You may remember from this post about the Norwegian Crown Pincess Mette-Marit’s son that her sister in law Princess Märtha Louise is married to Durek Verrett, an American conspiracy theorist, alternative therapist, and self-professed shaman.
* He claims he can “turn atoms” and literally reduce age.
* He says that casual sex attracts subterranean spirits that make an impression on the inside of women’s vaginas (so of course he also sells exercises to “clean out” said vaginas).
* He believes he is “a hybrid species of reptilian and Andromeda.”
* He claims to be a reincarnated Pharaoh from Egypt.
* He says children get cancer because they want it.
* He sold medallions that he said would cure COVID-19. When his claims were found to be in violation of Norwegian law, he switched to selling medallions that he said could cure dogs of various ailments. The Norwegian Veterinary Association has stated that Verrett’s claims are not based on science.
* He claims he had knowledge of the 9/11 attacks two years before they happened but he chose not to intervene.
* He believes that 5G is a conspiracy by “those who enslave the planet.”
* He has compared himself to “geniuses [like] Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers and Helen Keller.”
* He has stated in interviews that he was raised by a wealthy architect father and that he had a private plane and servants. His family members have disputed this. His paternal aunt has gone on record saying that Verrett’s father was a middle class contractor who went bankrupt twice and that his step-mother worked in customer service for Alaska Airlines.
* For ten years, his website said he was a third generation shaman. Since 2020, he has been saying he is a sixth generation shaman.
* He says he was spiritually initiated by American woman who calls herself Princess Susana von Radić of Croatia” (the Icelandic atheist association Vantrú describss her as “a fraud who claims to be a princess.”
* He wrote a book called Spirit Hacking: Shamanic Keys to Reclaim Your Personal Power, Transform Yourself, and Light Up the World, which was scheduled to be published in Norway in 2019. A week before the publication date, the publisher dropped the book due to concerns about the content. The book was later picked up by a smaller publisher. When the book was finally released, the reviews were not great. Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet described the book as “the ravings of a lunatic.” Verdens Gang (another Norwegian newspaper) called the book “nonsense, garbage and dirty talk.”
* After he and Princess Märtha Louise got engaged, he claimed that when he was a child his mother foresaw him marrying a Norwegian princess. His mother has publicly denied making this prediction. She said that it’s a fake story that he made up. Last year he threatened his mother and his sister with legal action to get them to stop talking to the press about him.
Somehow, all of this convinced Netflix to produce a documentary film about Durek and his wife. Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story by director Rebecca Chaiklin (Tiger King) and producer Chris Smith (FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened) follows the couple as they prepare for their wedding, seek spiritual guidance, and navigate a media storm.