The bisexual US shaman who won a Euro princess’ heart: How sixth-generation healer Durek Verrett went from leading celeb-studded sessions to living with Martha-Louise of Norway after they bonded over ‘spirituality’
- Princess Martha-Louise of Norway has announced her engagement to US Shaman Durek Verrett
- Couple started dating in 2019 and after meeting through a mutual friend, and share a passion spirit world
- Born Durek Verrett in Sacramento in November 1974, the groom-to-be claims he first became ‘aware’ of his shamanic abilities when he was five but that he didn’t start training until age 11
With a huge celebrity following, the belief he can talk to the spiritual world and very colourful history, Shaman Durek is hardly your typical royal groom.
But perhaps he’s perfect for Princess Martha-Louis of Norway, who as a self-proclaimed clairvoyant who says she can talk to angels is far from a classic royal bride.
The 50-year-old mother of three, who is the daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, announced her engagement to the 47-year-old Californian bisexual shaman today.
The pair been dating since 2019 after meeting through a mutual friend, and share a passion for all things spiritual.
Born Durek Verrett in Sacramento in November 1974, the groom-to-be claims he first became ‘aware’ of his shamanic abilities when he was five but that he didn’t start training until age 11 .
Princess Martha Louise of Norway has announced she’s engaged to Shaman Durek, with the pair bonding over a mutual connection to the spirit world
The 50-year-old mother of three, who is the daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, announced her engagement to the 47-year-old Californian bisexual shaman today.
The pair been dating since 2019 after meeting through a mutual friend, and share a passion for all things spiritual. They are pictured with Gwyneth Paltrow
He adds that he is a ‘sixth generation healer’.
His father, David, was an engineer of African-Haitian descent; his mother, Veruschka, Indian-Norwegian. His aunt Shirley was a noted opera singer, an African-American mezzo-soprano. He calls on members of his family who have died – his father, his aunt and his grandmother – to help him during healing sessions.
With connections to the spiritual world, he’s previously claimed that he predicted his royal romance.
He previously wrote on an Instagram post: ‘When I was a teenager my mother told me that one day someone from her heritage in Norway would find me and bring so much joy in my heart.
‘I asked her ‘who mother’?
‘She said a princess’….she was right my kindred spirit found me,.
After spending ‘years’ training, Durek has cultivated a strong celebrity following and now counts Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev and other stars among fans.
He is regularly featured on Hollywood shows and on his website, where he sells meditation tracks and also has a collection on books for sale.
He describes his mother as his ‘portal of light’ and said in one interview with an Icelandic magazine in 2015: ‘I was only two years old when I learnt what it meant to be a shaman… My mother told me that she realized while she was still pregnant with me that I was marked and that I’d always been a very special child…
‘She played drums and taught me about the mysteries of plants. I fell into a trance and was then able to see my ancestors.
Born Durek Verrett in Sacramento in November 1974, the groom-to-be claims he first became ‘aware’ of his shamanic abilities when he was five but that he didn’t start training until age 11
In March, Märtha Louise shared the first snap of her three children alongside her partner Shaman Durek (pictured)
‘I didn’t know them, didn’t know who these people were. I remember one of the women was dressed in white and had dark skin and she spoke to me very clearly, she called herself ‘mammal.’
‘I later learned that she was my great-grandmother who had also been a shaman, visiting me from the spiritual realm.’
Verrett’s father, David B. Verrett, died in 2017.
Among the services Durek lists on his website are a shaman bootcamp, workshops and speeches, home clearing and ‘shamanic experiences’.
He has spoken in the past of being able to get patients to vomit to get rid of ‘poisons’ in their bodies and says he keeps a bucket in sessions in case they need to throw up.
In an interview with E!, he once told of being able to recognise that a famous actress had come to a session after taking cocaine.
The princess previously revealed she plans to move to California to be near her celebrity shaman boyfriend. Pictured, the couple in an Instagram snap
In March, the princess shared the first snap of her three children alongside her partner Shaman Durek (pictured together)
Verrett said that cocaine was ‘also a medicine’ and that he helped her understand ‘why she needed the medicine’ – she was scared about her ‘blockbuster’ movie that was about to come out, he said.
He claims to have once come back from the dead, recovering from a month-long coma, by letting his soul ‘burn’ and he has also spoken of having to undergo a kidney transplant from his sister as a child.
It is unclear why he needed the kidney or how he became wheelchair bound, as he has described. The illness which sent him into a coma is also undisclosed.
‘When I woke up from a month long coma, I was told that I would never walk again and that I didn’t have much more than a month to live. Seven different specialists told me there was no hope.
Earlier this year, Durek revealed he ‘asked King Harald’ of Norway for Princess Märtha Louise’s hand in marriage – but had yet to propose just then because they’re in ‘no rush’ to get married
In an interview in Billed Bladet he said he ‘does things in a respectful way’. Pictured, the couple together
In a candid interview with Vanity Fair last year, Märtha Louise (pictured) revealed her turmoil following the suicide of her ex-husband Ari Behn
‘But I received visits from powerful beings who delivered me messages about how I had to set my mind in order to survive this,’ he said.
On social media, Durek says he is romantically interested in both men and women.
He lists no qualifications or education other than attending ‘the school of loving everyone’, ‘the school of being humble’ and a high school in San Mateo, California.
In 1993, he was arrested in Santa Clara County, California, though records were not immediately available to reveal what the alleged crime was.
In articles and interviews over the years, he has described how his mother, who now goes by Veruschka Urquhart, introduced him to his late grandmother, who was also a shaman, by drumming him into a trance when he was a baby.
Sources previously told DailyMail.com they are ‘madly in love’ and that she was one of his clients.
‘Falling in love with a client was the last thing on Shaman Durek’s mind. But their attraction for each other was inevitable.
Princess Martha Louise and Ari Behn married in 2002 and have three children together Maud Angelica, Leah Isadora, and Emma Tallulah, They are pictured in 2015
Durek, 45, – a celeb loved Shaman who count Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured together) among his followers – also shared that he had the King and Queen’s blessing to propose to their only daughter, but he delayed getting engaged while she mourned her ex-husband’s death.
‘They both believe they have known each other for many lifetimes, and that in this lifetime they are suppose to help heal the world together with their tribe, their followers.
‘Durek believes he was a King in a past life and that he and Princess Marta were husband and wife in multiple lifetimes,’ a friend told DailyMail.com.
The couple have also opened up about how their interracial relationship has sparked death threats.
Speaking last year on the Tamron Hall Show, which marked their first joint interview on American television, Princess Martha-Louise said: ‘When I met Shaman Durek, it was like finding an old friend,’
He previously told the Daily Mail that he discovered his shamanic powers at the age of six.
‘My mother took me to the dentist, and she turned round and couldn’t find me,’ he told columnist Elizabeth Day
‘I’d run out into the street and was hugging an elderly woman on a bench, feeling all of her pain and sadness.’
Soon after Durek began shamanic ‘training’ at the age of 11. Now, he says he’s ‘a bridge between the spiritual and physical plane’ and is endorsed by Goop, Paltrow’s multimillion-dollar wellness empire.
Shaman Durek revealed earlier this year that he ‘asked King Harald’ of Norway for Märtha Louise’s hand in marriage
Paltrow – a frequent presence on his Instagram page – describes him as her ‘soul brother’ and his other clients include actresses Rosario Dawson and Nina Dobrev. A one-to-one session with Durek costs anywhere between £320 and £800.
As for his romance with Martha-Louise. The couple began dating after Durek ordered in macrobiotic vegan food from a café in LA for their first date. Although he believes me they’ve actually met several times in past lives, including ancient Egypt where he was a pharaoh and she was his queen.
In 2019, Durek spent Christmas morning with Martha Louise and her daughters and bought the family and had bought the family tickets to Hawaii for a trip in February, where he planned to propose.
But Covid halted the plans meaning their engagement was delayed.
In a candid interview with Vanity Fair last year, Martha Louise revealed her turmoil following the suicide of her ex-husband Ari Behn last year and revealed her upset that she and her boyfriend Shaman Durek Verrett were blamed for his death.
Princess Martha Louise and Ari Behn married in 2002 and have three children together Maud Angelica, 19, Leah Isadora, 17, and Emma Tallulah, 13. On Christmas Day 2019, Ari, a well-known writer died by suicide aged 47.
Discussing the traumatic day, Martha Louise revealed they returned home from the Christmas morning church service to the news.
‘They were saying that it was my fault and Durek’s fault—that if it hadn’t been for Durek, this wouldn’t have happened. I was so lucky to have the support of Durek and my family and my friends all around us, but it’s a void.
‘Suddenly I was a single parent, which is a very different horse, and of course the grief, the anger, the self-pity, the sadness over never seeing him again…it’s devastating.’
In a statement issued by the royal household, Harald and his wife Queen Sonja announced the engagement and said they ‘wish them all the best for the future’
Martha, who added that she ‘never felt like a royal’ also revealed she’s discovered how racist Norwegian people can be since coupling up with Derek.
Writing on Instagram, Märtha Louise said: ‘I am so happy to announce that I am engaged to Shaman Durek.
‘The one who makes my heart skip, the one who sees me and acknowledges me from my highest potential, who makes me laugh and who I can be vulnerable with.
‘Love transcends and makes us grow. And I am so happy to continue to grow with this beautiful man.
‘Thank you to all my friends and family who have stood steadfast by our side and special thanks to @hegecfossum and @stargatemusic for your generosity and making our day truly special.’
Earlier this year, Durek revealed he ‘asked King Harald’ of Norway for Princess Märtha Louise’s hand in marriage – but had yet to propose just then because they’re in ‘no rush’ to get married.
In an interview in Billed Bladet he said he ‘does things in a respectful way’, adding: ‘I’m very old-fashioned in the way I do things. Therefore, 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.’
Meanwhile he revealed how he plans to propose in an ‘old-fashioned’ way, adding: ‘For it will take me far more time to be ready to create a marriage. I do not want to rush a wedding.
‘It is a very sacred ceremony for me and the same goes for the moment when I propose. It must be perfect.’
Last year, Märtha Louise revealed she was moving to California to be closer to her boyfriend. But added they are still living apart for now.
‘We built our love on the dissident, on the friendship,’ she said.
Märtha Louise told the Norwegian newspaper VG in April last year that she was planning on bringing her children with her to the US.
‘Right now there is COVID and it is difficult to plan, but we plan to move with time,’ she said at the time.
‘The children will, of course, join me. We will keep the home in Lommedalen anyway. We must have a home in Norway. We’ll still be here a lot. We can not leave beautiful Norway completely,’ she said.
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