She is the clairvoyant daughter of one of Europe’s longest-serving monarchs; he is a self-styled sixth-generation shaman from California. The wedding of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway to Durek Verrett on Saturday afternoon wasn’t your conventional royal affair, but that didn’t stop spectators lining the overcast streets of Geiranger in the hope of catching a glimpse of the bride.
The only daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja, 52-year-old Märtha Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. She married Verrett, 49, in a traditional church of Norway ceremony attended by royals and celebrities at the four-star Hotel Union in a small village beneath the Geiranger fjord.
The princess was flanked by seven bridesmaids, including teenage daughters Leah and Emma Behn from her first marriage to the late Norwegian author Ari Behn, whom she divorced in 2017. The 350-strong guest list also included Märtha Louise’s brother, Crown Prince Haakon, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit; Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel; and Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands.
Princess Märtha Louise has lived far from a conventional royal life, having previously declared herself a clairvoyant and spent a decade running a healing school where she taught people to commune with angels. She announced in 2022 that she would step down from official royal duties, to focus on her and Verret’s business and “distinguish more clearly between their activities and the royal house of Norway”.
Verret describes himself on Instagram as a “servant of God” and “energy activator”. Among his notable clients are Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he has called a “soul sister”.
Their wedding ceremony was officiated by parish priest Margit Lovise Holte with input from Rev Michael Beckwith, whose “transdenominational” Los Angeles church has been attended by Oprah Winfrey and Duchess of Sussex’s mother, Doria Ragland.
There was a three-day schedule of wedding events, which included welcome drinks with a “sexy and cool” dress code on Thursday, a boat party cruising the Geirangerfjord, a Unesco world heritage site and a pre-wedding salsa party on Friday.
Before the ceremony, guests walked a red carpet lined with photographers outside the hotel. They had reportedly been issued with a strict social media ban by the couple ahead of the event.
The newlyweds have an exclusivity deal with Hello! magazine and a Netflix documentary in the works. They arrived at the wedding marquee under the cover of a huge white tent to protect their privacy.
Verret will not have a royal title or official duties after the wedding, and the couple have agreed not to use Märtha Louise’s title for commercial purposes. Their latest controversy came in the form of a pink gin brand that came under fire for using the princess’s royal title earlier this year.
The couple met in 2019 through mutual friends, though Verrett has since claimed that their union was written in the stars, telling People earlier this month that they met in a past life in ancient Egypt, where “she was my queen and I was a Pharaoh”.
Speaking to Hello! magazine after the ceremony, Märtha Louise said: “Our love has triumphed against all odds and will last for ever.”
“Love transcends all things because love is the original energy that we all are on this planet. It triumphs everything,” Verrett added.
• This article was amended on 1 September 2024. An earlier version incorrectly titled King Harald V of Norway as “Crown Prince Harald”, and described Crown Princess Märtha Louise, his only daughter, as his “eldest daughter”.
