THE PRINCESS AND THE SHAMAN
She’s a member of Norway’s royal family, he’s a self-proclaimed healer who’s spent time in jail – and they believe they know each other from a previous life
THEIRS is a match made in heaven, they believe – a romance rooted in a previous life when she was a queen and he a pharaoh in ancient Egypt. Their stars are aligned, their thoughts in tune, their chemistry undeniable.
Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and her fiancé, Durek Verrett, are head-over-heels in love – and if she marries him he’ll become the first black man to wed into a European royal family.
But not everyone is mad about this love match. Her parents have serious reservations about Durek, a bisexual, self- proclaimed sixth-generation shaman who counts Gwyneth Paltrow among his clients and has spent time in jail.
The king and queen are even said to be considering removing their daughter – a clairvoyant who offers courses in communicating with angels, animals and the dead – from her right to succession.
Märtha Louise (51), who’s fourth in line to the throne, and Durek (47) have also been subjected to hate mail, death threats and racist abuse. But they won’t let hate get in the way of their love.
A LOVE FOR THE AGES
Märtha Louise and Durek – who’s known professionally as Shaman Verrett – were introduced in 2016 by a mutual friend, energy healer Millana Snow.
But they’d met in a past life, Märtha Louise claims. “I came in the door and I recognised him straight away. I was like, ‘I know you’.”
Durek felt it too. “I have memories of us in Egypt, and she was my queen and I was a pharaoh. We both have spiritual powers. If I have one single thought, she gets it immediately.”
They were engaged under an oak tree on a friend’s horse farm in California in June – but it was plan B, he says. Plan A was ruined because of Märtha’s psychic abilities.
Durek had originally wanted to propose at Disneyland and was planning everything with Holly Madison, a former Playboy Bunny turned TV personality.
“I got off the phone with Holly and Märtha calls me right after and she’s like,
‘Honey, I was meditating today and talking to my spirit guides, and I just want to ask you a question.
“‘You’re not thinking of proposing to me at Disneyland, are you?’ I’m like, ‘Absolutely not. Who would ever think of such a thing? That would be ridiculous!’”
So a farm proposal it was, and Durek was overcome with emotion.
“I’m overjoyed with tears that I get to spend the rest of my life with the most pure-hearted, angelic, wise, powerhouse woman who represents all levels of a goddess in my eyes,” he said.
HOMING IN ON THE HATERS
Durek says people don’t want to see a “real-life Bridgerton”, referring to the hit Shonda Rhimes Netflix show that features many mixed-race couples.
Märtha Louise says it’s been eye-opening for her. “I had a big learning curve coming from white privilege. The small nuances are the worst, when people pull away from Durek or they don’t want to sit next to him on the bus or cross the street to not walk towards him,” she says.
“I’ve seen people talking to me really nicely, then turning around to Durek and being really horrible, like not touching his hand or not saying hello or saying horrible things to him.”
But she won’t be cowed. “I don’t choose my man to satisfy any of you or the norms or boxes you’ve chosen in your mind for me to be in. I choose from love.”
EYEBROW-RAISING FIANCÉ
Durek is well-known in the US alternative wellness community and rakes in $2 000 (R36 000) per healing session.
In his book, Spirit Hacking: Shamanic
Keys to Reclaim Your Personal Power, Transform Yourself, and Light Up the World, he says children get cancer because “they want it”; that chemotherapy is merely a get-rich-scheme for doctors; and that casual sex attracts subterranean spirits that make an impression on the inside of women’s vaginas.
He claims to have treated childhood cancer at Shamir Medical Center in Israel, although the hospital denies he ever worked there.
His previous marriage, to Czech-born Zaneta Marzalkova, ended after three years when he reported her to the US immigration authorities in 2009 and she was deported.
Durek also spent a year in prison for arson after organising a party in an abandoned house which caught fire.
WEDDING BELLS
One of the reasons Märtha Louise could be stripped of her place in the succession line is because she uses her title for commercial gain. She and Durek have organised seminars titled The Princess and the Shaman, promising to take attendees on a journey of self-discovery for a fee.
The wedding itself could still be way off. “It’ll take me far more time to be ready to create a marriage,” Durek says. “I don’t want to rush a wedding.” But they do plan to move in together. “And let me tell you, no matter what people say about us, it’s our life,” Durek says. “Märtha and I are going to live the way we decide to live.”
WE BOTH HAVE POWERS. IF I HAVE A THOUGHT, SHE GETS IT IMMEDIATELY