoys with her...is simply not needed at this time.

did this actually happen?! how embarrasing for ML. not sure why she doesn't put a stop to this.

[norwegianne]

Originally Posted by Stefanie

Maybe Alexia Greece will attend since she is Emma's godmother.

Maybe.
Alexandra of Berleburg is one of Maud’s godparents, and Laurentien of the Netherlands is one of Leah’s.

[Blog Real]

I just mentioned that Ari and the shaman seemed to have a good relationship. But I also think it's better for the shaman not to go to the funeral.