The daughter of Princess Martha Louise of Norway broke down in tears as she spoke about the suicide of her father, Ari Behn, almost five years ago.
Maud Angelica Behn, 21, appeared as a guest on her mother’s HeartSmart Conversations podcast, where she discussed her regret over her father’s suicide on Christmas Day 2019.
She burst into tears when she said she had “so much love for him that I couldn’t show him.”
Maud was only 16 years old when her author father took his own life. A week after her death, she gave a moving speech about supporting mental health at her funeral, at which a Norwegian magazine awarded her the “bravest woman in Norway” award. To this day, she said people still stop her on the street and thank her for her speech.
Four and a half years later, Maud told her mother and podcast co-hosts Mari Manzetti and Lilli Bendriss how the death still affects her to this day.
Since her father’s death, Maud’s mother Martha Louise found love again with controversial American shamanic healer Durek Verrett and eventually resigned as a royal due to scrutiny directed at her boyfriend for his controversial views. view on modern medicine.
Maud Angelica Behn from Norway, pictured, broke down in tears during a conversation about her father who committed suicide while she was a guest on the HeartSmart Conversations podcast.
Maud Angelica Behn (center), Leah Isadora Behn (left) and Emma Tallulah Behn (right) leave Oslo Cathedral, January 3, 2020, after attending their father’s funeral with their mother, Princess Märtha Louise (second back)
Speaking on the podcast, Maud said: “My father committed suicide at Christmas and because he was an author, there was a public funeral and I really wanted to give a speech.”
‘It was a week until the funeral after I heard the news, so I had to write the speech at that time in the worst headspace.
‘At that moment, I felt like I had been more nervous about doing school projects than I was at the funeral because I felt like my need to do it was stronger than my fear.
“I knew that if I didn’t make the speech, I would regret it for the rest of my life because I really wanted to have that moment to say goodbye to my dad.”
Maud said the tragedy of her father’s death inspired her to give a speech that she hoped would help others who were struggling with their own suicidal thoughts or who had also lost a person to suicide.
“I also appreciated that mom was able to be by my side during the speech because it’s hard not to cry when giving a speech like that and she was able to be by my side.”
In a touching moment, Maud confessed how grateful she was that her mother had been with her to help her through her grief.
She then thanked all her loved ones for coming together to support her. ‘I love to cry!’ she added, praising her liberating power.
After her father’s death, Maud (pictured) explained that she had started making origami birds to help her grieve shortly after her father’s death, an experience she called “meditative.”
After her father’s death, Maud explained that she had started making origami birds to help her cope with grief, an experience she called “meditative.”
During her grief, she remembered hearing a phrase that resonated with her experience. ‘Pain is love with no place to go.’
“There are many painful things about my father’s death, but one of the most painful was that I had so much love for him that I couldn’t show him,” she said before breaking down in tears.
“Sometimes I think about heaven and that he’s watching over me and sometimes I can feel him on the other side, but other times it’s painful that he’s not physically here.”
During the conversation, she was comforted by her mother, Märtha Louise, who considers herself deeply spiritual and even “clairvoyant.” Her mother told her a moving anecdote where she saw her deceased ex-husband where she was finally at rest.
After her father’s death, Maud’s upset finally turned to anger. She realized how devastated she was that she couldn’t give any of the birds to her late father.
However, he never stopped making the birds and ended up leaving them all over the school. Many of them were picked up and brought home by their classmates and other locals as a symbol of sympathy.
Ari Behn’s three daughters, pictured, mourning the death of their father while their mother holds two of her children under her arm.
“It was really healing for me because I was able to turn something painful into art, into something beautiful and be able to use my pain for creation.”
The 21-year-old has continued to express herself through creative means since her father’s death and is now experimenting with her own image.
Last year he shaved his head and recently dyed his hair green. Ella Maud described treating herself as a work of art that she likes to dress up for her own image.
Maud now honors her father in many ways, including using his old typewriters and listening to jazz, her favorite type of music, which she had failed to get into when he was alive.
Behn was best known for his marriage to Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, Maud’s mother; However, at the time, his marriage was mired in criticism. Mr. Behn was considered an unsuitable match for the former princess, as he is a bohemian author and artist.
They married in a lavish ceremony at the historic Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim in 2002, but decided to flee to London ten years later after sustained scrutiny of their married life.
After their wedding, the couple had three children: Maud Angelica, 21, Leah Isadora, 19, and Emma Tallulah. Princess Märtha Louise of Norway is the only daughter of King Harald V of Norway and Queen Sonja. She has a brother, Crown Prince Haakon.
Official photograph of the royal family celebrating the 45th birthday of Crown Prince Haakon (above 2nd left) with his family, while posing with Princess Martha Louise (above left), Crown Princess Mette-Marit (above C) , Princess Ingrid Alexandra (2nd right) and Maud. Angelica Behn (right), (bottom left) Prince Sverre Magnus, Queen Sonja and King Harald V, in July 2018
However, Martha-Louise and Ari began divorce proceedings in 2016 because, as Princess Martha said, they had become “distancing from each other” and “no longer seeing each other like they used to.”
At the time, he said: “We have tried everything for a long period of time, and when we still cannot get to where we were before, it is impossible for us to continue,” he told Norway’s News in English.
In an interview with the BBC last year, Martha spoke about her first husband and the “criticism” she faced.
She said: ‘His mental health was largely dependent on him receiving criticism in the media.
But I’m not saying it was anyone’s fault. That’s always how you handle criticism. The press criticized themselves after his death, that maybe they were a little harsh on him, and that he only received criticism and that he was actually a very nice person.’
After the divorce, Behn wrote a book Inferno, which critics described as “oozing with despair and sadness” and describing her struggles with mental health, headaches, hallucinations and difficulty breathing.
In the photo: Durek Verret, future husband of Princess Martha Louise, with his famous client Gwyneth Paltrow.
Since the death of her husband, Princess Märtha Louise, has been engaged to Durek Verrett, an American businessman friend of Gwyneth Paltrow.
The relationship has been another controversial chapter in the life of the Norwegian royal, as Mr Verrett’s controversial views came to light when their romance became public.
Eyebrows were raised when the princess began dating Verrett, who has some controversial and pseudoscientific views, including that cancer in children can be caused by “being unhappy.”
In November 2022, Princess Martha announced that she would be stepping down from her position as a senior member of the Royal Family in a move dubbed “Norway’s Megxit.”
In an interview with the BBC last year, she praised her parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, for keeping dialogue open while she made her decision and worked out the details of how the arrangements would work.
When asked about his decision compared to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who also stepped down as senior royals, he spoke about his “incredible” family, including King Harald and Queen Sonja, and how the dialogue between them always has remained open.
If you are struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, you can contact the Samaritans online or call their 24/7 hotline 116 123