Getty Shaman Durek and Princess Martha Louise of Norway.
Shaman Durek Verrett, the new boyfriend of Princess Martha Louise of Norway, is a self-described “spiritual guide” and “global ambassador of love.” However, some have accused him of being a charlatan.
Princess Martha Louise, the eldest child of Norway’s King and Queen, has revealed her romance with Shaman Durek on Instagram. Shaman Durek also goes by the name Shaman Durek Verrett or Durek Verrett (although some sites spell the name Verret, he spells it Verrett). He’s been accused by some in Norway of being a “charlatan,” a charge he denies.
However, the Norwegian princess and Shaman Durek have shared gushing posts on social media in which they describe their love. LA Weekly once described Durek Verrett as an “urban Shaman” in Los Angeles who was “born into the lineages of Haitian voodoo and indigenous Norwegian medicine, Verrett sifts from a seemingly infinite supply of universal healing energy, calling upon Kaballah, Maori, Huna, Mahayana Buddhism and Native traditions.”
Gwyneth Paltrow’s website, Goop, describes Shaman Durek as a Northern California-born man who was the son of “an African-Haitian father and an East Indian/Norwegian mother” who “began his shamanic studies at the age of 12 – as the spiritual heir to his great-grandmother.” (He’s worked with Paltrow on spiritual healing, according to W.)
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Princess Martha Louise Described Shaman Durek as Her ‘Twin Flame’
Princess Martha Louise opened up about her love for Shaman Durek on Instagram on May 13, 2019. She dubbed him her “twin flame” and hit back at those who “feel the need to criticize.”
“When you meet your twin flame, you know. I have been lucky enough to have met mine. @shamandurek has changed my life, like he does with so many,” Martha Louise wrote. “He has made me realize that unconditional love actually exists here on this planet. He embraces all of me without question or fear. He makes me laugh more than anyone, has the most profound wisdom to share and all the bits in between from the diversity of his being.”
She wrote that she is deeply in love with Durek.
“I feel so happy and blessed that he is my boyfriend. Thank you my love, for including me so generously into your family. I love you from this eternity to the next,” the princess wrote on Instagram.
“And to those of you who feel the need to criticize: Hold your horses. It is not up to you to choose for me or to judge me. I don’t choose my man to satisfy any of you or the norms or boxes you have chosen in your mind for me to be in. I don’t thrive there, nor do I exist in your illusion about me. I choose from love. And that’s it. Shaman Durek is merely a man I love spending my time with and who fulfills me. So thank you for respecting my actions and my choice of partner. All I know at this moment is that we love each other and I am super happy. Have a wonderful, loving Sunday and Mother’s Day(for the USA). ? @dhendersonphoto #love #unconditionallove #newlove #boyfriend #inlove.”
He repaid the loving words on Facebook, writing, “There is a grace and beauty about life when you fall in love. Something softens in you that’s unspeakable, however felt in the very depth of your soul. Then your eyes see more clearly yourself and everyone else with the same reflection the heart feels. To be loved or not to be loved for I’d rather be loved unconditionally then not to be loved at all.”
Continued Shaman Durek Verrett: “This is what I feel from @princessmarthalouise, pure acceptance of my multidimensional self. Not just the Shaman, however the woman in me, the strong man in me, the little boy, ET, the jaguar, the scientist and the angel and more. All loved by this Goddess, who I honor and worship. Where I can cry in her arms when I’m sad or hurt and laugh about life and its many complexities. A strong woman who lets me be me without judgement or confinement. I’m free when I’m with her, free to be me and love a women who is a bright light of wisdom and profound grace and immense beauty.”
2. Martha Louise Shared a Website Called ‘The Princess & the Shaman’
Martha Louise is certainly not hiding the romance. In fact, her Instagram profile reads the following, “Game changer, empowering people and changing the world. It starts with each and every one of us. #jointhechange.” She then shared a website.
The Princess and the Shaman is a website that features a large picture of Martha Louise and Shaman Durek.
Although in Norwegian, the website says the princess and Shaman are appearing at events throughout Norway. “Princess Märtha Louise and Shaman Durek invite a journey into the mysteries of life, how to get in touch with your inner power and raise awareness so that you bring out the real you wherever you are in life,” it reads.
“These evenings might be challenging you to expand the horizon and get some tools on the road so you can get deeper into an understanding of who you are.”
In April, Martha Louise posted a video to Instagram and wrote, “Annonse/ So excited for the events 19th-23rd May (link for tickets in bio ☝️) in #Denmark and #Norway @shamandurek and I will be hosting. In this day and age we need to be conscious of our powers and how to use them for the benefit of all of humanity. Through the talks and workshops we will dive deep into different aspects of being human and how to activate divinity to create a loving life for ourselves and others. Please join us on our first endeavor together. For tickets and places see my link in bio. ☝️ ?? See you soon!”
3. Shaman Durek Describes Himself as a ‘Spiritual Guide’ But Has Been Accused of Being a ‘Charlatan’
On his website, Shaman Durek describes himself as “SPIRITUAL GUIDE & GIFTED HEALER.”
“A spiritual guide and gifted healer, Shaman Durek acts as a mediator or ‘bridge’ between the spiritual and physical planes, applies ancient spiritual wisdom, coupled with decades of devoted study and practice, to help bring success, happiness and healing into people’s lives,” the website says.
The website continues, “Shaman Durek is a 6th generation shaman who has devoted decades to study and practice in becoming a thought leader and spiritual enthusiast for people all over the world. His focus is educating people on how to make shamanism a life style choice for evolutionary adaptation. He is an author, activist and a women’s empowerment leader.”
Shamann Durek is not without controversy. The site Vantru reported, that Durek Verret “aims to have special type of abilities that can somehow facilitate some form of recovery for people with cancer, leukemia and other variations of serious illnesses and symptoms, using so called ‘shamanistic techniques.'” The site accused him of being a “charlatan” and conducted an interview with him, calling him Durek Varrett.
“He claims to have been mentored by his grandmother and a Suzanna von Radic, princess of Croatia, in the shamanistic arts. As it happens, his grandmother had passed away before he was born and this princess of Croatia is no princess of Croatia, but a fraud who claims to be a princess,” Vantru reported. He used to work as an actor and model, the site reports, adding that a now removed YouTube video called him an “urban shaman” and showed him bragging “about his fancy BMW-jeep, a Louis Vuitton-bag as well as a villa with a swimming pool.”
In a YouTube review, a person who claimed to once see Durek as a Shaman for “spirit hacking,” wrote, “he was off-putting, obnoxious, a know it all, dismissive, judgmental.”
He has a Facebook page that you can find here. “Family means everything to me,” Durek wrote on Facebookk. “I’m so proud of my niece @alava_music for graduating from @berkleecollege majoring in song writing. She is following the foot steps of our musical family with great names such as Shirley Verrett worlds greatest opera singer.”
4. Durek Verrett Claims He Worked as an Actor & Model & Once Needed a Kidney
On his LinkedIn page, Durek Verrett writes that he used to be a model. “I was a full-time working model I did runway and shot for major fashion designers. I also had TV show called the Strange and Bizarre where I interviewed supernatural occurrences that people were involved in. I also was on the TV show called party about a bunch of friends who were in the party scene and were popular in Tel Aviv,” he wrote.
He claimed a series of other jobs dating to 1996. They include:
Working as an art director in New York City, in charge of putting on “elaborate artistic shows” featuring drag queens and models.
Working as a “VJ and lead dancer” for MTV on the show, The Grind.
Working as an assistant to a casting director in New York City.
Working as an assistant advertising coordinator in New York City.
Working as a “high fashion model” including in TV commercials.
Working as a “shaman” for “Assaf Harofeh Medical Center” in Israel with children suffering from cancer.
He also claims that he appeared on E! Entertainment Television and worked as a radio show host for indie radio.
He writes that he attended the National Holistic Institution and was active in eastern and western forms of healing.
A fundraising site says that Durek Verrett once needed a kidney. “Durek Verrett was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure. His heart stopped beating and he flat-lined,” it reads.
“One doctor pronounced him dead, but another refused to give up and tried once more to resuscitate him. It was a success. For months afterwards, however, Durek remained in a medically induced coma. Even when he awoke, he was unable to walk for over a year. Emerging from the brink of death with a renewed perspective on life is a common initiation into life as a Shaman.”
5. Princess Martha Louise Is the Eldest Child of the Norwegian King & Queen
Queen Sonja of Norway, King Harald of Norway and Princess Martha Louise of Norway attend the unveiling of Norwegian Trekking Association gift for The Queen of Norway 80th birthday on July 04, 2017 in Oslo,
Her Highness Princess Märtha Louise is the oldest child of His Majesty King Harald and Her Majesty Queen Sonja, according to the Royal House of Norway.
She was born at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo on 22 September 1971, the Royal Family’s website says. She has one brother, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon.
“The Princess was named after her father’s mother, Crown Princess Märtha, and her great-great grandmother, Queen Louise, the mother of King Haakon VII,” reads the website biography.
“A constitutional amendment adopted in 1990 established the right of eldest born child to succeed to the Throne regardless of gender; however, as the amendment entered into force long after the Princess and Crown Prince were born, it was decided that males would continue to take precedence over females for children born prior to 1990.”
The site continues, “Princess Märtha Louise and her brother spent their childhood at Skaugum Estate, near Oslo. Her parents attached great importance to giving their children an upbringing that was as similar as possible to that of other Norwegian children, and both the Princess and the Crown Prince attended a municipal day-care centre and a local primary school, and took part in various after school activities. The Princess sung in a choir and played the flute, and for many years she was a member of a folk dancing group at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. She was also an avid equestrian.”
Martha Louise is divorced.
Princess Martha Louise of Norway and Ari Mikael Behn attend the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O’Neill hosted by King Carl Gustaf XIV and Queen Silvia at The Royal Palace on June 8, 2013 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Princess Märtha Louise “became engaged to the author Mr Ari Behn on 13 December 2001,” the Royal Family’s biography of her says.
“The couple were married in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 24 May 2002. Bishop Finn Wagle presided over the ceremony. In 2016 the couple decided to part ways, and they were divorced in 2017.”
The website explains: “The Princess and Mr Behn have three daughters, Miss Maud Angelica Behn, born at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo on 29 April 2003, Miss Leah Isadora Behn, born at the couple’s summer home, Bloksbjerg at Hankø, on 8 April 2005 and Miss Emma Tallulah Behn born at Lommedalen on 29. September 2008.”
It adds: “All three were christened in the Palace Chapel: Miss Maud Angelica 2 July 2003, Miss Leah Isadora 16 June 2005 and Miss Emma Tallulah 20 January 2009. The Princess lives with her daughters in Lommedalen, in Bærum outside of Oslo.” There is no mention of Shaman Durek.
Behn previously worked as a truck driver and bartender.