I don’t think we’ll see a transcript of the full show. It’s clearly a reality/entertainment show, not a true documentary, so it would be like trying to transcribe “Real Housewives.” But, I pulled a few quotes regarding some of the things people have mentioned that might offer more details to those who haven’t watched. Apologies in advance that I did not double-check every single word or the precise time stamps, but I think I’m pretty close:
On why she agree to meet him (6:10)
ML: [A friend said] “There’s persona who is magical and has powers and can shift all these energies around people’s bodies.”
On meeting the king and queen (15:40)
DV: On my first visit to Norway, I got to meet the king and queen.
ML: I was like, “I have a boyfriend.” Mom was like, “Finally! Who is it?” Then I told about him and everything. I think my mom was a bit worried, because to be with a shaman, that’s terribly out of the box.
DV: It wasn’t like the royal family was like, “Oh, and here’s a guide to being in the royal family.” Martha didn’t give me any clues on anything. And watching her open her safe and pull her crown out, this was crazy to me.
ML: It’s not a crown, it’s a tiara.
DV: Oh, yeah, that’s right, “Tiara.” Little do I know. See? I’m still learning. From her viewpoint, it’s normal. For me, I’m in a royal palace.
DV: She’s like well just be yourself. I’m like OK, that’s helpful. And when I met the queen and king, they were just staring at me, and it was dead silence. I was wearing a kimono and cowboy boots. And I had no idea that I’m supposed to wear a suit, because I thought I could be myself, as Martha explained. And that wasn’t the case, obviously, because they hated my clothes. I mean, pretty much everything I did was wrong, and they would always let Martha know that I was wrong. It wasn’t like “Welcome to our family, we love you, we get you” — it was like, “Why are you with this guy?”
At the horse show (17:49)
DV: Coming into her life as a royal felt awkward. It was like a learning curve…There’s certain mannerisms that you have to have… There’s no slouching. You can’t slouch in your chair… The conversations are not nuanced at all. It’s very flat. It’s very like zooop.
[Clip of Durek calling Astrid of Belgium “Your Majesty.”]
DV: One of the difficulties I have is am I supposed to say Your Majesty or Your Highness? [fake bows] Your Da-da-ba-ba-ba.
My editorial comment: The bit above where he complains about saying Your Majesty and dramatically bows is almost identical in tone and look to the scene where Meghan fake curtsies. Both couples are even being interviewed on a couch together at the time.
Permission to marry (25:00)
DV: I knew I wanted to propose to her for a long time, but I wanted to make sure that I got the blessings from her family. So I made an appointment to sit with their majesties to ask for her hand in marriage. My hands were sweating, and, I don’t know, I felt like the room was spinning, because they just stared at me for a while. And I knew that they were scrutinizing every little thing that I was doing, but I told them that, like, look, this is what true love looks like. It took a while. But I got the blessings from her mom and dad.
Wedding planning (26:00)
ML: I could literally just have a private ceremony somewhere like in a house or on a beach or something.
DV: Um…that’s not gonna happen. I would like a royal wedding. Yeah. Because I’m gonna be a royal, you know.
Lack of support in the face of media scrutiny (27:10)
DV: The public believes that because they pay for the royal family and their taxes go there, they own the royal family and anyone who’s connected to the royal family, they own them as well too…And the royal family? They didn’t go out in the press and say anything nice about me, which makes people think they’re just tolerating me.
ML: That’s been difficult for my parents, because although they support me, there’s a really fine line how to balance it all with the press.
Where the Vikings landed (33:40)
DV: Geiranger is a small village. It’s the first place the Vikings landed.
Me: Norwegian posters please clarify: Weren’t the Vikings native?
Nature of the wedding (37:00)
DV: The wedding that we’re having is not the European-Norwegian wedding, which is absolutely boring to be honest. I think it’s going to be the best royal wedding that anyone has ever seen in all of Europe — and the realist and the coolest. Because I’m bringing the American touch to it.
Racism in Denmark (43:20)
DV: Me being the first black man in the European royal family is very hard for people…[Shot of him in white tie, her in a green dress. Aerial shot of Fredensborg as he’s talking] I remember I was at a royal dinner in Denmark. One guy even said to me, “You see all the pictures on the walls? Your family comes from Africa, right?” And I said yes. And he goes, “Well, you know all of these people are the people who enslaved your family. How does that make you feel?” Who says that?
Racism in the Norwegian royal family (44:50)
DV: Coming into this family — her mom and her father and her brother and them — they didn’t even know what racism was. So that was hard, too, because they would look at me like I’m crazy when I would say that there’s racism. One time her parents made a comment about our culture clash —
[Clip of Sonja: There’s a big difference between being in America and being in Norway, I believe. It’s a culture clash we’re noticing now, I believe.]
[Clip of Harald: I think we are getting to know each other better and better, and we will speak with him as we do in a family.]
DV: What they did in the press was, “The king’s gonna whip him.” They make a little racial slur. And her family would do nothing to help me. And it was only when Harry and Meghan went into the press with Oprah did I get a message from the king saying, "Do you feel that we’ve treated you the same way?"
[Clip from Meghan on Oprah]
DV: And when I said, “Yes,” they said, “Well then we need to have a family discussion.” And my family’s like, they don’t want to have a family discussion because they don’t want to treat you that way. They want to have a family discussion because they’re afraid you might be the next one on Oprah. Like let’s be real.
DV: When the king and queen sat down with me, I said you obviously see that Martha loves me and you love your daughter. Why aren’t you helping protect us? And finally her parents listened to me, and the king said that he has no tolerance for the way that people have been treating me. So they wrote a press release about racism and how I’ve been treated which was huge.
DV: And then Prince Harry mentioned it.
[Clip of Harry interview where he mentions Harald’s statement]
ML: My parents are very open-minded, and they always want to learn new things. I think that’s what keeps them young at heart.
DV: Once we were able to hash it out as a family in a loving way, it brought us closer together.
DV: Coming into her family, it was like I was making history. I was doing it for all people of color who haven’t been able to step into that level of society. And here I am. Me. The shaman. And there’s a place for me at the table.
Martha on her parents’ expectations (48:35)
ML: My parents did not expect us to marry at royal person. They said from when we were young that they would always accept whoever we chose, because my dad’s father was against him marrying my mother. The government was very much against him marrying my mom.
ML on media pressure, Ari, and Durek (1:13:40)
The press went after my ex-husband, too, in the same the way they are with Durek. And that ended badly. I don’t want that to happen to Durek, and I’m worried it will.
ML on her position now (1:14:00)
[Clip of video from ML’s Instagam: After a period of many questions related to me and my fiancé’s role, I have decided that at this point in time, I will no longer perform official duties for the Royal House.]
ML: So we had very many conversations with my parents and the whole family together where we spoke through everything, and we just saw that — all of us saw that — we’ve come to point where it does not function for them, it doesn’t function for us. And we want to stay friends — and they want to welcome Durek into the family — and to do that we have to distance ourselves from them a bit so that not every time it’s scrutiny on the rest of the family when there’s a controversy.
[Clip of Harald announcing ML’s position: We have now come to a solution that I hope and believe will give greater distance between the activity of the Princess and the Royal House.]
ML: I am a princess. And all my family will be at my wedding. Of course. But I don’t have an official role anymore, so I’m not invited to the big galas or the state visits like I did before. It has been a bit sad, but that’s how everybody wanted it. And I’m good accepting things that I can’t change.
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Anyway, they talk throughout the nearly two-hour show, but these were the big statements they made that may be of interest. They made many little asides and casual statements throughout, but these were the most significant.
