Why Is Everyone Talking About Norwegian Princess Märtha's Wedding?

We’re no strangers to extravagant weddings. After the massive spectacle that was the Ambani wedding and the many British royal family weddings that we’ve patiently sat through (and secretly swooned over), you would think it would be hard to faze us with a celebrity wedding now. Well, Norwegian princess Märtha Louise and her now-husband ‘shaman’ Durek Verrett have managed to do exactly that.

ICYMI, the Norwegian princess got married to the self-styled American shaman to the stars in a multi-day ceremony. Held in Geiranger, a small village in the western part of the country, the four-day extravaganza had the princess’ family, including her parents King Harald and Queen Sonja, and other high-profile guests in attendance.

The Controversy Around The Princess Märtha Louise And Derek Verrett's Wedding

Who is Princess Märtha Louise?

The Norwegian royal is the fourth in line to the throne but is considered one of the most controversial royals around the world. She is a certified physiotherapist and claims to be clairvoyant too. According to her, she can communicate with animals and angles, an ability that led her to open her alternative therapy centre to help others learn the art (or science?) of contacting otherworldly beings.

Her controversial statements and beliefs (and the fact that she began selling a medallion that could ward off COVID-19 during the pandemic) led to her relinquishing her duties and role in the royal family. However, she continued to keep her title. The princess has three children from her previous marriage to the late playwright Ari Behn, whom she divorced in 2017.

Who is ‘shaman’ Durek Verrett?

Much before Princess Märtha revealed that she was in a relationship with him, Durek Verrett was a semi-popular celebrity in his own right. The California native works as an alternative therapist and claims to be a sixth-generation shaman. Some of his high-profile clients include celebrities like Nina Dobrev and Gwyneth Paltrow. He has been in the news for his unsubstantiated claims about predicting major events, like the 9/11 attacks, and non-traditional medical theories.

Durek and the princess met in 2018 through a mutual friend and revealed their relationship to the public in May 2019. In June 2022 the couple announced their engagement to the world.

Why is Princess Märtha and Durek’s wedding ceremony in the news?

The Norwegian royal wedding has become a topic of discussion worldwide for several reasons. For starters, their relationship with the Norwegian press was rocky from the start. The couple’s respective controversial reputation aside, their odd statements to the press didn’t invite positive publicity. For instance, the couple’s insistence that they had met in a previous life when they were ruling Egypt together. In an interview with People magazine, Durek said, “When we’re together and I look at (Märtha), sometimes I see another face,” he said, “And she sees it in me, too. I have memories of us in Egypt, and she was my queen and I was a pharaoh.” The princess chalked up the criticism of their relationship by the media to plain old racism. “Before I met him, I never thought that there was racism in Norway,” claimed the princess in an interview withVanity Fairin 2020.

Aside from their idiosyncratic behaviour, the couple’s decision to grant exclusive coverage rights toHELLO!Magazine, instead of the Norwegian press as is the norm, caused an uproar in the country.

The wedding ceremony, itself, was an unusual affair. The four-day-long celebrations were marked with themed parties and, of course, the Egyptian connection.

The wedding monogram, which was embroidered in gold threads on the sleeve of the groom’s black tuxedo and the bride’s cascading veil, was a direct reflection of the couple’s supposed past life in Egypt.

In an Instagram post, the princess explained that the ‘M’, for Martha, apparently symbolises “The wise owl, a guardian of souls navigating between worlds. The owl represents the protector, guiding humans through the passage from the earthly existence to the spirit world.” As for Durek’s past-life symbolism, “D for Durek where the hieroglyph manifests as the hand - a symbol of actions performed with grace, opening doors and dancing through life.” The choice of the song, too, for when the bride walked down the aisle was ‘When You Believe’, which is the theme song from the movieThe Prince of Egypt.

If you can’t get enough of the controversies surrounding the Norwegian royal wedding, you’d be pleased to know that a Netflix documentary about their love story (from this life, hopefully!) is in the works and will be released soon! So we can only hope for more revelations and drama on our screens in the near future.