Norway's 'clairvoyant' princess to marry US shaman ‘risen from dead’. The story of the controversial couple

Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise is all set to tie the knot with her American fiancé and self-styled shaman, Durek Verrett. The lavish wedding is slated for Saturday (August 31) at a hotel in the scenic town of Geiranger, which is known for a fjord designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The couple had announced their engagement in 2022. Now, their wedding has stoked a controversy. Here’s why.

Who is Märtha Louise and her partner?

Princess Märtha Louise, 52, is a former equestrian. The eldest child of Norwegian King Harald and Queen Sonja, she is fourth-in-line to the Norwegian throne.

Her younger brother, Crown Prince Haakon, is her father’s successor. Louise was previously married to the late writer and artist Ari Behn, with whom she had three daughters – Maud, 21, Leah, 19, and Emma, 16.

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The two divorced in 2017. “I had decided not to get married again. But after meeting Durek in 2018, I changed my mind,” the princess told Hello! magazine.

Louise has lived an unconventional life. She lost her honorific “Her Royal Highness” title to start her own business in 2002.

The princess declared herself a clairvoyant in 2007, triggering a backlash. Until 2018, she ran a school which as per her taught students to “create miracles” and talk to angels, reported BBC.

Amid criticism, the royal court said in 2019 that Louise would not be allowed to use her title of princess in a “commercial context”. In November 2022, she gave up her royal duties.

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Speaking to BBC last year, the Norwegian princess said there had been “turmoil” regarding her taking a different path than that of a “traditional royal”.

“There’s been a lot of criticism over the years, especially with me being spiritual – and in Norway, that’s taboo,” she said.

Her partner, Verrett, says he is a sixth-generation shaman (a spiritual healer). Based in Los Angeles, he works with several celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Selma Blair, Nina Dobrev and Rosario Dawson.

Verrett, 49, describes himself on his site as a “servant of god and energy activator” who “demystifies spirituality” through his “no-nonsense teachings”.

He is also not unknown to controversies. As per Vogue, Verrett has been accused of promoting pseudoscience. During the pandemic, the self-styled shaman came under fire for selling a medallion that he claimed could put off COVID-19.

Verrett told Vanity Fair magazine that he had “risen from the dead” and claimed that a relative had predicted during his childhood that he would marry the Norwegian princess one day.

Announcing her engagement to Verrett in a post on Instagram in 2019, Louise, expecting rebuke, had said, “To those of you who feel the need to criticise: Hold your horses. It is not up to you to choose for me or to judge me. Shaman Durek is merely a man I love spending my time with and who fulfils me.”

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The wedding drama

The pair have had a contentious relationship with the Norwegian press. Verrett told People magazine that he met Louise through mutual friends but they had met in past life. “I have memories of us in Egypt, and she was my queen and I was a pharaoh,” the American shaman said.

Soon after, the Norwegian papers started accusing him of spreading misinformation. Ingeborg Senneset, a journalist for the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten said to The Times of London, “He has been talking about removing bad spirits from children.”

Royal correspondent for Norway’s NRK TV Kristi Marie Skrede told BBC that Verrett has not been fully accepted in the country. “They think he has said very strange things and there are many cultural differences. Many people here are very critical of what Mr Verrett says and does in his role as a shaman.”

However, the couple claim Verrett is being targeted as a result of racism. “Before I met him. I never thought that there was racism in Norway,” Louise told Vanity Fair in 2020.

Louise told Hello! that she and her partner have faced opposition due to his work as a shaman and because of his ethnicity. Verrett will be the first Black man to become a member of a European royal family.

Now, the couple has irked Norwegian media by signing deals with Hello! magazine for exclusive coverage of the wedding. “This means the public won’t know or see anything about it unless they buy the magazine,” Skrede told BBC.

The Norwegian press is up in arms as they have always covered the royal nuptials.

Reidun Kjelling Nybø of the Norwegian Editors’ Association told the Norwegian state broadcasting company, NRK, “Major events have been documented via Norwegian broad media, such as NTB and NRK, on ​​behalf of the entire press, which has passed the images on to the people and to other newsrooms that want them, including foreign ones.”

To stop the dispute from escalating, the Royal House of Norway’s head of communications said the Norwegian royal family will not take any exclusive wedding photos, reported Vogue. 

Norway ’s media has reported the guests have been urged not to use mobile phones or cameras during the festivities and refrain from posting anything on social media.

The couple remains unfazed by the row.

Speaking to Hello! ahead of the three-day celebrations that began on Thursday, Louise said, “It feels amazing to be marrying Durek and I’m so happy the day is almost here. The surroundings are gorgeous – it’s one of the most beautiful places I know. Even if there are a few glitches, we can still gaze at the stunning scenery.”

The guests are taking a boat trip to Geiranger on Friday for a pre-wedding party at Hotel Union. The wedding, on Saturday, will be officiated by Parish Priest Margit Lovise Holte.

Besides the Norwegian royals, the Swedish royal family members are reportedly attending the wedding. Several social media influencers and TV personalities, including US reality star Cynthia Bailey, will also mark their presence.

With inputs from agencies