29/8/2024–|Last update: 8/30/202401:31 PM (Makkah Time)
The eldest daughter of the Norwegian royal family, Princess Märtha Louise, is preparing to marry American Durek Verrett, who describes himself as a “spirit medium” (shaman). The relationship between the two advocates of alternative therapies is causing discontent in the Scandinavian kingdom.
Marta Louise, 52, claims to be able to communicate with angels, a “talent” from which she earns income through teaching sessions and books, while Verret, 49, claims to be a “sixth-generation spiritualist,” and sells for a high price a medallion he says is a “savior” called the “Spirit Optimizer.”
“I am very spiritual, and it feels so good to be with someone who supports that,” the princess wrote on Instagram in June 2022, days after announcing her engagement to Verret.
Veret and Marta Louise will tie the knot on Saturday in the middle of nature in the Geiranger Highlands, specifically in a tourist village located on the west coast of Norway.
Some 380 guests are expected to attend the celebrations, which begin on Thursday, including Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel.
“Pharaoh in a Past Life”
According to Verret’s account, this will be his second marriage to Marta Louise, as the spiritual medium, whose followers include stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Antonio Banderas, claims that he was a pharaoh in a past life, and that Marta Louise was his wife.
According to Agence France-Presse, the ideas of the princess and her fiancé are causing resentment in Norwegian society, which is generally far from these beliefs, and annoyance at the couple’s attempt to make money by misusing science and exploiting their membership in the royal family for commercial purposes.
In order to put an end to this confusion of roles, in 2022 Marta Luiz was forced to give up all her official duties.
But she has overstepped that decision several times since then, including during the wedding, by offering for sale a bottle of liquor that explicitly referred to her as a princess.
“It is time to strip Märtha Louise of her title of Princess for not abiding by the agreement, before further damage is done to what King Harald achieved during his lifetime,” royal historian Trond Norin Isaksen wrote in an article in early July.
Verrett and Martha Lewis also caused a stir in the Norwegian media by granting exclusive access to photos and videos of their wedding to Hello, a royal magazine, and to Netflix.
Declining popularity of the royal family
Martha Louise, who has three daughters from a previous marriage to Norwegian writer Ari Behn, is fourth in line to the throne.
Thus, her brother, Prince Haakon, would one day succeed King Harald, as the law of priority of succession regardless of gender was not in effect at the time of her birth.
According to Agence France-Presse, the practices of the fiancés contribute to the erosion of the royal family’s popularity, as the percentage of support for the monarchy in Norway fell from 81% in 2017 to 68%, according to a recent poll conducted by the public television network “NRK”.
The royal family was recently rocked by a scandal when Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, beat his girlfriend while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
As for Marta Louise, the criticism is focused on the “shaman Doric”.
In his book, Spirit Hacking, the American hints that getting cancer is a personal choice, and he also sells a medal called the Spirit Optimizer for $222, which he says helped him overcome Covid.
Although Verrett declared his understanding of the controversial nature of his positions, he considers himself above all a victim of racism, similar to the atmosphere that accompanied the entry of American actress Meghan Markle into the British royal family.
“White people are giving us all this hate and death threats… because they don’t want a black man in the royal family,” Doric Verrett wrote on Instagram on June 9.
However, King Harald (87 years old), who himself had to fight a battle to force the royal family to allow him to marry his beloved Sonja because she was a commoner, is lenient towards his daughter’s marriage, and is content to refer to a mere “cultural clash.”
Of his future son-in-law, he once said he was “a really good guy, and very funny.” He added, “We don’t agree on everything, but we can get along despite our differences.”
Related News :