OSLO, Norway: Norway’s Princess Martha Louise will marry her American partner, self-styled shaman Durek Verrett, next summer, the couple has announced.
King Harald V said he was happy to welcome Mr Verrett to his family as he congratulated the pair.
Louise was previously married to author Ari Behn. They divorced in 2017, and Mr Behn – who had discussed suffering from depression – died by suicide on Christmas Day in 2019. Princess Louise is King Harald’s eldest child. Her younger brother, Crown Prince Haakon, will succeed his father as king.
The princess relinquished her royal duties last year to run the alternative medicine business she shares with her fiance. Verrett is known for promoting groundless medical practices.
Verrett has suggested cancer is a choice and sold medallions online said to ward off Covid-19. On the other hand, the princess has claimed she is able to communicate with angels. They had announced their engagement in June 2022 and received the king’s blessing.
“We are excited to have Durek Verrett join the family and we look forward to celebrating the big day with them,” Norway’s king and queen said in a statement today (Wednesday). “We wish Martha and Durek all the best.”
The wedding will take place in the scenic town of Geiranger, on the shores of a fjord designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.
“We are incredibly happy to be able to celebrate our love in Geiranger’s beautiful surroundings. It means a lot to us to gather our loved ones in a place that is so rich in history and spectacular nature,” the couple said.
According to Norway’s state broadcaster, NRK, Verrett will move to Norway and join the royal family without holding a title.
Verrett, the Hollywood guru, who describes himself as a “6th Generation Shaman”, has claimed to have risen from the dead and to have predicted the 9/11 attacks in the US two years before they took place.
Mr Verrett is an African-American and has acknowledged that his beliefs can be uncomfortable for some. He believes that the criticism he faces is due to racism.
Princess gives up royal duties
Meanwhile the Princess has invited controversy in the country for decades for her involvement in alternative treatments, including starting a school that aimed helping people “get in touch with their angels”.
The 51-year-old princess had been accused of using her royal title for competitive gains. A palace statement last November said that she had relinquished her “patronage role” so as to “distinguish more clearly between their activities and the Royal House of Norway”.
King Harald had decided the princess would keep her title, the statement further said. However, the princess agreed not to use it in her commercial endeavours.
