Celebrations have begun for the wedding of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and her American partner, self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verret.
Hundreds of guests are arriving for a “meet and greet” at a historic hotel in Ålesund, western Norway.
On Friday, the couple will travel by sea to Geylager, a picturesque town on the shores of a UNESCO-listed fjord, where guests will enjoy “a light lunch on board with views of the majestic mountains and waterfalls,” the wedding program said.
The couple are set to marry in a private event on Saturday.
Members of the Swedish royal family are said to be due to attend, as well as a range of social media influencers and TV personalities, including US reality TV star and model Cynthia Bailey.
Guests are being asked not to use their mobile phones or cameras during the celebrations and not to post anything on social media, according to Norwegian media.
Princess Martha Louise, 52, and Mr Verret, 49, announced their engagement in 2022.
The eldest of two children of King Harald I of Norway, the princess was a former equestrian and was married to the late writer and artist Ari Behn, with whom she had three daughters, Maud, Leah and Emma. The couple divorced in 2017. Behn, who had said she suffered from depression, He passed away on Christmas Day 2019..
Martha Louise has been a source of controversy in Norway for decades for her involvement in alternative therapies. She lost her title “Her Majesty” in 2002 to be allowed to start her own business. She announced in 2007 that she was clairvoyant, and until 2018 ran a school teaching students how to “perform miracles” and speak to angels.
last year, Martha Louise told the BBC’s Katie Kaye There was a lot of “confusion” about her decision to choose a different path than “traditional royals.”
“Over the years I’ve had a lot of criticism, especially because I’m a spiritual person, and in Norway that’s taboo,” she said.
Verret, meanwhile, describes himself on his website as a sixth-generation shaman, a “servant of the gods and energy activater” who “unlocks spirituality” through “straightforward teachings.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, he claimed to have returned from the dead and said that as a child, a relative predicted that he would one day marry a Norwegian princess.
Princess Marta Louise announced her relationship with Verret in an Instagram post in 2019. Perhaps hoping to pre-empt the criticism, she wrote, “To all those who wish to criticise: calm down. It is not your role to make choices for me or criticise me. Shaman Durek is simply a man who I love spending time with and who fulfills me.”
But many Norwegians have yet to fully accept Verret. “He said some very strange things and people think there are a lot of cultural differences,” said Kristi Marie Skredet, royal correspondent for Norway’s NRK television. “Many people are very critical of Verret’s statements and actions as a shaman.”
Despite the couple’s religious beliefs, this weekend’s wedding will follow more traditional norms, with parish priest Margit Lovisse-Holte officiating according to the Church of Norway wedding liturgy.
When the engagement was first announced, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK reported that Verret would move to Norway and join the royal family without a title. He and Martha-Louise have now reportedly bought a house in Norway.
In 2022, The Norwegian Palace announced that Märtha Louise would “relinquish her role as patron.” She and Verret wanted to “make a clearer distinction between their activities and those of the Norwegian Royal Family” and “avoid any misunderstandings regarding the Royal Family.”
The paper added that King Harald would allow the princess to keep her title but had decided that she would not use it for commercial purposes.
At the time, King Harald told Norwegian reporters that Verret was a “wonderful person” and that “we both had a lot of laughs, even during these difficult times. I think we both have a deeper understanding of what the issues are about and we accept our differences.”
But over the summer she came under fire after her name and royal title appeared on the label of a commemorative wedding gin, created to mark Martha Louise’s marriage.
Skredet said many Norwegians were “fed up with this attitude” and some felt the princess was “disrespecting” her father. Beloved King Harald, 88, has been on the throne since 1991 and is Europe’s longest-serving monarch. In April, plans were announced to reduce the king’s duties “in light of his age”.
Locals are also outraged that the couple have signed an exclusive deal with Hello magazine, which has shut out the Norwegian media from covering the wedding. “This means that the public doesn’t know or see anything about the wedding unless they buy the magazine,” Skredet said.
It was also revealed on Wednesday that the couple have been working with streaming giant Netflix for a year on an “in-depth and moving documentary” about their relationship.
“As we become more global, nothing is more powerful than the love that drives us all,” Verret wrote on Instagram.
