Durek Verrett alleges Princess Märtha Louise’s buddies had been ‘racist’

Durek Verrett, the soon-to-be husband of Princess Märtha Louise, has made explosive claims about the Norwegian royals‘ friends in a new podcast, saying they displayed racist behaviour towards him when they first met. 

Speaking on the Nettavisen podcast, ‘Stavrum & Eikeland’, ahead of the couple’s nuptials on August 31st, the self-professed shaman, 49, recounted how he was told ‘that’s what you should be doing’ after he poured water for guests at a dinner party. 

He revealed that when a staff member who had been helping attend to the table at the meal, which saw family members on both sides attend, left because they weren’t feeling well, he stepped in to refill glasses. 

Verrett explained in the interview: ‘I decided to pour water to everyone’s cups and one of Martha’s friends, the guy, said: “Oh this is what you should be doing. This is what you’re meant to be doing” And they all laughed.’

The controversial shaman, who will wed Martha Louise at the Union Hotel in Geirangerfjord on August 31, said his family told him: ‘That is so racist and so disrespectful and so rude in front of Martha’s parents’. 

He also said Märtha Louise’s parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, ‘even noticed it and didn’t like it’.

‘It wasn’t pleasant to have that type of energy of every time Martha was with her friends.’ 

He added too that during the early days of their relationship, the Norwegian royal’s friends suggested she end their relationship. 

‘They were like “Call him up, break up with him now”. They would put the phone in front of her, instead of supporting her.’

It should be one of the happiest times of the couple’s lives as they prepare to tie the knot but the months and years leading up to their wedding have been dogged with drama. 

The daughter of King Harald V was forced to step down as a working royal in 2022 after a backlash about her fiance’s controversial views on some topics, including that childhood cancer is caused by unhappiness.

The troubles have continued in recent months, with the couple becoming embroiled in a public row with Durek’s estranged mother, 81, and the Norwegian monarch facing renewed calls to strip his daughter completely of her princess title.

With the wedding now just 11 days away, there has also been controversy on Verrett’s side of the family. 

Earlier this week, Durek’s oldest sister Demi DeLaNuit has hit back at her younger brother and revealed what she claims are the terms of a legal warning he sent to her – including a public apology video that he would be able to pre-approve. 

Taking to Instagram in a post in which she has tagged some of the shaman’s Hollywood pals including wellness guru Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi DeLaNuit, who is still followed by Martha Louise but not by Durek Verrett, claimed the couple were threatening to sue her ‘for millions of dollars’.

She added she has ‘laid low’ for four years since he got together with the Norwegian Princess; until Durek began to spout ‘untruths’ about her.

The clip then cuts to Durek speaking about how his mother and sister ‘joined up with the press’ and told ‘lies’ about him – referring to a row that began in April when Veruschka Urquhart, Durek’s mother, conducted interviews with Norwegian celebrity magazine Se og Hør in which she branded her son a ‘dangerous’ man who had ‘brainwashed’ Princess Martha Louise.

She also claimed that her son did not grow up with the wealth he has previously claimed to have enjoyed during his childhood. 

In the clip, Demi showed the camera what she claims is the cease and desist letter issued by Durek and Martha Louise earlier this month; which threatened to sue her if she did not stop discussing her brother in public.

Demi then reads out what she claims are two conditions he has laid out to her. The first is that she deletes a clip she posted on social media in which she requested a private meeting with her brother to hash out their differences. 

She should then film and upload an apology video, retracting previous claims made about her brother – but that before the video is uploaded, she should send it to Durek for approval.

Demi says: ‘My response? No.’ 

The second demand, she claims, is that she should ‘turn over everything I have on you’ which includes electronic files. Demi stresses again that she would not comply.

Instead, she threatens to see her estranged brother ‘in court’ where she claims she will share information she previously has not revealed in public.

Demi then attacks her brother for threatening legal action against their mother, saying: ‘You are riding our 81-year-old mother a little too hard for my taste’. 

She revealed the Shaman has also tried to ‘silence’ her daughter, his niece, by threatening to sue them for ‘millions of dollars’. 

Demi concludes: ‘I have worked tirelessly to separate myself from you since that incident that happened four years ago.’ She does not explain which incident she is referring to.

She says: ‘It’s all gonna come out soon.’ 

The eviscerating attack comes amid a turbulent time for the Norwegian royal family after the future King’s stepson was arrested and held in custody on assault charges.

Marius Borg Høiby, 27, the tattooed stepson of heir apparent Crown Prince Haakon, was arrested near Skaugum Castle, his family’s official residence, after the violent episode against his girlfriend, Rebecca Helberg Arntsen.

Now, speaking for the first time, former motor mechanic Høiby, labelled the ‘black sheep’ of the Norwegian Royal Family, has made a frank admission of his culpability and a grovelling apology to Ms Arntsen and his loved ones. 

In his statement, issued via his lawyer to state broadcaster NRK, he said he suffers with ‘several mental disorders’ and has ‘struggled with substance abuse for a long time’, which he will now resume treatment for.

Photos reportedly taken of his lover’s home in Oslo after the argument showed a knife planted in the wall and a broken chandelier. In July, Borg Høiby announced his relationship with Ms Arntsen.

Borg Høiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, was raised by his mother and stepfather with his half-siblings, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18, but unlike them he has no official public role.

The scandal was a bitter blow to Crown Prince Haakon, whose public image has previously been relatively free of drama in comparison to his older sister Martha Louise. 

The Princess, who was originally the heir to the Norwegian throne, stepped down as a working royal following backlash among members of the public to her relationship with Durek.

Durek was dropped by his publisher shortly after the couple announced their engagement in June 2022 over pseudoscientific claims he made in his book ‘Spirit Hacking’. Among the claims were that children ‘can get cancer from being unhappy’. 

Durek has also claimed he once came back from the dead, recovering from a month-long coma, by letting his soul ‘burn’ and he has also spoken of having to undergo a kidney transplant from his sister as a child.

It is unclear why he needed the kidney or how he became wheelchair bound, as he has described. The illness which sent him into a coma is also undisclosed.

After stepping down as a working royal in November 2022, she gave an interview on Swedish TV in which she claimed she had ‘received the most criticism of anyone in Norway’ for her spiritual beliefs.

As she sat down with Anna Hedenmo on Min Sanning – which translates to My Truth – the royal said she felt she needed to step back because of public image.

She said: ‘I am probably the one in Norway who has received the most criticism of all, I think.’