Martha Louise will marry self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verrett on August 31, 2024. (File)
Oslo, Norway:
Norwegian Princess Martha Louise, the eldest child of King Harald and Queen Sonja, will marry self-styled shaman Durek Verrett on August 31, 2024, the couple announced on Wednesday.
The romance between the 51-year-old princess and Verrett, a spiritual guru from Hollywood, has not gone down well in the Scandinavian country, where he has been labeled a ‘quack’ due to his alternative medicine and statements.
The wedding will take place in the town of Geiranger, on the banks of a fjord of the same name, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwestern Norway.
“We are incredibly happy to celebrate our love in the beautiful surroundings of Geiranger,” the couple said in a statement.
Martha Louise and Durek Verrett announced their engagement in June 2022 and received the blessing of King Harald, who also married a commoner when he married Sonja in 1968.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, the King, Queen and Crown Prince Haakon congratulated the couple and said they were “delighted to welcome Durek Verrett to the family.”
The African-American, who calls himself a ‘sixth generation shaman’ and counts Gwyneth Paltrow and Antonio Banderas among his followers, has caused a stir in Norway over the years.
‘A charlatan, a quack’
He has suggested that cancer is a choice, and has recommended exercises to remove “prints” from women’s vaginas left by previous sexual partners.
His website sold $222 medallions called a “Spirit Optimizer” that he claimed helped him overcome Covid.
“He is a deceiver, a charlatan and a quack,” wrote columnist and humorist Dagfinn Nordbo last year.
While Mr. Verrett has acknowledged that his beliefs may be disturbing to some, he claims he is a victim of racism.
Fourth in the line of succession, Martha Louise, a divorced mother of three daughters, is no stranger to controversy herself.
She is a fan of alternative therapies and claims to be able to speak to angels, a gift she has shared – and benefited from – in books and courses.
In November 2022, she stepped back from her royal duties to focus on her alternative medicine with Mr Verrett.
She retained her title but agreed not to use it for her commercial endeavors.
She was previously married to Ari Behn, a flamboyant writer who committed suicide in 2019, three years after their divorce.
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