Will Shaman Durek Receive a Royal Title After Marrying Princess Märtha Louise of Norway?

Mar. 15, 2025

Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verrett on their Aug. 31, 2024 wedding day in Geiranger, Norway.Photo:Shutterstock

Shutterstock

Shaman Durek VerrettandPrincess Märtha Louiseof Norway are living happily ever after following their epic wedding — so will he become a prince?

Princess Märtha Louise, 52, and Durek, 49,announced their engagementin June 2022 after about three years of dating. That fall, the Royal House of Norway specified what Durek’s role would be when they married, after Märtha Louise renounced her royal role in order to more freely pursue other business interests.

Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verrett on their Aug. 31, 2024 wedding day.Shutterstock

“In the same way as Erling Lorentzen, Johan Martin Ferner and Ari Behn, Durek Verrett will become part of the Royal Family when they marry, but in line with tradition he will not have any title or represent the Royal House,” the court said in astatement, translated into English, about Princess Märtha Louise’s step back in November 2022.

Lorentzen and Ferner were the husbands of King Harald’s sisters, the late Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid, who was a guest at her niece’s wedding. Behn was Princess Märtha Louise’s first husband and did not have a formal royal role during their marriage.

Princess Martha Louise of Norway and Ari Behn on their May 24, 2002 wedding day.Pool BASSIGNAC/BUU/Gamma-Rapho/Getty

Pool BASSIGNAC/BUU/Gamma-Rapho/Getty

Märtha Louise found love again with Durek, and they opened up to PEOPLE in 2019 about thestrong connectionthey share, where the shaman said he once lived with the princess in Egypt in a past life.

Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verrett on their Aug. 31, 2024 wedding day.HEIKO JUNGE/NTB/AFP via Getty

HEIKO JUNGE/NTB/AFP via Getty

“When we’re together and I look at [Märtha], sometimes I see another face,” Durek told PEOPLE in 2019. “And she sees it in me, too. I have memories of us in Egypt, and she was my queen and I was a pharaoh.”

Princess Martha Louise’s daughters (from second left) Maud Angelica Behn, Emma Tallulah Behn and Leah Isadora Behn on their mother’s Aug. 31, 2024 wedding day.CORNELIUS POPPE/NTB/AFP via Getty

CORNELIUS POPPE/NTB/AFP via Getty

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In a twist, though Märtha Louise relinquished her royal role, her daughters remain in the line of succession to the throne. Absolute primogeniture, or the right to rule regardless of gender, was not constitutionally adopted in Norway until 1990, according to theRoyal House, meaning that Haakon was always destined to reign one day.

When Princess Märtha Louise announced her step back, the court said it was King Harald’s wish for his daughter to retain her princess title and that Märtha Louise and her fiancé would still attend important family events.

Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Martha Louise, King Harald and Queen Sonja in Oslo, Norway in 2016.LISE AASERUD/AFP via Getty

source: people.com