New Royal Wedding! Norwegian Princess Martha Louise to tie knot with celebrity shaman

Princess Martha Louise, the only daughter of Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja, is ready to tie the knot with her boyfriend of four years Durek Verrett. The Norwegian Royal Court shared the news in a statement published on June 7.

In it, the current Queen and King, their heir Crown Prince Haakon and his wife Crown Princess Mette Marit expressed their congratulations to the couple.

The statement read: "His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen send their most heartfelt congratulations to Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett on the occasion of their engagement, and wish them all the best for the future."

Mr Verrett and Martha Louis also shared a joint message, reading: "Love does not judge where you come from or who you are as a human being.

"Love creates a bridge between people, cultures and religions.

"And we are happy to have found each other, across continents, ethnicity and social background."

The princess took to her personal Instagram account on Tuesday to express her joy to her followers.

From the account iam_marthalouise, the royal wrote: "I am so happy to announce that I am engaged to Shaman Durek, the one who makes my heart skip, the one who sees me and acknowledges me from my highest potential, who makes me laugh and who I can be vulnerable with.

"Love transcends and makes us grow.

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"And I am so happy to continue to grow with this beautiful man.

"Thank you to all my friends and family who have stood steadfast by our side and special thanks to @hegecfossum et co. for your generosity and making our day truly special."

Martha Louise also shared the official picture of her engagement, in which she showed off a stunning diamond ring with what appears to be a green amethyst in its centre.

In the stunning snap, Martha Louise and Mr Verrett look at each other lovingly while posing near a tree.

Mr Verrett, also known as Shaman Verrett, is a spiritual guide and healer who has worked with several A-listers including Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev and James Van Der Beek.

He won't receive a royal title following the marriage, but will be nevertheless considered a member of the extended Royal Family.

No date has yet been announced for the wedding.

The couple will continue to live on different continents for the time being, with Mr Verrett being based in California while Martha Louise staying in Norway.

This engagement comes after Mr Verrett told Vanity Fair in an interview dating back to November 2020 he had received King Harald's blessing to propose to the princess.

Speaking to Billed Bladet in February, he spoke about actually asking for Martha Luise's hand to the Queen and King, while adding he had not popped the question to the princess as they were in "no rush" to get married.

He said: "I'm very old-fashioned in the way I do things.

"Therefore, I sat down with King Harald and Queen Sonja and asked for their daughter's hand in marriage.

"If they had said no, I would not have gone ahead with it."

Princess Martha Louise is fourth-in-line to the throne and doesn't carry out official engagements on behalf of the Norwegian Crown.

This will be the royal's second wedding, as Martha Louise had been previously married to Ari Behn, who died on Christmas Day 2019, from 2002 to 2016.

The pair had three daughters - Maud Angelica, 18, Leah Isadora, 16, and Emma Tallulah, 13.