Agencies
Copenhagen
Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, 52, and self-styled US shaman Durek Verrett, 49, married in a private ceremony by the Geiranger Fjord, Western Norway, on Saturday, the wedding’s press spokesman confirmed.
After afternoon tea and cocktails at a nearby hotel, the grand wedding celebration wasdue to take place in the evening with 350 invited guests. Prior to the ceremony, numerous guests walked a red carpet, some wearing traditional Norwegian attire.
Märtha Louise, the eldest child of King Harald V and Queen Sonja, both 87 years old, is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. Crown Prince Haakon, 51, the heir to the throne, is her younger brother.
This is her second marriage: She was previously married to writer Ari Behn from 2002 to 2017 and has three daughters from that marriage.
Verrett, who describes himself as a sixth-generation shaman, aims to help people find their true strength spiritually. Märtha Louise is also known for her interest in spirituality and esotericism.
Their relationship has sparked controversies, including over their business practices. The couple sold exclusive image rights of the ceremony and celebration to the British celebrity magazine "Hello!” for an undisclosed sum.
A Netflix team is also said to have secured the film rights, while local media were largely excluded from the main events of the wedding festivities.
The princess’s parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, attended the nuptials along with other members of Norway’s royal family, as well as princes and princesses from Sweden and the Netherlands.
Princess Märtha Louise’s three daughters from her first marriage, to the late Norwegian writer Ari Behn, were also at the ceremony.
Around 350 guests attended Saturday’s gathering, though there was no evidence that Mr Verrett’s purported A-list American chums were among them.
The 49-year old Californian counts actress and wellness entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow as a friend - Verrett calls her his "soul sister”. But it was reported that Cynthia Bailey, reality TV star of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, was in attendance.
Princess Märtha Louise and Verrett, who will not become a prince following the wedding, announced their engagement in 2022. While their relationship has divided Norway, King Harald has previously told Norwegian reporters that Mr Verrett was "a great guy” and that the two of them "laughed a lot, even in this difficult time”.
In 2022, the Norwegian palace announced Märtha Louise would "relinquish her patronage role” as she and Verrett sought to "distinguish more clearly between their activities and the Royal House of Norway” and to "prevent misunderstandings regarding the Royal House”.
Since then, the pair have been criticised by the palace and members of Norway’s parliament for linking commercial activities to the princess’s royal status. Last year, Märtha Louise told the BBC’s Katty Kay that there had been so much "turmoil” concerning her decision to take a different path than that of a "traditional royal”.
"There’s been a lot of criticism over the years, especially with me being spiritual – and in Norway, that’s taboo,”
she said.
Princess Märtha Louise has claimed in the past she is clairvoyant, and until 2018, ran a school which she said taught students to "create miracles” and talk to angels. Verrett has said he is the latest in six generations of shamans and once said he died for four minutes and 25 seconds.