Royal Families are no strangers to scandal. Perhaps the most recent and high-profile is the infamous falling out between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the British Royal Family. But just as fascinating, even if it inspired fewer global headlines, was when Norway’s princess, Märtha Louise, fell in love with an American named Durek Verrett, whose profession as a Hollywood shaman raised eyebrows and drew massive media scrutiny. Verrett counts various celebrities among his clients, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Nina Dobrev. Verrett would also be the first Black man to marry into a European Royal Family. Their relationship is the focus of the new Netflix documentary, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story.
While it may seem shocking that a princess would marry a shaman, it’s clear from watching Rebel Royals that these two people are tremendously well-suited for one another. Norway’s princess, Märtha Louise, claims to be a clairvoyant who can communicate with angels. She’s steeped in alternative medicines and practices, having opened her own practice in 2018, Astarte Education, known as engleskolen (or “angel school”), where she teaches others how to communicate with angels and the dead.
Durek is a popular shaman who wrote the 2019 book Spirit Hacking: Shamanic Keys to Reclaim Your Personal Power, Transform Yourself, and Light Up the World. He’s influential on social media, where he has amassed nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram. Though he charges $1,500 for a session, Verrett considers himself a shaman for everyone; “I’m a shaman for the people,” he says in Rebel Royals. He describes himself as a “soul-sexual” in the documentary, meaning that gender doesn’t factor into his attraction for others.
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Verrett and Louise first met in 2018, and say they shared an instant familiarity, believing that they had known each other already….
