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Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Durek Verrett's love story began thanks to a friend. The couple's mutual pal, wellness entrepreneur Millana Snow, suggested that the two of them meet.
"After giving me a healing session she told me that the only time she'd felt such intense levels of energy was with Shaman Durek," the Norwegian royal recalled in an interview with HOLA!'s sister brand HELLO!. "'You two have to meet,' she said. But it was a few months before Durek reached out to arrange it."
Durek admitted that when Millana told him that Märtha is a Princess, he "was scared." He explained, "I'd been in relationships where people had made me responsible for their happiness, and because of that I decided to put my focus on God. I wanted my life to be about helping people through my work. But then a friend told me, 'What if she’s the person you've been waiting for?'"
So, Durek invited the Princess to have lunch at his home in California. "My assistant said I should wear a suit, but that's not me - I'm a ripped jeans, rock and roll t-shirts, kimonos, and cowboy boots kind of guy, so that's what I wore," he shared.
Märtha felt like she was "greeting an old friend" when Durek opened the door. "'I know you already,' I said, to which he replied: 'Yes, we were destined to meet before we were born,'" she recalled to HELLO!. "I internally rolled my eyes, thinking he was another LA dude. But when he did an energy reading for a close friend, he was spot-on and I knew then he was the real deal."
It wasn’t until six months after they met in 2018 that they had their first kiss. "I wanted a platonic friendship at first," Durek told HELLO!. "I'm very animated and grew up in a family where we talk about everything, whereas she was from a different world, a royal family. I wanted to make sure that if we were going to be together it was for the right reasons, that her being a princess had nothing to do with it, and we built the foundations properly."
The Princess made her relationship with Durek Instagram official in 2019, and in 2022, they got engaged. Durek asked Märtha's parents, King Harald V and Queen Sonja, for their blessing before proposing. "I have old school views on courtship, and asking for Martha's hand in marriage was about respect," he said in an interview with HELLO!.
The couple will tie the knot on Aug. 31 at the Hotel Union Geiranger in Geiranger, Norway. Märtha's parents, her brother Crown Prince Haakon, his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit, their kids, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, as well as Princess Astrid and members of the Swedish royal family will be among the guests at the wedding.