Princess Märtha Louise and Shaman Durek Verrett have tied the knot!
As part of their multi-day wedding celebration, the couple officially got married in front of 350 guests in an Aug. 31 ceremony that took place in Geiranger on the west coast of Norway.
The wedding was attended by members of Norway’s royal family, including the parents of the bride, King Harald and Queen Sonja.
Princess Märtha Louise’s younger brother, Crown Prince Haakon, along with his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and their two children together, Princess Ingrid Alexandraand Prince Sverre Magnus, also joined the festivities.
Princess Martha Louise and Shaman Durek Verrett.
Shutterstock
Princess Märtha Louise, 52, and Shaman Durek, 49, hosted several events leading up to their wedding ceremony. Celebrations kicked off on Aug. 29 in Alesund, where guests gathered in the garden of Hotel 1904 for a welcome party with a “‘sexy and cool’ dress code,” according to Hello! magazine.
The following day, guests joined the bride and groom for a boat trip along the Geiranger Fjord, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Photos showed the bride and groom arriving for the outing, with Märtha Louise sporting a black leather ensemble with a colorful shirt and boots while Durek opted for a brown outfit and sunglasses.
Hello! reported that a “Latin American-themed pre-wedding party” would be held at Hotel Union on the eve of the wedding ceremony.
The couple met in 2018 through their mutual friend Millana Snow, a health and wellness guru, according to Hello! magazine. However, their romance was predicted by Durek’s mother when he was a teenager.
“My mother told me that one day someone from her heritage in Norway would find me and bring so much joy in my heart. I asked her, ‘Who, mother?’ She said, ‘A princess.’ I laughed and said, ‘Okay, a princess. Whatever, mother, you’re funny.’ Well, she was right. My kindred spirit found me,” Durek —whose celebrity fans include Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev and James Van Der Beek— captioned a photo of the royal on Instagram in February 2019.
The pair announced their engagement in June 2022, with Durek popping the question at an equestrian estate in his home state of California. Princess Märtha Louise told PEOPLE it “meant the world” that he designed her emerald engagement ring with three diamonds on each side as a tribute to her daughters from her previous marriage to the late author Ari Behn.
Princess Märtha Louise renounced her royal role in 2022 “to create a clearer dividing line between her business activities and her role as a member of the royal family.” She previously gave up “Her Royal Highness” title in 2002 in order to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and agreed to stop using her princess title for business ventures in 2019, the Royal House of Norway said in a statement.
Although Märtha Louise is two years older than her brother, Crown Prince Haakon was always destined to inherit the throne. Absolute primogeniture (the right to rule regardless of gender) was not constitutionally adopted in Norway until 1990, according to the Royal House. Haakon is followed in the line of succession by his 20-year-old daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and 18-year-old son Prince Sverre Magnus.
