The True Story Behind Netflix’s Rebel Royals

Royal families are not foreigners in scandal. The most recent and deepest is perhaps the infamous falling between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the British royal family. But just as fascinating, even if he inspired less major world titles, was when the Norwegian princess, Märtha Louise, fell in love with an American named Durk Verrett, whose profession as a Hollywood shaman raised eyebrows and attracted a massive media exam. Verrett has various celebrities among its customers, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Nina Dobrev. Verrett would also be the first black man to marry in a European royal family. Their relationship is at the center of the new Netflix documentary, Royals rebel: an improbable love story.

Although it may seem shocking that a princess would marry a shaman, it is clear to look Rebel royals that these two people are extremely well adapted to each other. The princess of Norway, Märtha Louise, claims to be a clairvoyant who can communicate with the angels. She is imbued with alternative medications and practices, after having opened her own practice in 2018, Astarte Education, known as Engleskolen (or “Angel School”), where she teaches others to communicate with angels and dead.

Durek is a popular shaman who wrote the 2019 book Spirit Hacking: Shamanic keys to recover your personal power, transform you and light the world. He has an influence on social media, where he has raised nearly 500,000 subscribers on Instagram. Although he charges $ 1,500 for a session, Verrett considers himself a shaman for everyone; “I am a shaman for people,” he said in Rebel royals. He describes himself as a “soul mate” in the documentary, which means that the genre does not take into account its attraction for others.

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Verrett and Louise met for the first time in 2018, and say that they shared an instant familiarity, believing that they had already known each other. Verrett says that when Louise told him that they had met before, he immediately recalled a life spent in Egypt where she was next to him on the throne. Verrett and Louise announced their relationship on Instagram without consulting their teams in advance, and when they landed in Norway so that Verrett meets Louise’s family for the first time, the media storm was already underway.

To offer, Verrett needed an appointment with his parents – the King and Queen of Norway – to ask her for permission from his hand to marriage. “It took some time, but I obtained the blessings of his mother and his father,” explains Verrett. The proposal triggered alarm ringtones in the Norwegian media, with unbeknop allegations that Verrett was singing Louise. His fourth online for the throne led people to believe that Verrett was trying to fit into the royal family to get into the Norwegian throne.

Verrett says in the film that he found to be among the Royals and their world of strict and unbreakable, suffocating rules. Norway, with a population of approximately 5.5 million inhabitants, is drawn by Jinteloven, a dominant non -written social code in the region. These principles include that it should not be believed that they are better than anyone, that they know more than anyone, that they are good in anything, or even anyone who cares about them. It may seem hard for American sensitivities, but it is a subtle and very sieved culture – which can lead to an important confrontation with those who respect American cultural norms and the very different lifestyle that follows. These cultural differences have fueled the media further, because Verrett is greater than life in all directions, shamelessly and proud of him, who is in conflict with Norwegian janteloven.

Following his relationship with Märtha Louise, Verrett faced vitrioli and racism on his social networks, as well as in the media as a whole. After a widely monitored interview with Oprah with Meghan Markle in 2021, the Norwegian Royals worried that the family perpetuates the same type of discrimination against Verrett, who shares in the documentary that he had a private conversation on the problem with the Royals. Diverging from the route taken by the British monarchy, the King of Norway decided to publish a statement to the press in November 2022, affirming that he unequivocally condemned the treatment of Verrett in the media, a refreshing position that the royal family did not want to tolerate any form of racism.

Despite the King’s support, the Norwegian press continued its relentless coverage of Verrett. Members of the press and tabloids paint through its appearances of previous podcasts, which gave them a lot of fodder; In one, Verrett claimed to be partly reptile and partly Andromedane; In another, he revealed explicit details about his sex life. He was also criticized for having sold a medallion which, according to him, healed him from Covid -19 – a product still listed on his website. Rebel royals Also obtained vocal messages from 2020 which were disclosed to a tabloid by a former friend of Verrett, in which Verrett allegedly describes sexual acts with a male client during a healing session. A documentary title card reveals that Verrett denies allegations and continues a complaint against the tabloid that shared the messages.

A survey quoted in the documentary revealed that 60% of Norwegians thought that Verrett’s shares had caused a drop in confidence in the royal family. Following increasing pressures, Louise left her remaining functions as a princess in 2022, ceasing to exercise official tasks on behalf of the royal family. This led to a big question: who would pay marriage? As a rule, a royal marriage is paid by taxpayers. Instead, Verrett and Louise would have a private marriage, with Bonjour to pay for exclusive photography rights.