This Saturday, August 31, in a dream setting, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway marries American Durek Verett. A sulphurous character and self-proclaimed “shaman”.
The water is deep blue and reflects the green mountains that surround it. The silence is usually broken only by the sound of waterfalls and birdsong. It is in the Geiranger Fjord, one of the most beautiful sites in Norway, that Princess Märtha Louise is getting married this Saturday, August 31. Daughter of King Harald V, she is marrying Durek Verett, a self-proclaimed “shaman” and guru to the stars, whom she met 6 years ago.
“We are so happy to celebrate our love in the beautiful setting of Geiranger,” Märtha Louise wrote on Instagram.
“It means a lot to us to bring our loved ones together in a place so rich in history and intense nature experiences. Geiranger is the perfect place to embrace our love.”
The ceremony, in this UNESCO World Heritage site, away from the public, is a far cry from Märtha Louise’s first wedding in 2002, in a cream dress and tiara, at Trondheim Cathedral – a princess wedding as one would imagine.
Majestic mountains and waterfalls
Only a few privileged members of the couple’s inner circle will attend the private ceremony this time, held this Saturday. The festivities began on Thursday, with a first evening held in Alesund in a historic hotel, more than 2 hours away.
According to the Norwegian daily Dagbladetthe 380 guests were then transported on Friday to theUnion Hotelin the village of Geiranger where the wedding is taking place, aboard tourist ferries. According to the wedding program, revealed by Royal Watch Blog, the guests were treated to “a light lunch on the boat while admiring the majestic mountains and waterfalls” along the way. The festivities will end on Sunday, September 1st with a brunch.
While guests were asked not to take pictures during the celebrations, some of Durek Verett’s friends – influencers, stylists, models, “psychics”… – began to document their fanfare arrival in Alesund, such as American stylist Derek Warburton or American reality TV star Cynthia Bailey. Respecting to the letter the newlyweds’ motto: be “sexy and cool”.
Durek Verett’s friends will rub shoulders with the few crowned heads invited to the wedding, Märtha Louise’s parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, both aged 87, Crown Prince Haakon, Märtha Louise’s younger brother, and his wife Mette-Marit, as well as members of the Swedish royal family.
The ceremony will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the wedding will be performed by Pastor Margit Lovise Holte, according to the liturgy of the Norwegian Church. Rev. Michael Beckwith, a Beverly Hills pastor of the “New Thought” spiritual movement, which advocates healing through the mind, will also participate in the ceremony.
The princess and the “shaman”: in Norway, the marriage of Märtha Louise causes scandal
Alternative therapies and pseudo clairvoyance
The eldest daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja, 4th in line to the throne, is something of an oddity in the world of European royalty. A fan of alternative therapies, she claims to be able to communicate with angels – she even founded an “angel school” in 2007 – and says she has the gift of clairvoyance.
She has resigned from exercising his functions within the royal family in 2022, shortly after the announcement of her engagement to Durek Verett, to devote herself to her alternative medicine activities. She has since been prohibited from using her royal titles to promote her business activities.
“The princess and her fiancé, Durek Verrett, wish to distinguish more clearly their activities from those of the Norwegian royal house,” the Norwegian royal house announced in a very diplomatic manner.
The couple have recently been investigated for using the title of princess to market a limited edition gin to mark the wedding. A spokeswoman for the princess said it was a mistake, the Guardian reported, although the couple were involved in developing the label. The Department of Health also accused them of breaching a ban on alcohol advertising.
Having fallen out with the Norwegian press, which she accuses of lying about her, Märtha Louise has sold the British magazine Hello the exclusive photos of the wedding. Nothing will therefore filter through to the Norwegian prince about this wedding.
Conspiracy circles
It must be said that the future husband – very controversial – is not very popular in Norway either. This 49 year old African American presents himself as a “sixth generation shaman” whose followers include stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Selma Blair and Antonio Banderas. “A guru, but also a businessman,” summarizes Thomas Pernette, interviewed last February in the Podcast Royal by BFMTV.
“He claims that he can change the structure of atoms, that he can cure cancer patients, that he was a pharaoh in a previous life or a hybrid being, half-man, half-lizard,” the specialist lists.
Among the controversies, his innuendos in his book Spirit Hacking that cancer is a choice and chemotherapy doesn’t work, or exercises he advocates to erase the supposed vaginal “imprint” of women who have had multiple sexual partners. He also sells, for $222, a medallion, the “Spirit Optimizer“, which would have helped him overcome Covid.
The daily Dagbladet called Durek Verett’s book “the ravings of a madman”, “nonsense, rubbish and filthy talk”, and an “unoriginal recycling of New Age culture”. Former Prime Minister Erna Solberg called Verrett’s ideas “very strange and not very knowledge-based”.
“Some of his positions are things that we are trying to combat in conspiracy circles,” she lamented.
This didn’t stop Märtha Louise from falling in love with Durek Verett and wanting to marry him. “I had decided not to remarry. But after meeting Durek in 2018, I changed my mind,” she explains in her interview with Hello magazine.
The 52-year-old princess was married for 15 years to artist and author Ari Behm, until their divorce in 2017. Together they had three daughters, Maud Angelica, born in 2003, Leah Isadora, in 2005 and Emma Tallulah in 2008. Depressed, Ari Behn took his own life on December 25, 2019.
A Netflix documentary
Speaking to the magazine, Märtha Louise also spoke about the criticism she had to face in her country because of her work and accused her future husband’s detractors of racism. “I know what it feels like to be criticized publicly,” she said.
“Since I met Durek, the criticism has increased,” adds the princess. “I didn’t realize there were so many layers of racism until I met him, the microaggressions and the idea that because he’s black, he can’t be trusted. Some friendships have been lost along the way, but we’ve also made new ones.”
“Martha and I have weathered many storms, but we now feel that we can do anything together. This has made us stronger,” Durek Verett assures in the columns of Hello.
Their story has in any case attracted the attention of Netflix, which after Meghan and Harry, plans to tell the story of the love affair between the Norwegian princess and her shaman. Announced on Monday, the documentary does not yet have a release date. Directed by Rebecca Chaiklin, this documentary is an “unprecedented portrait of one of the most publicized couples. It explores their love story from the early days to today and the way they manage their new life under the constant attention of the public,” promises Netflix.
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