“Being a shaman and marrying a member of the royal family is very, very surreal,” an exceedingly candid shaman named Durek Verrett, who last year married Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, says in the new Netflix documentary Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story.
Filmed in the months leading up to their August 2024 wedding, the film is the couple’s attempt to reclaim the narrative about their love story after years dodging quite critical tabloid headlines about their romance. It offers a rare and frank window into the pair’s private life, featuring several on-camera statements from the newlyweds across the nearly 100-minute runtime.
In addition to the more colorful aspects of Princess Märtha Louise and Verrett, the documentary also delves into more sobering topics—like the racism Verrett has faced in the spotlight. After Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021 where they aired similar experiences, Märtha Louise’s father King Harald asked Verrett, “Do you think we treated you like that?” the shaman recounts in the film. “When I told him yes, they called a family meeting [to sort things out].” The monarch later publicly condemned the racist remarks lobbied against his son-in-law. Says Märtha Louise in the doc: “My parents have always been willing to learn and adapt.”
The documentary also explores the origins of Märtha Louise and Verrett’s headline-making love story. Norway’s princess, fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, had been divorced for a couple of years from Ari Behn (whose subsequent tragic death and previous relationship are also covered in the documentary); and the shaman was famous for working with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow when they first crossed paths. The royal’s three daughters with Behn recount that when their mother introduced them to Verrett, they thought he was “one of her gay friends.” The shaman defines himself as bisexual and “almasexual,” explaining, “I am attracted to people’s souls.” In the case of Märtha Louise, “I didn’t care which body she came in,” he says. “I fell in love with the person.” Adds Märtha Louise: “I am a Scorpio, and when I fall in love it is for life.”
