Royal Runaways: Harry & Meghan, Mako & Kei, Märtha & Durek

his was fine and now it's going to be too cold. Well, and it's gone, well, Okay. Papa could not have predicted that, but he could. He should have known mine will be perfect when we get back and everyone else's will be garbage. He should have thought about it. He should just blow on his spoon. He could just blow on his I think about that, Papa. Although who cooked? Who made this porridge? I don't know. I mean, I'm assuming the mama didn't. That is just because of how sexist of you of

the time. I'm assuming. I'm assuming that they had a housekeeper. Wow, you think these are making their breakfast for them and I think they're made? Is a male a male bear because I'm built different, you know, I just I'm a little more open minded, I guess than some. That's where my brain immediately went. They have a staff. I would love I would love you to pen a children's tail. From the perspective of the Three Bears, male made, Yeah, is like I keep making porrid and it just keeps disappearing.

The beds are unmade suddenly. His name is Gregory Gregory, and he's always trying to keep up the bear butler or is he a made? Uh? He kind of does everything. Honestly, they could probably use a second set of hands, but Gregory's holding it together, sort of an Alfred Um the Bears. Yeah, but here's the thing. Terrible cook because he can't get all the meals the same temperature. True, he's making three plates. It's not hard to have them all in the same temperature.

How did he spoon mama bears porridge and then just like walk away for twenty minutes and come back and get You have to make them all separate portions. Seriously, Like while mamas is cooling, he has to make the babies and then he makes the Papa's last. I guess I'm confused about this household, how they run their households. Welcome and goodbye, new listeners, That's not what the show is about. Hey, everybody, like, I'm Diana. We're so excited to have you today as always. Oh yeah, I guess

it is as always. I didn't. I didn't mean to imply that I wasn't excited at other times. Well, we're super excited today for very fun episode Royal Rumble, if you will, just a bunch of princesses and princes tripping over each other to try and get the hell out of royal life right. And honestly, I don't think I

could blame him. I'm just thinking about like nights where we stay up till three am watching dumb YouTube videos and then sleep in until eleven and then get up and we're like, oh, ship, we're gonna be pretty late for work today and it doesn't matter, and obviously, like that is our own special little princess schedule that we have. But ain't nobody in the royal family doing that? I doubt, I doubt, I doubt. I mean, I don't know what they do do, but they do do their duty. They

do do their duty, their duty, that's right. They do love charity for from what I can see, which makes sense, no, but it has been an interesting trend, like a lot of royals have kind of quit their duties, and a lot of them have done it for love, specifically um in the past couple of years, royal families of course, the British royal family, the royal family in Japan, and just recently a princess in Norway gave up her royal

duties because people were criticizing her American fiancee. So just kind of got a little curious about like what happened here? Why do you have to quit your royal duties and make this whole you know, seen about it? And also like what exactly was given up? And what do they keep and how does it work now? Also what do you do after life in a palace? You go from here, let's find out? Hey there, French, come listen. Well, Elia and Diana got some stories to tell. There's no match making,

no romantic tips. It's just about ridiculous relationships. I love. It might be any type of person at all, and abstract cons a don't a concrete wall. But if there's a story, were a second clinch, Ridiculous roles production of I Heart Radio. All right, if you were a teenager or like a little older in the early two thousand, you probably were like me and saw a lot of pictures of Prince Harry Heartthrob in the teens scenes. Definitely pictures had a scotch taped all over my wall. I

knew it. Prince Harry everyone, Yeah, I know. He was like a hot ginger and he had like a sweetness of manner and reminded every one of his mother, Princess Diana, the people's princess whom you were named after. I'll throw out there, that's true, very true. Um. Yeah, he had royal blood, royal bank account. He was like principled enough dude to serve in Afghanistan instead of just letting the norms do it, so he was like, let me do that too. I mean, he had freckles. What more do

you want? This guy is a total package, checking all the boxes, all the boxes. Maybe that's a personal box. I don't know, but I bet I'm not the only one. Now. Prince William was really hot stuff too at this time. I mean he had all the same similar qualities. But also he's going to be king one day, so it's you know, pretty compelling. Oh yeah, the reason to throughout yourself at it. Mother, he's got freckles, and there was something else I thought you'd like about him? What was it?

What was it? What was it? Oh? Oh, he's going to be the King of England. Oh mine, mine, but Kenny Cook, I'm gonna guess no, yeah he can. He snaps his fingers and food appears. Oh well, hey, I didn't think about that. I didn't think about that. Smart. He's like, I've got a great trick. I always sounds like I've got a great trick. What does he sound like that? Go ahead? Thought King George was here, He's like, oh,

I've got a Oh, I've got a great trick. You just still taste some onions and everybody thinks you made it well. Eventually, Prince William delighted the world by getting engaged to a woman named Katherine Middle And I don't, at least from over here on this side of the pond, it really felt like the Brits were thrilled by this decision. They were plenty of articles talking about you know, she's

got it all. You know, she's she's beautiful, skinny, pretty well dressed, lovely, rich and nice to look at all of those different things. Why are we looking at skinny and no, but it was a lot about how pretty she was and elegance and her fashion sense and all kinds of stuff like that. Anyway, so people just seemed really thrilled about it, and Willie made this fantastic choice and they're like, awesome, the queen is secure. We're gonna be happy with this. Now all eyes turned to Harry.

They're like, who is the haughty second son going to bring home to Gussie up the family tree. Well, Harry made his choice soon after that. Of course, it was suits actress Megan Markele. Now, poor Megan didn't get the same love as William's choice for a bride. No, okay, let's break it down here. Maybe it's because Megan Markel is an American. Of course, long history of British royalty marrying Americans and it just totally blows everything up, bloody colonial,

So it could be that. Or maybe it's because she's an actress, you know, not necessarily the most respected profession to all uh oft, equated with prostitution in some higher circles. Or maybe it's because she's actually previously divorced. That's scandalous. There have been problems in the past when a royal member liked a divorce lady, famously the guy who abdicated, So it could have been any number of these things. Or maybe, I don't know, maybe it's because she's a

biracial woman. I mean, if you read the papers kind of kind of really starts to feel like because she's biracial, Or if you listen to any of the comments that the royal family made about her, it starts to really feel like it's because she's biracial. But if you listen to Megan and Harry talk about some of the ship that the royal family said to and about Meg and Markle, it really really really feels like it's because she's biracial. But you know, who knows. Maybe it's the other stuff.

Hard to say, right, I mean, people will come out of the woodwork to say, no, actually it's cattle, she's

stuck up bar like how she's mean or whatever. They have some opinion, but these two were like whatever, in the face of all the hatred and the face of all that, they were going to still give it a whirl and give it the old College dry and they started dating in ten And actually, when Harry went on the Late Late Show James Gordon, he was telling him that to date him was kind of a flipped experience.

It was sort of backwards because you started out coming round to his place for a quiet dinner and then when things got serious, that's when you started to go out to rest and get coffee together and that sort of thing. So backwards. Yeah, it's like fully fully different than the proletariat. The proletariat day she calls up her best friend, She's like, oh, well, yes, of course. Obviously I met his mother on the first date. But last night he would be to the Olive Garden. Could you

believe that things are really getting serious? Now? You're going to get a ring any day now. Imagine imagining Harry and Megan at the olive Garden. There's no way. Hey, you know what, I challenged them not to enjoy unlimited salad and bread sticks. You know who. Maybe after they left the Royal Family they started going to Olive Garden because they were like, we need a new family. When you're here, you're the Royal family. He's like, thank you.

They never said that to me at the palace. Buckingham Palace should have just made that their house words when you're they were dating, and things did start to heat up, and they did start to visit a Starbucks together here and there and come out and hold hands in a park and all that kind of stuff, and so the paparazzi activity around them got so intense and so invasive that Harry had to put out an official statement to the press asking them to please lay the funk off

his girlfriend. And then in seventeen they got engaged. Media went ballistic over all the details and who she was and who her family was and what's going on, and Harry had to put out an official statement asking the press to please lay the funk off his fiancee. Then they got married, beautiful royal wedding. Megan retired from acting

to become royalty like Grace freaking Kelly before her. The media was going wild again, and Harry had to release an official statement to the press asking them to please, for God's sake, lay the funk off my wife quote he probably wished. That's probably his draft, and then you know they guessed it up for him. My Lord's are just a couple of edit spoil we cut of put the coat of arms on this. You dropped the f bomb, as they say, is seventeen times bringing the royal de fucco.

That's a busy man, all of the proclamations and just takes the f's out and beautiful click. We'll be back in a week, Thank you now. Kate and William, of course, they had to ask the press to back off several times throughout their relationship to Kate and Megan, each of them had to take several news outlets to court for violations of privacy. But well, both of these women were constantly getting just besieged and harassed for photos and comments,

like every time they walked out the door. Megan's coverage was noticeably nastier than Kate Middleton's. Friggs example, Actually, BuzzFeed put together this amazing collection of some headlines that compared coverage of the two of them, and we're gonna look at some of those now. From Daily Mail, not Long to Go Pregnant, Kate tenderly cradles her baby bump while wrapping up her royal duties ahead of maternity leave. Who I can't Megan Markle keep her hands on the bump?

Is it pride, vanity acting or a new age bonding technique. Personally, I find cradling a bit like those signs in the backs of cars baby on board virtue signaling, as are the rest of us baron Harridans deserved to burn alive in our cars. Oh my god, O rageous. That is so crazy to say that if you're holding your baby bump, you're telling every woman out there that she may as well burn alive. Such a stretch. I mean, you got take this picture of a woman holding her belly who's

like eight months pregnant and make it horrible. Tell me why it sucks? What kind of evil do you have to have in your heart? How about this one from the Express Kate's Morning Sickness Cure, Prince William gifted with an avocado for pregnant Duchess. Prince William was given one of the green fruit wrapped up in a bow by a little boy whose mother is suffering during her pregnancy.

Too adorable. Megan Markle's beloved avocado linked to human rights abuse and drought, millennial shame, the pregnant Duchess of Sussex and so called avocado on toast Whisperer is wolfing down a fruit links to water shortages, illegal deforestation and all round general environmental devastation. Enough Megan Marcos singlehandedly causing climate change. She's she's taking water directly from the cupped hands of

a child. Her specifically, everybody else's avocados are fine. I also love the idea of an avocado on toast whisperer, Like, who needs to whisper to that? That's not a thing that needs to be whisperer. If she likes avocado to her toast, it says we should all be eating more of it. It loves deforestation, it's laughing about the water it's stole from the thirsty children. Man. Avocados are diabolic avocados, pure evil. That's what makes them so delicious. Okay, here's

another one from the Daily Mail. Kate and Wills Incorporated. Do can duchess secretly set up companies to protect their brand? Just like the Beckham's. Creating their own companies will allow William and Kate to bring out should they have a choose to mariad items of officially endorsed merchandise, from tea towels to coffee cups. Kensington Palace officials said they were

doing the sensible thing in protecting the couple's rights. Alright, Royal cash in the Sussexes what to stab their name on dozens of products, including T shirts, hoodies, journals and gloves for their newly created foundations. Sussex Royal experts said Harry and Megan were actively preparing to quit the Royal Family months ago by filing trademark applications to commercially protect their brand. So again, what Kate and William can do? Yeah,

Megan and what's his name? Harry totally trash talked for it now rule for me, but not for the type ships. Yeah. Absolutely, It's very weird, and I'm like, I can kind of say that the time that this came out might have affected the emotion around it, because they did announced their departures shortly after that, so they're like, oh, they're trying to cash in, they're trying to find nance their move,

whereas Kate and William or not. But it's still the exact same action, and I kind of feel like Harry and Megan would have done it even without leaving the Royal family. Like everyone trademarks there stuff today, That's what I mean. So it's like into a kind of have to or someone else will get a website in your name and put really crazy shit on it, so you have to be careful about that. So I don't know if somebody verify themselves as you on Twitter, okay, and

god knows what will happen. You could lose a lot of money on the stocking. Now, other headlines show that, like Kate and William missed Christmas with the Queen, but everybody understood and it was totally fine. Then Harry and Megan missed Christmas with the Queen and it caused sadness and frustration. Kate requested her favorite candles and cents in the abbey for her wedding, and they just like described

all the lovely candles she was getting. Then Megan's similar requests to spray scent on the abbey was declined because quote a request of that nature had never been made before, which obviously it had just we just made it. So now, even in the safety of the palace, comments were made that Megan and Harry just could not stand. After Megan got pregnant, people within the palace had quote several conversations with Harry concerned about quote how dark his son's skin

might be when he was born. Megan told Oprah in the now famous interview that they all had together. I guess it was then famous too. It was famous from the get yeah uh. And now Harry clarified that neither the Queen or Prince Philip were the ones who asked that.

But with all the paparazzi stuff and the nasty press coverage, and Megan's estranged family also stirring up shit as much as they could, it's maybe not surprising that in the couple announced that they would be renouncing their royal titles, stepping away from royal duties and moving to the colonies to I'm America. Escape to America, where they would live like you know, normal extremely rich and famous people instead of royal extremely rich and famous people would like to

be American aristocracy. It's a lot less rule, I know. Right when the American paparazzi is less aggressive, you know you've got a problem. I wonder if it's different since their public figures like celebrities, are still private citizens, so they have different protections. I I that's the only thing I can think. But it's got to be something weird, like or Megan and Harry aside do they kind of like it? They love it. They don't take my picture please,

that's me as as a snobby prince. No, leave me alone. Don't get my good side over here. I'd love to see your prince run around. He's a bit of attendee. He's a macaroni, a maccaroni like Yankee doodle. It's just been a dandy, you know that. I didn't know that he stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni. But apparently macaroni just meant you were a dandy. You liked fashion, stuck a feather in his hat and they called him a macaroni. Oh well, call me a macaroni then,

because I like to look good. So they're living in Los Angeles. They're fancy rich famous people, but they're not royal rich famous people. And basically this means you don't have to call him Prince Harry anymore. Just Harry is fine. I think i'd call him Mr Windsor. I mean what, I'm like, what do you what is your last name? England? Mr England. Now he is still in the line of succession. This is interesting. They're still styled your Royal highness. But you don't have to say that when you talk to

them anymore. The beefeaters aren't going to come up and haul you away if you accidentally forget um unlike me, doubt you, Dad refers to me as anything but your Royal Highness, or I'll have those beef it is, hold you away to the dungeons, goodness, take you up to the tower. Well, you're a real terror. This is no good. He's definitely going to get his head taken at some point.

Bring back that Gietta. And then the other thing with Harry and Megan is they are not getting any more money to support themselves from the Royal Family or the British people. Tax sellars, no tax sellars. However, will they survive? Who knows now. Of course, the press liked the fact that they left the Royal family even less than they liked that she entered it. Megan was accused of being like a manipulative bully, brainwashing Harry, you know, making him

do this, dragging him out. But Harry's explanation makes a lot more sense to me. He was just a kid when his own mother, Princess Diana, was constantly hounded by the press when she married into it. She was being chased by a paparazzo and her car crashed and she died.

So Harry has spoken out several times in the past about how traumatic it was to witnessed the treatment of his mother in the press while she was alive, and of course it was very traumatic to have her die and when he was just a young boy as a result of that, and William publicly has agreed with those sentiments as well. Both men brought it up when they were officially asking the press to please leave their ladies alone, and Harry said, quote, my father and brother are stuck.

They don't have a choice. But as the second son, he does have a choice. So he straight up sat down with Megan and was like, what kind of life do we want to lead? And they decided it should not be in the palace and they dipped. So the couple moved to Los Angeles, as you said. Now they run an organization called arch Well and that encompasses a charitable foundation as well as their creative projects with Spotify

and Netflix, and they've come out with books. His his his book just came out called Spare Everyone freaked out about that title because of their spright old name. I would I would push back on Harry and say that William could do something about it once he ascends the throne. He could simply dissolve the monarchy, just saying, if anybody can as the king, I would simply dissolve, simply dissolve the monarchy if I was that's it. Monarchy. Your prince

would never do that. No, he wouldn't. Mind wouldn't, Which is why someone needs to step up and do it. You know, we're all eyes on you, William. Yeah, be noble and have sir. But look, Megan and Harry were not the first nor the last royals to give up their titles and privileges for love. Only a year after these two quit, the quality Princess Mako in Japan did the same thing, and we're going to hear more about that right after this break. Welcome back to the Shoe.

Princess Mako of Akashino, who was the niece the Emperor of Japan, was born in nineteen and she became an Internet icon in two thousand four, and then in two thousand and eleven she came of age and started serving her royal duties, which included official visits to several countries, charitable appearances, you know, royal stuff. We can all relate. After the tsunami in two thousand eleven, she volunteered with affected communities without revealing her royal status. Imagine she wore

a little mask. She wore the little the jasmine marketplace, rode shroud over her head. No one who me. And of course she went to school. She went to Tokyo's International Christian University and during a study abroad event at a Tokyo restaurant, she met a fellow classmate named k. Komoro, who was studying to be a lawyer. She said she was quote first attracted by his right smile. They started

dating and in December of Kay proposed over dinner. But first their relationship went long distance because Marco studied for her master's degree in Edinburgh and England. Ultimately, she graduated with a degree in Art, Museum and Gallery Studies in January of they've been together for a long time already, um, and it seems to me that they're like, we just want to get out of school, you know, graduately, be adult age and then be married. But they're pretty devoted.

So with her degree in hand. She and Kay announced their engagement, and they met with the press in September to talk about their wedding plans. They said the ceremony would be in November. But Kay is a commoner, and any women in the Imperial family who married commoners are required to abdicate and leave the royal family. They are given a one point three million dollar payments on their marriage to help them start a new life outside the palace. You know, there's just not much I wouldn't quit for

a million dollars. I've quit things for free before, so I've lost money in quitting things. And yeah, it's not like Marco would be the first Japanese royal member to do this kind of thing. Her grandmother and her aunt did this, and in Japan only a man can inherit the throne, so it's not like she'd ever be in charge, you know. So it's not like that threw any any

succession plans and to disarray or something like that. But of course, the media is not that different in Japan than it is anywhere else, and these two ended up running quite an obstacle course to get to the altar. Yes scandal hit when ka Comero's mother got embroiled in some dispute with her former fiance. He had given her around thirty thousand dollars. Some of this went towards Kay's tuition at the university. Now, the press took this little

dispute and they just ran with it. They heaped piles of disapproval on the couple, said Marco's marriage would bring dishonor to the royal family or sully their image. They said a commoner son of a single mom was no match for a princess. They even called k An untrustworthy, gold digger damn and the royal family not exactly rushing into their defense here, they also had doubts. So their marriage got postponed from a three year postponem is crazy,

that's so much. And this is probably in the hope that the scandal would just die down and they could just have a regular royal wedding like they intended. Everybody would have forgotten all about Kay's mom fighting with her old buddy or whatever. Right. But yeah, this scandal, however little it seems to us, was big enough to them

that it just did not die down. The Guardian spoke with a professor at Tokyo University who specializes in media and journalism studies named Kaoi Hayashi, who told them quote, weekly magazines and daytime TV shows are reporting frantically on this because it helps their sales and viewing figures. They are particularly critical of the Comodos because they are not fully protected by Imperial Household Agency. So, first of all, to the first point, it's the media everywhere. They got

to make money and get them clicks. To the second point, he ain't royal, so it's open season on him. I guess what they're saying like that, you can say whatever you want about this guy and his mom Marco. You had to be a little more careful, I guess, because she is in the family and they might come after you. But this guy, we could say anything, but Marco was not immune. Don't don't take that to say that she left they left her out or anything. Because the speculation

and opinions were just constant. Their wedding got postponed again and that just riled the press up even more. Oh my God, true love. Indeed, I guess he's going through a gauntlet. Finally, the announcement came in September that they were gonna do it. They were gonna get married for real.

Wedding was happening for real real. Kay lived in New York, where he earned his law degree, and according to the Guardian, he was chased through the streets of New York City by Japanese reporters and as soon as his plane touchdown in Tokyo, he was just completely overrun over a hundred and fifty reporters at the airport and they all snapping pictures and shouting questions, and they're writing stuff down in their papers. They complained about everything from his body language

to his hair. Kay had grown his hair out. He's wearing it in this like cool little short ponytail. And apparently they ran pictures with every possible angle of his ponytail. I don't know who's drone, Like did a three sixty shot at this guy's, Like go to our website and you can see a three D rendering of ponytail clipping

out for this interactive map of his head. Probably they're like examining all the dents in it, like that means he's a hunter's Some of them compared his ponytail to a samuraized not but others said, no, princess's groom should ever have a ponytail. Disgraceful long haired hippies coming up in here. This guy ended up having to chop off

his offending ponytail before the wedding. He also released a twenty eight page explanation of the financial dispute between his mom and her former fiance, where he said that his mom had mistakenly thought that the money was a gift, not alone, so that's where all the discrepancies came from. And Kay even offered to pay it back himself. I mean, twenty eight pages. I would have been like, buddy, write a page and a half and then just like Laura, ips some the rest of it because I'm going to

get bored and stop very early. Glad it happen whatever. Yeah, And I feel like that's probably accurate. Like if they were engaged and he gave her some money, right, I feel like she would have thought that's a gift, and then after they were no longer engaged, the former fiance was like, well, now it's alone, and there was like a misunderstanding there about what gets kept and what gets

not kept after the breakup. But that feels again like a very small personal issue that has nothing to do with k I'm coming for all the money I ever gave you at the end of this Oh no, five dollars tops. Yeah, but yeah. Even his offered to pay back the money, his letter, his explanation, whatever. None of that worked, The scrutiny continued. They did have some support from the general population, but lots of people even took to the streets to protest their marriage. They were carrying

signs that said stop cursed marriage. The Guardian reported that one poll was conducted by a Japanese newspaper that found that thirty eight percent of respondents supported the marriage, opposed it, and twenty expressed no interest. Another weekly magazine poll found that just five percent of respondents felt like celebrating the marriage, while said quote they were in no mood to share in the couple's joy. Rude, unbelievably, and all this took

its toll. The Palace announced that Maco was diagnosed with complex PTSD. After the years of slurs and speculation and the doubts about whether or not she'd be able to marry Kay, the man she loved. Her psychiatrist told the media that she quote feels pessimistic and finds it difficult to be happy due to the persistent fear of her life being destroyed, which I get. Your wedding has been put off for three years already over the most dumb ship I ever heard of, And she's not the only

one that this has happened to. Ap News notes that her grandmother, Empress Emerita Michiko, was the first commoner to marry a monarch in modern history, and she quote collapsed and temporarily lost her voice in following persistent negative coverage. An Empress Masako, who is a Harvard educated former diplomat, has had quote a stress induced mental condition for nearly twenty years, in part because of criticism over not producing a male air. Some critics say Marco's marriage highlights the

difficulties faced by women in the Japanese Imperial household. Ladies gained control over your chromosomes? Please okay? So In October of one, Maco and Kay held a press conference where they apologized for the strife their engagement was causing the country and said they were quote horrified that all this misinformation about them was out there and being taken as fact. In Marco's statement, which we found on CNN, she explained, quote to me, Kay is a very important, indispensable existence.

She even announced that she would be declining the one point three million dollar payment that she was entitled to since that money comes from taxpayers, so hopefully that would appease people anyone critical of her choice. At least they couldn't say, like, and you're taking my money to go berry this asshole or whatever, which I mean, you know, I don't. I've never lived in a monarchy, but yeah, it's kind of feel weird that they're just like getting

all this cash. It feels weird when all our politicians get cash after they started be done with their jobs. So I get it. I kind of get it. But also giving up that one plus million dollars hopefully would lay to rest those gold digging allegations about k too write like he's not doing it for that money. Yeah, this makes her the first Imperial Family member to not get the payments since World War Two. For his part,

ka Comro said quote, I love miss Marco. This is a life lived only once, and I would like to spend my life but the person I love in happiness Maco, and I would like to build a warm, nice family. At the same time, I would like to do the best I can to support Maco. Happy times unhappy times, We would like to be together and we will be indispensable to each other, which is like the sweetest thing

you could say about right now. And I guess like the years they've been together, the years they've been waiting to get married, and just let them have it. Good ward, poor kids. Shortly after this press conference, Maco and Kay were finally married on October. They had no royal pomp or circumstance with their marriage at all um, but she was seen bowing to her parents and hugging her sister, so everything cool between them, at least at home UM,

and then she left with Kay. The couple moved to New York City, and Kay works as a paralegal for a pretty prestigious law firm. Maco is working as an unpaid volunteer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art UM in their Asian art collection. According to People magazine, Quote specifically been involved in preparing an exhibition of paintings inspired by the life of a thirteenth century monk who traveled through Japan as he introduced Buddhism, just putting that degree to

some great use. The article also says that The couple's luxury apartment is only a ten minute drive from the METS iconic Fifth Avenue location, so they definitely got some money to live on. I don't know where it's coming from or who's given it to him, but they are doing okay. I mean, you know, you don't leave a

royal family and and up slumming it. But okay. The real reason that we want to do this episode today is because our last and most recent story about Norway's Princess Marta Louise, and she's got the most ridiculous story of all. So we will get back to that right

after these words. Welcome back, y'all. Just last week on November, Princess Marta Louise of Norway announced that she would be giving up her royal duties because of criticism of her relationship with her you guessed it, American fiance Derek Verett. Now these two have a bit of a different story than our other couples because Marta Louise was already a bit notorious in the Norwegian press because she believes that

she has clairvoyant abilities. If you remember from our d and Lorraine Warren episode, clairvoyance is the ability to see things that other people can't, kind of piercing the veil and seeing through space and time in ways the rest of us aren't able to. They call her the Princess of the Paranormal New York Times Rights quote. Since she was a child, she had seen people's feelings, and through her communication with horses and other animals, she said she

had started talking to angels too. Oh okay now. She co founded a spiritual center in Away fifteen years ago which was called Angel School and it is now called Soul Spring, where she tells her students to make contact quote with the angels and the divine universe. I don't

know if this is a Norwegian um. She once instructed her students to quote, ask your guardian angel if there's anything it wants to tell you, which I wonder if we've all got a guardian angel that at the end of our life is going to be like, well, you never asked? Well what he said? I saw you floundering, struggling your way through life, but you never asked. Or they show you like a video of your life where you can see them and they're like, hello, there's a

car coming. How frustrating to your guardian angel. But no one can hear you. It feels like me and you sometimes, Yeah, I'm always telling you, like, here's what you should be doing, and you're just like, blah blah blah. Is that you hate a minute? Well, I don't feel that. You don't listen to me. Maybe what I'm saying isn't quote useful or helpful. He still don't listen to a word of it. Well,

I know that's so true. Well, these beliefs about clairvoyance and speaking to angels and stuff like that, so some people believe that too, um, but they're not for everyone. But Norway on the most for the most part, seems to have been pretty ambivalent about it. They're like, sure, Princess Martha, go for it, whatever you want. Before meeting her boyfriend Derek. Kind of the biggest scandal around her

seems to have happened in Soul Spring. Let a woman named Lisa Williams do a lecture there, and Lisa Williams claim to fame is that she can talk to dead people, and people in Norway were like, Nah, that is not real. You can't talk to dead people. I don't think you should be telling people could do that. A bishop came out and was like, well, talking to angels is one thing, but dead people, that's crazy somewhere for real. So Martha had to come out and like quickly distance soul Spring

from Lisa Williams. She's like, we have different practices, and she wasn't talking about that, and we had soul Spring. Don't even know why you talk to dead people when you can be talking to angels, so well, I don't know. I'm just kind of saying not me. Uh. And then she made headlines again in ten when she and her then husband announced that they were divorcing. But other than that, they kind of didn't really care about this paranormal stuff. They're like, be be yourself, girl, a little bit of

Shirley McLean, just like do your thing whatever. Why not. But then she met Derek in Los Angeles. They were immediately drawn to each other. She calls him her twin flame. But then he and Martha started doing a touring act called The Princess and the Shaman, and that got to be a little too much for the people of Norway. This guy, Direk Verett was born Derek Verrett and he claims to be a shaman, which I us is what

mystically changed the e to a you in his name. Yes, which a shaman, by the way, is like a magical kind of healer character. But I suppose it's that's sort of its old meaning, whereas today you have shamans at like hotels. They have shamans some hotels and stuff, and it's just like we do meditation. Okay. And Derek has a lot of claims to be honest, but we'll start with what can be verified about this guy. He was born in nineteen seventy four. That's undisputed, and it seems

like a concrete fact. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. Now. Not long ago, he told a Norwegian podcast that when he was sixteen years old, he threw a party in an abandoned house and some older teenagers showed up and they poured alcohol all over the stuff in the house and lit it on fire, which spread and engulf the entire house, which burned out, and that led to Direct being arrested and serving a year in prison. Oh, to me, sounds like a story you

would tell. It's like, oh, no, some random teenagers came up, Oh why do I smell like booze? While they dumped alcohol everywhere, and we were just sitting around playing part cheesy. You know, we were eating popcorn and just have a normal teenager times, right, just regular yahsi over here. But yeah, I don't know. It also sounds like something older teenagers

would do, seniors crashing the junior's party or yeah. Well, in two thousand five, he married a twenty one year old woman of Czech nationality, and three years later he reported her to immigration authorities as an illegal resident, so she was then jailed and then deported. They divorced in two thousand nine, and he told Norwegian press that he did it because well, she exploited him for a green card, so naturally, you know it's time to take action and

get this arrested and deported. A little confused about this story, because once you're married, don't you get it anyway. I don't know. I couldn't speak that because I don't really know about it. But I was a little confused by that. Still, it's pretty harsh. That's a cold, cold treatment. While he was married, he was also in a relationship with a mes sur named Hank Greenberg. Starting in two thousand seven. They had a company called Heaven on Earth where they

did wellness sessions. They hosted a radio show together and they were engaged, but they broke it off, and now Hank is giving interviews saying that Derek was manipulative, that he brainwashes his followers. He told a Norwegian paper called Netavisen quote, I was completely brainwashed. It was so bad that my parents told me several times that they didn't recognize. He also said Derek once quote strangled me and threw me across the room. And Derek has had nothing but

nice things to say. For his part, he told a Norwegian paper called doug Ladette quote, it was a wonderful experience and I will always love him. But he only wanted to be with men. That's fine, But for me, it's the unconditional love that's important. So it didn't work. I do not define myself as gay or bisexual. I only relate to one thing, and that is love. But then in the net of Eastern article, Hank says that he has a new girlfriend and they're planning their wedding,

So I'm not That seems confusing. It could be a translation issue, though, so I will throw that out there. I had to Google translate the whole article. Who knows now. At some point Direc was living with his former manager, Tiana Grigo for six years. She has since come out and told a celebrity magazine called say Here or something like that in Norwegian, uh quote, Direc controlled my whole life. It was as if he became jealous of anything that stole his attention. I was not allowed to start a

serious romantic relationship or raise my son. It was all about Derek. As far as we can tell, Derek hasn't responded to those allegations at all. So no, yeah, nothing

to to say on his part for that now. Apparently early on in his career directed some modeling work and he appeared on several TV shows, which is how he got in with all these like celebrities, And according to New York Times, he's worked with and endorsed by all kinds of names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosario Dawson, Salma Blair, Billy Corgan, Nina Dobrev, Chris Pine, and a guy named Dave Astbury who's clean coffee brand Bulletproof, is the only

coffee direct will drink. Otherwise he doesn't do caffeine well. When you got names like Gwyneth Paltrow and Billy Corgan backing you up. You know, it just screams trustworthy to me. I will say that there are some articles that kind of described some of like they witnessed some of his treatments I guess or whatever, and they saw people like shaking and vomiting and drumming their feet and had like

having really crazy experience. I know. I was like, Oh, it sounds great, you know, but I guess he's supposed to be pulling negative energy from you or something. So that's all coming out and then you feel amazing afterward. Maybe is ayahuascar? Because I know that will make you puke. Now this is my question. I was like, what's you given him to drink or eat that's making them like project out vomit and stuff. This is last week's chili. It will really clear the evil out of your hearts

and stomachs and bowels. So that's what we can verify. That's why it seems to be pretty clear and present fact. But now we must welcome you to Derek Vere. It's unverifiable tidbits because as we said, he has a lot of claims and they're all amazing. Let us so let us look at them. These are including, but not limited to, He is a sixth generation shaman, born to a lineage

of both Haitian voodoo magic and indigenous Norwegian medicine. His mother was a psychic who foresaw his marriage to Norwegian royalty, and his dad trained as a shaman but ran a construction business. Derek also claims that he is a reincarnated pharaoh from Egypt, and that he and Martha actually lived together at that time. So it's like a hawkman hawk girl kind of thing where you just keep reincarnating and

finding each other. He told People Magazine, quote, I have memories of us in Egypt, and she was my queen. This is why when they met, they felt like they remembered each other, as they said, that's why they were immediately drawn, Which I mean, you know, I don't know how things work. Maybe maybe they shared a past limit you know, Uh, you haven't watched The Fountain yet. We've been talking about watching that. Or I think it's Cloud Atlas is similar where it's like the same people living

in different timelines. Look, all I'm saying is who knows. But when it's stacked up with some of these other claims,

that's when it really becomes kind of kooky. Another one is he says he was spiritually initiated by one of his grandmother and an American woman who calls herself Princess Susannah Vondis of Croatia, but a Norwegian fact checking website called van True said that his grandmother died before Derek was born, and that Susannah is quote a fraud who claims to be a princess, because apparently Croatia has not had a native king since the twelfth century, So if

she's claiming Croatian royal heritage somewhere in her line, They're like, there's no way it is impossible to trace that anyone could say they were descended from Croatian royalty. If actually, now that you mentioned that, I've been meaning to tell you, Prince Ivo is that. He also claims that he worked at a hospital in Israel healing children sick with cancer, but the hospital told that publication that as he had never worked there. How weird to make claims that are

so obviously and they're so quickly. He might do some research first, seriously, make up hospital at least make it hard to track. In his twenty eighteen book Spirit Hacking, Derek claims that when he was twenty seven, he died for four minutes and twenty five seconds from hypertension. His organs shut down. The hospital wanted to take him off a life support, but his sister donated a kidney to him, and he woke up after a month in a coma. He told The New York Times, quote, I flatlined. I

went to the other side. I got all the information on the other side. I came back. During this time, he says he foresaw the attacks on nine eleven, but said that quote, everyone must accept their destiny and it wasn't his role to intervene. Okay, now, okay, a couple of things. I got a few things to say, oddly enough. Um one of them. Sure, I mean, if his sister

gave him a kidney, great, good for them. Glad he's better. Uh. Number two, Damn, he was dead for four minutes and twenty seven seconds, and he got all the formation on the other side during that time. There's not that much information. Very If I died for four minutes and then at the end, you know, some angel was like and that's all there is to know, I'd be like, damn, y'all got have written that down. This is not that complex.

You can leave a voicemail everything I need. You finished up with God about all the answers of the universe, and you're like, this could have been an email. Third of all, wow, you knew about nine eleven and did nothing to prevent it. Nothing, because well, who am I to say something? Which also, had he said something, obviously everyone would have said he was crazy. But then if it happened, and then he's got some credibility, you would

have had. I feel like he should have done it, but I don't know he's like or he would have looked like a suspect. Well, okay, that's a good point. I'm sorry. How did you know this was going to happen? Well, I died for four minutes and God told me, all right, and you're going to Guantanama back all right. Derek also believes that cancer is a choice. He wrote in his book that he went to hospitals and asked cancer patients, including young children, quote, why do you want this cancer?

And he said that relationship problems could be a potential cause for cancer. He said, you don't like your mom and dad, or you don't have a good relationship with your husband. Do you chose to have cancer? About it? Good God. He also wrote that doctors only prescribed chemotherapy because they want to get a big pay up for it. And what it sounds to me is like this guy doesn't know anyone who's suffered from cancer. Yeah, I mean yeah, I'm having a lot of members of my family suffered

from cancer. Yeah. I have to say this one really pissed me off. And as you see, they're getting a little weirder everywhere you go. I'm like, you can say all day you're descended from Haitian voodoo magic or whatever. If you're doing meditation and wellness and making people feel good, I really don't care. But now we're getting to a point where you're telling people not to trust science about their cancer and that they can just not want it anymore and it will go away. Like that's not that's

a little far uh. And then also to like mistreat their chemo there like mistrust and chemotherapy is like no. In on his podcast Ancient Wisdom Today, Derek and his guest Dave Asbury, who's the Bulletproof Coffee guy, they talk about how they don't ejaculate because it robs men of their spiritual energy and give them a quote ejaculation hangover. He's one of those. You would have been making that silverware.

We did an episode if you haven't heard about the Oneida Compound, which was this whole cult way back in the day that that basically thought that that men should never ejaculate except to impregnated woman, and even then only with approval of the cult leader. That's right, so go back and check that out. In a previous interview with an Irish outlet, Derek said, quote, there are certain marks that women get on the inside of the vagina when

they've had too many sex partners. They need to get that cleaned out, and I offer exercises for that which let me get in there and clean out the marks and your vagina, ma'am. It's for your spiritual health. They might be like key goals or something. Another outlet expands on this claim, saying he wrote in his book that casual sex attracts subterranean spirits that make impressions inside women. So that's that's what it's all about, what these demons about.

It just sounds like split shaming to me because he's like, yes, you're having too much sex, so now you have you let the demons in now. This claim caused a Norwegian sexologist to say that he was quote well into fantasy land more politely, and The Times writes, quote what he actually said about the vagina. Mr Verrett said is that him in our absorbers meaning of negative energy after a trauma doesn't explain it. No, it doesn't. First of all,

you talk about spirits, not trauma and energy. Secondly, why do you think sex isn't requires trauma? I don't know where that comes from. In an Instagram post recently, Derik shared a quote picture that read quote the reptiles are here to help humanity find true liberation, and in the caption wrote quote, I'm a hybrid species of reptilian and Andromeda, and I also hold the energies of the ancient spirits from the old world. There have been lies told about

our species that I want to address. We are a cluster of beings. That means that we've come here to create structures that help people come into liberation. Reptilians are

here to shake up the system in a big way. Look, this is not too far off from David huggins experience with aliens and from even more specifically our episode about Simon Parks who had sex with aliens and knew all about their hierarchies and all the different species and the reptilians that we're here to kind of miss everything up in the and it's like, you know, there's enough of them that sometimes I'm like, maybe maybe maybe all the aliens are gonna show up and be like, yeah, we've

been manipulating you all along, to which point I'm gonna say, Okay, I mean, what do you want me to say? Great, you fooled me. This post was later deleted according to the but screenshots were published in the Norwegian press. Yeah, I mean, you can't can't anything from the internet. Yeah, speaking of he did go on to say that there were malevolent entities called the Gray Ones who actually run the world, and the enslaved people by disrupting our frequencies

with five g guy, Oh my god. And I'll tell you what. The Gray Ones here do differentiate from Simon Parks and David Huggins because those guys both said the Grays were pretty hands off and chill. Oh that's right, Yeah, that's right. So this is a different alien story or I guess it's not even aliens, like a reptilian he's

talking about. I don't either, But people were like really hated this post because of course it's a little it was really out there, but also the reptilian theory, especially when you combine it with five G conspiracy um, comes from David I. It's very anti Semitic. He has tried very hard to align himself with far right groups and stuff, and so it's like, all right, you know, this is a little we're getting to be hostile. We're getting to

be in some territory that's really upsetting. In another Instagram video, he said that when he got COVID he realized it was because he was a workaholic and that he quote needed to take time to do his breathwork and listen to the ancestors. Which I'm like, that sounds like a great way to say, stay home from work and like don't do anything, which is what you're supposed to do when you get covid um. But then he said that his White light Bringer amulets healed his COVID and got

quote the poisons out of my system. He has several amulets and Netta Vic and commissioned scientists to examine these amulets that he sells. The results say they were mainly plastic quote with only one die separating the light Bringer and the Ancient Truth amulets. And by the way, his spirit optimized. Our amulet is for sale on his website for two hundred and twenty two dollars. So these are

not cheap little chokes. No, well they heal you like you, hey, where this if you have COVID and within seven to fourteen days you'll feel all better. I betact it works well. And you know that if you ask like Gwyneth Paltrow about this, she'd be like, it's not about what the amulets made up. It's the energy that he puts in it or some ship. And it's like, all right, you can't be saved people. You throw them a million preservers you. Honestly, I for one invite Gwyneth Paltrow to come on the

show and talk to us about how that's different. You know, please do we would love to hear story. Honestly, Her conscious uncoupling with Chris Martin is on the list there somewhere, so talk about them well. In June two, Martha announced her engagement to Direct, which is really what kicked off the media storm of articles looking into his past and

all his various claims. For their part, Marta and Direct think that most of the backlash is due to, first off, how the media always reacts for a royal engagement, which we've seen many examples of course, and also racism. Now Direct tells a news outlet VG that many in Norway quote don't want a black man in the royal family, and that quote I never experienced so much racism as when I came to Norway, you know, a great point,

perfectly fair. Yeah, yeah, we're we already talked about Megan Markle experiencing him pretty insane racism in in a country that's more diverse than Norway. So I imagine, you know, he might actually feel like very out of place and get all kinds of weird comments and stuff. Who knows well, And you know, obviously he's got some people saying some pretty bad things about him in his past right, that

he was manipulative and controlling and violent. Um, there can be people who are worthy of criticism that you know, either overtly racist or just systemically racist. News agencies and people in general will also treat racistly, you know, like they will be racist about their commentary. Even if he's got valid things about him that are worthy of criticism, they're also going to get racist about it. And that's

of course, that's very true. But Derek also compared himself to quote geniuses like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers and Helen Keller. Notably none of them are black. I have to say, it's weird to be like talking about racism and then compare yourself to a lot of

white folks. That Some people have pushed back on the claims of racism, saying that he's just trying to distract people from his weird conspiracy theories, including a black comedian from Norway called Yonah's Dome who told nedavis In that people don't like direc because quote, he is a con man who says horrible things. So again, he's the guy is worthy of criticism clearly, and it could be both that.

I think it's probably both. It could be both. Like if Derek was like a normal, quiet dude and he was getting similar treatment, it would be easier to believe. But he does have a lot of reasons to criticize him, and a lot of reasons why people would be like, maybe I don't want this guy in the royal family. Seems like he's going to tell people not to believe in medical science and to take an amulet for every cold or whatever. Well, and racism is tricky because you know,

people often don't know that they're being racists. They don't know the things they're saying are rooted in racism. And oftentimes people in reasons where there are no people of color, Uh, it is, it's very easy for them to unknowingly be racist because they just don't have, you know, the experience of the education and the prize. You see someone that looks different, you know, so yeah, but it is, it is. You know. I don't like to discount his claims of

that because that's his that's his personal experience. I could never say one way or the other. If he walks around feeling uncomfortable, that's that's that's his personal life or whatever. But I did have a friend um who went to Amsterdam and he said, He's like, we were walking around the red light district and the prostitutes wouldn't even talk to me. They were like, not you anyone but you

he was like, it was really crazy. So I don't know, and the Amsterdam is a different place in Norway, but you know, I was just thinking about his experience when I was looking into this, and I was like, well, maybe he's got a point. So with all this rigamarole around direct and and march Uh and all their pseudoscience

and alternative medicine stuff. On November, the Royal Family announced that Marta and Derrek quote are seeking to distinguish more clearly between their activities and the Royal House of Norway. So that's why she chose to do this. Basically, it was just they were like, let us just separate what you're doing with what we're doing. People won't feel like

you're influencing policy or something. So Marta will retain her title of Princess, but the couple quote will not indicate an association with the Royal House of Norway in their social media channels. So no more like Princess and the

Shaman Wellness Tours. According to The New York Times, Marta also said in an Instagram video that she quote believed in scientifically proven healthcare, but quote acupuncture, yoga, meditation crystals could also help that makes me feel like they were like, can you also just say that you believe in chemo or something? Can you just throw in there like you don't think that you could cut your COVID with an amulet?

And that's reasonable? I think so. I think you could totally look to other forms of healthcare that are healthful without discounting like proven medicines. Yeah, that's it's It's just as bad for western medicine, for lack of a better word, to discount traditionally, you know, alternative holistic medicine as it is for holistic medicine to say we don't have any use for that, because I'm like, yeah, we had St. John's work a long time ago, and guess what, we

developed something else as well for a reason. So, now that she has backed off her royal duties and they've announced their engagement and they're planning their wedding, my big question are they going to move to America like everybody else? Well, I don't know. You've got Harry and Megan are in l a and Maco and k are in New York. So these two are gonna have to go to Chicago. I guess I'm going to say, come to Atlanta put them in Nebraska. Wouldn't it be funny if they just

like went just again, not to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Baby. Actually, I will say that their plan was to move to America. So at some point we're America. We're just going to be chuck full of news. To be right, former you don't have to call him that. Thanks lord, my lord, thank you, my lord. Wow. A bunch of crazy stories here. Yeah, so that's Those are our royals that have dipped in the last couple of years and said, you know what, I keep it. That's pretty exciting, you know, good for them,

you know. And at the end of this episode, it's kind of funny hearing about all these royals and their strife and they're changing up, getting out of the royal families, and I'm like, I shouldn't say this, I don't care. I shouldn't send one of our episodes. Damn well, you know they're all fine, right. It is incredibly rich people problems, it is. I do find it an interesting thread the press all throughout um and how and how crazy it is with your lack of privacy and how much people

like you said, we don't have a monarch here. We've never grown up in a monarchy, but how much people feel, um some ownership over that royal family. I think it's just something I'll never really be able to understand, but it's clearly a big deal. And it's like a weird, heavy weighted blanket over all these royals, and you're like, I'm suffocating your love and also hate, right, And I mean,

you know, more sympathetically. I remember kind of coming to the realization here, you know, as a younger person that celebrities are human beings that have day to day lives and cook their own dinners and have children they care about, you know, like that there it's easy to dehumanize uh, wealthy famous people yea. And in some ways obviously, of course they they're not real people in the same way, you know, very different problems, but in a lot of

ways they are. You know, having worked on set in TV and movies and stuff, and I met a few people, uh that are just like lovely normal people that probably have, you know, partly a heinous existence of just constant attention and cameras on them at all times. Everything they do is judged, and that sucks for anyone, like it sucks. I never had a princess poll. I was like, I'm

not I don't want it. That seems like a lot people want to tell you who to who to get married to, but also they have just everything you do is so scrutinized. I'm like, when I go to the grocery store and I see someone that I know, I'm afraid they're gonna see me, like duck behind that, you know, an impulse shell for something like don't see me. I can't imagine every time you step out of house, it's

just cameras constantly. It would be really hard. Another interesting thing here with the attacks, it's like, obviously if we look at Harry Megan for just the most prime example, racism massively at play right, but also a huge part of it. I think it's classism too, because it's you're literally in the highest class of people there is if you're a royal person, and literally you grew up with generations before you believing and teaching you you are better

than everyone else. Everyone else is a step down um and the people average every day non royal people believe that too. And I think in a lot of monarchies, Uh, it's just so embedded in the culture and the right. So there is this sort of like, wait, you're not as special as I thought you were. If you're just dating a regular person. That makes me feel like everything's a lie and now I don't understand my exists and

so my brain is melting. Well, yeah, when when marco was Uh found out that she was working as an unpaid volunteer, there were a lot of headlines about that and not that was, you know, a dignified position for her to be in and all this stuff, and I was like, well, you know again, it's really hard to grasp it because I don't have I'm like these I have the sense of these are people who live their lives and they need to be able to live their lives. That's my opinion. And also the country that we live

in is opinion as little as we practice it. That is how we grow up. That's the mindset we're in. So to me, I'm like, you should be able to snap your fingers and say I'd do what I was my life. You know. Um, I don't feel that burden of responsibility that they must feel. It must be really hard to step away in this way, and I feel like a disappointment or feel like you're not living up for people or whatever. So I kind of admire it, I guess I'll say I admire all these folks for saying,

you know what you get one life? You know, this is how I want to live it. I I want to make my own way. Well, my message to all the monarchs out there, all the royals, as you come into power, as you as you succeed the throne, uh, go ahead and dissolve your monarchy. I really think that's just the that's the simple solution here. Get rid of it no more. Everyone will love it, Yeah, I will. Then you come on the show and tell us all

about it. If you'd like to come on the show and you're a royal, please shoot us an email and would love you. Hey if you if you're not a royal, has it come on anyway? I would love to have you. We would love to hear from you. Anyway. Let us know what your thought of these royals and the ideas you have your future episodes. You just want to say, hi, Yeah, why don't you shoot us an email. We're ridic Romance at gmail dot com. Writer slide into the d m

s on Twitter and Instagram. I'm at saying at Boom and I'm at Oh great, it's Eli and the show is at Riddick Roman. Thanks so much for tuning in spending your time with us. We can't wait to see you the next episode. We love you, Bob. Friends, it's time to go. Thanks a listening to our show. Tell your friends neighbor's uncles in dance to listen to a show Ridiculous role Dance m