The soon-to-be husband of Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise alleged his fiancé’s friends made racist comments toward him.
Durek Verrett, a 49-year-old American shaman, told the podcast Stavrum & Eikeland that Louise’s pals once joked he should be a part of a dinner’s wait staff after he’d poured glasses of water for the table.
“I decided to pour water to everyone’s cups,” explained Verrett, “and one of Martha’s friends, the guy, said: ‘Oh this is what you should be doing. This is what you’re meant to be doing.’”
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Verrett, who’s Black, said that quip made others at the table laugh.
Martha Louise and Durek Verrett, photographed together in 2019, announced their engagement in June 2022.
ReutersThe American said he’d only poured the water because their server became sick and went home. Verrett later told the story to his loved ones who reacted by saying the comments were “so racist” and “so disrespectful.”
“It wasn’t pleasant to have that type of energy every time Martha was with her friends,” Verrett added on the podcast.
Verrett alleged that those who laughed at the tasteless joke were the same friends who pushed Louise to break off her relationship with him in their early days together. Others in Norway have called for the royal family to strip Louise of her princess title over the controversies surrounding Verrett, like his disproven belief that childhood cancer is caused by unhappiness.
Louise, 52, has ignored those criticisms, however. Now she and Verrett are fast approaching their highly-anticipated wedding on Aug. 31.
The couple announced their engagement in June 2022, with Louise writing to Instagram that the shaman makes her “heart skip.” Verrett said he asked King Harald and Queen Sonja for permission to marry Louise, which they granted.
“I’m very old-fashioned in the way I do things,” Verrett said to Billed Bladet. “I sat down with King Harald and Queen Sonja and asked for their daughter’s hand in marriage. If they had said no, I would not have gone ahead with it. I do things in an honorable and respectful way.”
Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. She and Verrett will tie the knot at the Hotel Union in Geiranger, Norway, with a beautiful backdrop of mountains and a fjord.
