The British royal family usually makes the most headlines, but that doesn’t mean other European countries don’t have their own drama — case in point, Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise and her fiancé, Shaman Durek.
Märtha Louise announced her relationship with Durek in 2019, two years after her divorce from husband Ari Behn. While Märtha Louise was already something of an outsider in the Norwegian royal family, the romance raised eyebrows because of Durek’s career as a self-described shaman. Durek, who was born Derek Verrett, has promoted alternative healing methods with little scientific basis, and he’s worked with American celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian.
“It’s very different from traditional western medicine or therapy,” Durek told Porter in 2019 while explaining his methods. “As shamans, we heal the body with the help of spirits, by channeling ancestors and spirit guides. I treat a person in many ways — everything from reading your pulse, looking at the dilation of your eyes, soul reading, communicating to spirits, looking at where you are being affected by darkness and negativity, looking at how you treat your body and how you understand your emotions.”
While Durek’s methods may seem strange to some people, Märtha Louise is totally on board with unusual healing methods, having opened an alternative therapy center known as “the angel school.”
After getting engaged in 2022, the couple are finally set to tie the knot on Saturday, August 31. Keep scrolling for everything to know about Princess Märtha Louise and Shaman Durek ahead of their nuptials:
Who Is Princess Martha Louise?
Märtha Louise is the eldest child of Norway’s King Harald V, who is also the father of Crown Prince Haakon. In 2019, the royal court confirmed Märtha Louise would no longer use the title of princess during her business activities. Those activities included the aforementioned “angel school,” which taught clairvoyance and methods of contacting celestial beings like seraphim. In 2022, she stopped undertaking all official royal duties.
Prior to her romance with Durek, Märtha Louise was married to author Behn, with whom she shares three daughters, from 2002 to 2017. Behn died by suicide in 2019 at age 47.
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Who is Shaman Durek?
Born in Sacramento, California, Durek is a self-described shaman who has worked with tons of A-list celebrities and appeared on reality shows like Netflix’s Bling Empire. Screen Rant previously reported that a private session with him costs $1,000 an hour. Among the controversial healing methods he’s promoted over the years is a medallion that he claims cures COVID-19 (which retails for $222 on his website).
While he claims to be a sixth-generation shaman, critics have pointed out that he previously claimed he was a third-generation shaman. His mother, meanwhile, has said that there is no shaman lineage in the family at all.
How Long Have Princess Martha Louise and Shaman Durek Been Together?
While the couple were introduced in 2018 through mutual friends, Durek says they actually met in a past life. “When we’re together and I look at [Märtha], sometimes I see another face,” he told People in 2019. “And she sees it in me too. I have memories of us in Egypt, and she was my queen and I was a pharaoh.”
They got engaged in 2022.
Why Is Their Romance Controversial?
Prior to her romance with Durek, Märtha Louise was already a controversial figure in the Norwegian royal family because of her association with clairvoyants and, again, the angel school (which closed in 2018). The Norwegian press has also been less than embracing of Durek, who claims that negativity toward his relationship with Märtha Louise is primarily because of his race.
As for their wedding, they took the unusual step of selling their wedding photos to a publication — and not even a Norwegian one at that (they chose the U.K.’s Hello! magazine).
“Here a key member of the Norwegian royal family is breaking what has been a long and good tradition,” Reidun Kjelling Nybø of the Norwegian Editors’ Association told NRK, the Norwegian state broadcasting company, ahead of the nuptials. “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.”
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When Are They Getting Married?
The duo’s wedding is set for Saturday, but the festivities have already begun. According to the BBC, “hundreds” of guests began arriving in Alesund, Norway, on Thursday, August 28, for a meet and greet at a hotel. One day later, guests traveled to Geiranger, a town near a fjord designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The actual ceremony will take place at the Hotel Union in Geiranger.
What Has Princess Martha’s Family Said?
Harald has actually been somewhat supportive of Durek, insofar as calling out racism he’s experienced since beginning his relationship with Märtha Louise. “We are very pleased that The Princess has gotten engaged and want Durek Verrett to feel welcome in our family,” the king said in November 2022. “We are also concerned about being able to live well together, despite inequality. The racist attitudes Durek Verrett has been subjected to, especially on social media, we strongly oppose. It is a strength that the Royal Family reflects the ethnic diversity that exists in Norway.”
Märtha Louise’s brother, Haakon, is set to attend the wedding with his family, his parents and his aunt. “The royal family is looking forward to being guests at Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett's wedding,” the royal family said in a statement on August 26.
