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The eldest daughter of the Norwegian monarchs, Princess Martha Louise, is getting married on Saturday to a self-proclaimed “shaman”, the American Durek Verrett, a union between two advocates of alternative therapies that is causing a stir in the Scandinavian country.
She, 52, claims to have a kind of clairvoyance and to be able to communicate with angels, a gift she has profited from by giving courses and writing books. He, 49, presents himself as a “sixth generation shaman” who sells a supposedly life-saving medallion at a golden price.
“I’m very spiritual, it’s so nice to be with someone who supports you,” the princess commented on Instagram in June 2022, a few days after her engagement was announced.
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Marta Luisa and Durek Verrett will tie the knot on Saturday at a hotel in the upper part of Geiranger, a tourist town on a fjord on the west coast.
Some 380 guests, including Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel, will attend the festivities, which begin on Thursday.
For Durek Verrett, however, this will be the second time he marries Marta Luisa, as he claims he was already married to the princess in a previous life.
The spiritual guide, whose followers include stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Antonio Banderas, also claims that he was a pharaoh in another life.
These eccentricities send shivers down the spine of the sensible Scandinavian country, as does the couple’s way of making money, with pseudoscientific theories and taking advantage of their membership in the royal family.
To put an end to the confusion of roles, Marta Luisa had to resign from all her official duties in 2022.
However, she has been caught breaking her promise several times since then, such as when she put a bottle of gin up for sale on the occasion of the wedding that explicitly alluded to her position as a princess.
“Since the agreement is not being respected, the time has come to remove Martha Louise’s title of princess before King Harald sees his life’s work further ruined,” argued royal historian Trond Norén Isaksen in an article published in early July.
The couple has also caused a stir in the Norwegian media by giving exclusive access to photos and a video of their wedding to the magazine ¡Hola! and Netflix.
Marta Luisa, mother of three daughters from her previous marriage to Norwegian writer Ari Behn – whom she divorced in 2016 – is fourth in line to the throne.
Although he is two years younger than her, it will be her brother, Prince Haakon, who will succeed King Harald on the throne, since when the sovereign’s children were born the rule of primogeniture regardless of sex did not yet apply.
The couple’s extravaganzas undermine the royal family’s popularity, even though it remains high. Support for the monarchy among the country’s population fell from 81% in 2017 to 67%, according to a recent poll by public broadcaster NRK.
The royal family was recently embroiled in a scandal when Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s eldest son, Marius Borg Høiby, admitted to assaulting his girlfriend while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
As for Marta Luisa, it is above all the “shaman Durek” who is the subject of criticism, mainly for trials for charlatanism.
In one of her works, she suggests that cancer is a choice and advocates exercises to erase the vaginal “mark” of women who have slept with several people.
He also claims that his medallion, the “Spirit Optimizer”, which sells for $222, helped him overcome Covid-19.
Despite saying that he understands that his position may cause confusion, the African-American considers himself a victim of racism.
“I think the reason people have a problem with our relationship and why white people are writing us all this hate and death threats for being together is because they don’t want to see a black man in the royal family,” she said.
King Harald, 87, has been lenient, referring to a simple “culture shock.” The sovereign also had to fight to defend the position of his beloved Sonia, a commoner, in the royal family.
What do you think of your future son-in-law? “He’s a good guy, actually, and very funny,” she said one day. “We don’t agree on everything, but we can live with our differences,” she stressed.
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