Five years ago, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway announced that she had found love as she had started a relationship with L.A.-based celebrity shaman Durek Verrett. Also known as Shaman Durek, Verrett has worked as a spiritual healer for Hollywood stars including Gwyneth Paltrow and Selma Blair.
Princess Märtha, the fourth in line to the throne, mother of three girls and daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja, announced her new relationship with Verrett on Instagram, Face2Face Africa reported at the time.
“When you meet your twin flame, you know. I have been lucky enough to have met mine. @shamandurek has changed my life, like he does with so many. He has made me realize that unconditional love actually exists here on this planet. He embraces all of me without question or fear. He makes me laugh more than anyone, has the most profound wisdom to share and all the bits in between from the diversity of his being,” she wrote.
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Princess Märtha had at the time started receiving a barrage of criticism calling her boyfriend a “conman”. She was also seen as a “disgrace to the crown” for dating a shaman. Princess Märtha, who had not been in a relationship since her divorce from Norwegian author Ari Behn in 2017 after 14 years of marriage, had a reply for critics of her new relationship.
“And to those of you who feel the need to criticize: Hold your horses. It is not up to you to choose for me or to judge me. I don’t choose my man to satisfy any of you or the norms or boxes you have chosen in your mind for me to be in. I don’t thrive there, nor do I exist in your illusion about me. I choose from love. And that’s it. Shaman Durek is merely a man I love spending my time with and who fulfills me. So thank you for respecting my actions and my choice of partner. All I know at this moment is that we love each other and I am super happy,” she added to her post.
Three years after this post, Princess Märtha and Verrett announced their engagement. Now they are ready to get married. This week, 52-year-old Princess Märtha and Verrett, 49, began festivities ahead of their private wedding ceremony in Geiranger on Saturday. BBC reported that hundreds of guests showed up in the town of Alesund, in western Norway, on Thursday for a “meet and greet” in a historic hotel.
Members of the Swedish royal family are expected to be at the wedding alongside some social media influencers and TV personalities, including U.S. reality star and model Cynthia Bailey, BBC added.
Still, many Norwegians who do not believe in Verrett’s non-medicinal healing methods have yet to accept him. So who is Verrett, really?
He was born in Sacramento to an African-Haitian father and an Indian-Norwegian mother whom he claims he got his shamanic abilities from as a baby. From age 11, he started training as a Shaman and has since appeared on various TV shows while having high-profile clients which included Princess Märtha.
The self-proclaimed third-generation Shaman continues to cause controversy due to what he has said and done in his role as a shaman including claims that he had risen from the dead.
He had said that when he was a child, a family member had predicted he would marry the princess of Norway. On a Scandinavian talk show, he also mentioned that he and Princess Märtha had met in a previous life. Speaking with People Magazine, he also indicated that he had memories of ruling ancient Egypt as a pharaoh, with Princess Märtha by his side as queen.
He has also said he is not fully human and can reverse aging by “turning atoms”. On Instagram, he said he was a “hybrid species of reptilian and andromeda.”
What’s more, in his 2019 book Spirit Hacking which was later withdrawn by Norwegian publishers, Verrett stated that children could get cancer just by being unhappy.
He also mentioned in another interview that there are “certain imprints that women get inside of their vaginas when they have too many sexual partners that they need to clean out,” stressing that he “gives exercises for that.”
Verrett also claims to sell golden medallions for $222 that he insists can fight COVID-19. Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt, Norway’s state secretary of health, called him out, describing him as an “unscrupulous and dangerous charlatan.”
For Verrett, the backlash he has since received mostly comes from the “racist” press in Norway, explaining that his views are often misinterpreted.
While he was being condemned, Princess Märtha, who announced in 2007 that she was clairvoyant, stepped back from her royal duties.
“There’s been turmoil with me taking a different path. There’s been a lot of criticism, especially with me being spiritual; in Norway, that’s taboo,” said Princess Martha, who started a school that she said taught students to “create miracles” and talk to angels.
In 2019 when they began their relationship, Princess Märtha and Verrett embarked on “The Princess and the Shaman” tour around some cities in Norway and Denmark, urging people to “expand their horizon”.
Despite the couple’s beliefs, their wedding will be officiated by Parish Priest Margit Lovise Holte, according to the Norwegian Church’s wedding liturgy.
