Princess Märtha Louise of Norway’s wedding: Who is her self-styled shaman fiancé Durek Verrett?

A royal wedding is taking place on Saturday 31 August at the Hotel Union in Geiranger in Norway, but this is a royal wedding with a difference. Princess Märtha Louise of Norway will be marrying her American partner, a self-styled sixth-generation shaman Durek Verrett from California. 

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway will be joined at the celebrations by her three children, Maud Angelica, 20, Leah Isadora, 18, and Emma Tallulah, 15, with her late ex-husband Ari Behn. She and Durek Verrett met through Hollywood health and wellness guru Milana Snow in 2018 and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway told Hello! Magazine that "After giving me a healing session she told me that the only time she'd felt such intense levels of energy was with Shaman Durek." 

Durek Verrett revealed to Hello! Magazine that “When Millana told me that Martha was a Princess, I was scared. I'd been in relationships where people had made me responsible for their happiness, and because of that I decided to put my focus on God. I wanted my life to be about helping people through my work.”

In 2019, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway announced she was in a relationship with Durek Verrett on Instagram and 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."

In 2022, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway quit her royal duties to focus on her alternative medicine business with Durek Verrett. The Royal House of Norway released a statement which read: “The Princess is withdrawing from her official duties for the Royal House of Norway.

“The Princess is relinquishing the role as royal patron that has set the framework of her official duties for the Royal House, and will not be representing the Royal House at the present time. The organisations previously under her patronage will be offered the patronage of other members of the Royal Family.

The statement also said: “When Durek Verrett and Princess Märtha Louise are married, Mr Verrett will become a part of the Royal Family ­– as did Erling Lorentzen, Johan Martin Ferner and Ari Behn. But in accordance with tradition he will not have a title or represent the Royal House of Norway.

“Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett will attend important family-related gatherings, such as birthday celebrations, as well as certain major sporting events that the Royal Family traditionally attends together.”

According to reports, Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow might attend the wedding of Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett. Vanity Fair reported that  when Durek Verrett got the final engagement ring “he took it to show his ‘dear friend Gwyneth Paltrow ‘because I knew she's very particular about nice things, so I wanted her to be the first to see it.”

In recent weeks, the Norwegian royal family has been plagued by scandal. In August of this month, I reported on Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s eldest son Marius Borg Høiby being arrested. According to the publication Se og Hør, Marius Borg Høiby, who is 27 years old, was believed to have been released from police custody after allegedly attacking a woman in her 20s “psychologically and physically.”