Prince Harry is not the only royal spare with a problem.

Minor members of Scandinavian royalty who are unlikely to become king or queen have been causing ructions with behaviour seen as undermining the monarchy in countries with a more modest style of royalty than the UK’s grandiose version.

In Norway, Princess Märtha Louise, fourth in line to the throne, has renounced official duties after becoming engaged to a self-described shaman who claims he was healed of Covid-19 by wearing a medallion that he sells for $222 on his website.

The Danish royal family has been divided after the queen decided at the end of last year to take away the titles of the children of Prince Joachim, sixth in line to the throne, to slim down the monarchy and give her grandchildren more normal lives.

Meanwhile, the Swedish king caused consternation last week when he said it was unfair his second child, Prince Carl Philip, had been replaced as the direct heir by his older sister Victoria. The 1980 reform, passed before the prince’s first birthday, updated the order of succession stating that the eldest child, regardless of gender, should inherit the throne.

Although their Nordic and Baltic neighbours have presidents, the three Scandinavian monarchies enjoy strong public support. But arguments over the ill-defined role of those outside the direct line of succession have dented the monarchy’s image and provided fodder for the tabloid press.

“Controversy in the royal families always drives debates and puts support towards the institution in play,” said Caroline Vagle, royal reporter for Se og Hør, a Norwegian magazine.

“In different ways, royal families across Europe are grappling with future proofing their monarchies, managing the succession and the role and responsibilities of the spare. The Scandinavian examples do present a possible way to streamline and modernise monarchy which might be seen as a possible model for the UK,” said Anna Whitelock, professor of history of modern monarchy at City University in London.

The title of Prince Harry’s autobiography refers to the old saying of a monarch having “an heir and a spare” and history is littered with tales of scheming children trying to usurp those ahead of them in line to the throne.

The modern intrigues around royal hierarchies are less violent and bloody, but are played out in domestic and international media and increasingly voraciously on social media.

Perhaps the closest parallel to Prince Harry comes from Norway. Märtha Louise, who was born two years before her brother Haakon but is still behind him in the order of succession, has long stood out owing to her interests in alternative therapy, opening her own “angel school”, a healing centre, in 2007. “It caused a lot of uproar and criticism in its time,” said Vagle.

But the princess was also well liked for her easy way with people, and both she and her children received considerable sympathy when her ex-husband and their father killed himself in 2019, three years after they separated.

By then, Märtha Louise already had a new boyfriend: Durek Verrett, a black American interested in spirituality. Their first major controversy came when they toured together with a show entitled “The princess and the shaman”. Verrett and the princess complained of racism in response.

Dismay over Verrett’s healing medallion and its seemingly anti-science message caused dismay last year among the Norwegian public and opinion polls showed a drop in support for the monarchy. Organisations which had Märtha Louise as a patron cut ties with her, and the palace was forced to act. In November, the princess relinquished her official duties and patronages but was allowed to keep her title.

Vagle said that King Harald had shown the advantages of being open, not just in dialogue with his daughter but also by giving an interview together with the Queen after the decision. “I think it is wise to have more transparency than what we see from the British royal house. It must be like that in a modern society,” she added.

The Danish case was more acrimonious. Seemingly with little warning, the queen decided in her golden jubilee year to strip all four children of her second son Joachim of their royal titles. “We are all very sad about it. It’s never fun to see your children harmed in this way. They themselves are in a situation they don’t understand,” Joachim said. The queen herself conceded in her new year address that “difficulties and misunderstandings may arise in any family, also in mine”.

In Sweden, the king’s comments about the unfairness to his son caused by the change in the order of succession caused a furore as he appeared to say little about his actual heir, Crown Princess Victoria. The king, who is celebrating his golden jubilee year, was forced to issue a statement voicing his support for Victoria.

Vagle said that although European monarchy was “in flux” as royal families moved towards having fewer active royals, it was still a question of “identity . . . and it can be difficult when you or your children are pushed out”.

She said being a royal spare was far from straightforward: “One is constantly reminded that you are number two. How one copes with it is likely to have a lot to do with personality.” 

As the appetite for Prince Harry’s revelations proves, the public’s fascination for all things royal persists even as monarchies struggle with the question of what to do with their spares. “Ultimately monarchies are family businesses made up of are brothers, sisters, sons and fathers and mothers and so tensions and drama will never be removed and so media interest difficult to avoid,” said Whitelock.