Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and her husband, Durek Verrett, are defending their love story.
Märtha Louise, fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, and Verrett, an American who labels himself a shaman, have been together since 2018 and married in the summer of 2024.
They tracked the lead-up to their wedding in “Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story,” a documentary that premiered on Netflix on Sept. 19.
“Being married is amazing, especially when you’re married to the love of your life,” Märtha Louise tells TODAY.com in a joint interview with Verrett. “It’s amazing to be married to a man who loves me like you do.”
“Rebel Royals” is a private and public-facing documentary, looking at how Märtha Louise and Verrett met and their reception once they shared their relationship with the world.
Verrett and Märtha Louise courted controversy independently before they met, and especially after, for their business endeavors that mix commerce and spirituality.
For example, Verrett made a claim in his 2019 book “Spirit Hacking” that childhood cancer is caused by unhappiness. Following the scandal, the Norwegian publisher attached to the project declined to publish the book in Norway. (Märtha Louise, on her end, wrote she was “so proud” of Verrett’s book.)
Then, in 2022, the mayor of Oslo criticized Verrett for selling a $222 “spirit optimizer” on his website, which Verrett says can do things like “energize your food and drinks so they assimilate into your body more easily” and “harmonize your space.”
Meanwhile, Märtha Louise faced scrutiny for managing an alternative therapy center that taught clairvoyance and how to speak to angels, per Reuters.
Verrett says he and Märtha Louise are “very spiritual people.”
“We believe in God, we believe in spirit and we believe in the ancestors,” he says.
Speaking to TODAY.com, the couple guesses as to why their relationship has encountered criticism.
“When people criticize us about these things, I think it just shows their own limitations,” Märtha Louise says.
“People are not used to someone of her stature being with a shaman. There’re a lot of things that people just can’t wrap their minds around because they’re stuck,” Verrett adds.
Following the criticism, Märtha Louise ultimately made a decision to step back from her royal duties in 2022.
She tells TODAY.com this was an “important choice to make to separate us from the rest of the family, so that we can live our lives and not everything is pulled into the rest of the family’s lives.”
The documentary also unpacks how race may play into Verrett’s reception into Norwegian culture. In the film, Verrett shows racist comments he’s received online.
“I can’t believe we’re still even on that on the planet,” he says about the messages.
In 2022, Märtha Louise’s parents, King Harald V and Queen Sonja, condemned the “racist attitudes” that Verrett faced part of the larger statement about Märtha Louise stepping back from royal duties.
Reflecting on that moment, Verrett started to get emotional. “You want to bring me to tears?” he says.
“To see them so courageously step forward and say something that has never been said in the history of any monarchy — I have to say that I have so much respect for her family, for how they are willing to look at things and talk them out and be able to come to a place where we can stay honorable as a family, but also at the same time, support and love one another,” he says.
The couple hopes their documentary shows “love conquers all.”
“I think that what we are demonstrating is to live unapologetically, live in the truth that we are authentically and to not let other people step into that space and dictate with their opinions against the love that you truly have because like my wife said, love does conquer all,” Verrett says.
“And also being authentic and truthful to who you are,” Märtha Louise adds. “Like, isn’t that the reason why we’re here on this planet? And if that’s being rebellious or being authentic, then I’m all for it.”