The princess and the shaman: Norway's royal wedding unlike any other

LONDON — A Norwegian princess marrying her Hollywood fiancé — it sounds like exactly the sort of fairy tale to charm a world beset by war and political strife.

But the wedding on Saturday of Princess Märtha Louise to Durek Verrett, an American spiritual healer and self-professed shaman, is mired in controversy and criticism.

Märtha Louise, 52, is the eldest daughter of Norway’s long-reigning and widely popular King Harald, 87. She began dating California native Verrett in 2019 after the princess divorced her first husband two years earlier. The pair got engaged in 2022.

The nuptials will play out in Geiranger, a scenic town at the head of the Geirangerfjord, a majestic fjord flanked by snowcapped mountains that has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The king, Queen Sonja, heir to the throne Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will all attend, the royal family says. They will be joined by reality stars, media influencers and TV personalities, with image rights exclusively sold to Netflix and Hello! magazine.

But away from this secluded spot, the picture is not so harmonious.

The wedding has intensified scrutiny and criticism of the views — and associated businesses — pedaled by the princess and the shaman. And it has added to a growing tone of dissatisfaction with the historically popular Norwegian royals.

Verrett describes himself as a “sixth-generation shaman” who has “studied extensively” to extract “the best from all the world philosophies, religions, spiritual teachings and theories.”

In his 2019 book, “Spirit Hacking: Shamanic Keys to Reclaim Your Personal Power, Transform Yourself, and Light Up the World,” he says that children get cancer because they “want” it and that doctors only administer chemotherapy to make a profit.

In another chapter, he writes that casual sex “attracts underworld entities” that are “the origin point for all sexually transmitted diseases.” He also says that overpopulation is one of humanity’s greatest threats and that women struggling to conceive is a sign that the “Earth is attempting to self-correct.”

He claims his clients have included celebrities, but he also runs an online “shaman school” where people can pay up to $110 for webinars on everything from how to speak with their dead ancestors to becoming financially successful.

For $222 he sells a “spirit optimizer” that he says boosts the immune system, “strengthens the organs” and helped him recover from Covid-19 in place of traditional medical treatments.

All of this has not gone down well in Norway.

Health Secretary Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt, who is also a medical doctor, called Verrett an “unscrupulous and dangerous charlatan” in a 2022 Facebook post, accusing him of wanting to “con money from sick people by cheating and deception,” according to the VG newspaper.

Last year, the current prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, told the newspaper Dagbladet that Verrett’s ideas were “dangerous.”

Märtha Louise was already into so-called alternative medicine before she met Verrett. She says she is a clairvoyant and until 2018 ran a school where she claimed to be able to talk to angels.

This prompted criticism from the Norwegian press and public, who accused the royal of using her title to boost her spurious business interests. And so in 2019 the palace announced that the princess would no longer carry out official duties and that neither she nor Verrett would use royal titles on their social media channels or business ventures.

A statement alongside this decision said that the royal family has “great confidence in the Norwegian health service,” which is based on “established medical knowledge and scientific research.” The princess herself praised the Norwegian health care system and “research-based knowledge” in general, and she said that “alternative methods can be an important supplement to help from the conventional medical establishment.”

Verrett has said in previous social media posts that he has suffered racist abuse online from people responding to his beliefs.

The anger has not subsided, however.

Asked about the controversy surrounding this weekend’s nuptials, Norway’s Royal Court said in an email that it was “looking forward to being guests” at the wedding, while directing NBC News to the previous statements about the princess stepping back from royal duties.

NBC News has contacted Verrett for comment.

It’s not the only storm surrounding the family.

Earlier this month in a statement to Norwegian state broadcaster NRK, Crown Prince Haakon’s stepson, Marius Borg Høiby, admitted assaulting a woman while intoxicated with drugs and alcohol.

The scandals have raised questions about support for the monarchy in a country that has typically backed its royals enthusiastically.

“These cases show some of the fundamental challenges with the monarchy,” Andreas Sjalg Unneland, a lawmaker of the left-wing Socialist Left Party, told The Associated Press. The party is using the controversies to campaign for a constitutional change that would abolish the monarchy, but is not likely to gain support from other lawmakers.

Almost 200 miles from this politicking in the capital, Oslo, in Norway’s folkloric fjordlands, the marriage preparations are well underway.