Claims of racism and scandal have ripped apart a royal family after one of the heirs fell in love with an American star. No, not that royal family.
A Norwegian princess—who is soon to marry a bisexual shaman from Hollywood—has announced that she will leave her royal duties after an explosion of media interest in her love life.
Princess Martha Louise, the eldest child of Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja, made the announcement through a statement on the Norwegian royal family website, in which the palace thanked her for her service and said that while she will retain the title “princess,” she cannot use it in conjunction with her upcoming marriage to Hollywood spiritual guru Durek Verrett.
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She was previously married to Ari Behn, with whom she had three children. Behn took his life in 2017.
The good news is that Martha Louise has been graciously allowed to keep her Instagram handle @PrincessMarthaLouise, but she has still started a new non-royal account where she says “it all happens.”
The Norwegian royal family reportedly struggled at first with accepting their new future son-in-law, who once marveled at their open mindedness, telling Hola! magazine, “I’m not gonna lie and say like in the beginning it wasn’t kind of bumpy because you’re having this shaman, bisexual, black man coming into your family,” he said recently, adding that things have slowly progressed. “I have a great relationship with the royal family.”
The Norwegian royals issued a separate statement in which they further clarified the princess’ use of her title and connection. “This means that they must not make visible their connection to the Royal Household in their own social media channels (with the exception of @PrincessMarthaLouise on Instagram), in media productions or in connection with other commercial activity,” the second statement states.
The statement goes on to say they cannot use the royal family connection for interviews tied to “commercial activity.” The princess, now 51, had earlier stopped using the title in connection to her impressive array of private enterprises, including her work as a horse whisperer, children’s author and owner of an “angel school,” that offers “readings, healing, crystals and hands-on treatment” for any number of issues, with the end goal of helping people “get in touch with their angels.”
Verrett, who has reportedly counted A-listers Gwenyth Paltrow and Antonio Banderas among his followers, and who charges $1,500 an hour for a healing session, has written a number of books, including Spirit Hacking: Shamanic Keys to Reclaim Your Personal Power, Transform Yourself, and Light Up the World. He has also ruffled the royal feathers with comments, including hawking a medallion he claimed cured COVID-19, and his assertions that “cancer is a choice.”
Not unlike Meghan Markle—that other famous Black American who entered in an all-white European royal family—Verrett has claimed that some people do not want a Black person in the family. He says they don’t want “the real Bridgerton” referring to the Netflix history drama that introduced Black characters into a story about white nobles. “White people write all this hate and death threats to us and all this stuff for being together,” he said in a June Instagram live. “They don’t want to see a black man in the royal family.”
When the two announced their engagement in an October issue of Town & Country magazine, they admitted it was hard to surprise each other. “Every time he planned something, I saw what he was up to,” the princess said.
“She has psychic abilities,” Verrett added. “We both have spiritual powers. If I have one single thought, she gets it immediately. I had to think of five different experiences I would create for her.”
