A new Netflix documentary, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story, chronicles the relationship between Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise and American spiritual practitioner Durek Verrett, exploring how their union exposed cultural clashes, media scrutiny and questions about race within a modern monarchy.
The film follows the couple from their 2018 meeting through a highly publicized engagement, a withdrawal from royal duties and a private wedding in August 2024. It places particular emphasis on Verrett’s work as a self-described shaman and spiritual guide and on the intense Norwegian tabloid coverage that accompanied the relationship.
Märtha Louise, who has publicly described herself as a clairvoyant and runs Astarte Education (also known as engleskolen, or “angel school”), met Verrett in 2018. Verrett, who has described himself in the film as “a shaman for the people,” has a social-media following of roughly 500,000 and has counted several celebrities among his clients. He is the author of Spirit Hacking (2019) and charges for private sessions; in the documentary he says his work is intended for broad access.
The couple say they felt an immediate familiarity when they met. Verrett recounts in the film that their first conversation included a shared sense of past-life connection. The pair announced their relationship on Instagram without coordinating with royal staff, a move that the documentary describes as the opening salvo in an escalating media frenzy.
The engagement required Verrett to ask permission of the royal household; he says he received blessings from the king and queen. Still, his profile and practices soon drew intense media attention in Norway, where commentators and readers debated whether his role posed questions about the monarchy’s image. Unverified tabloid allegations and social-media attacks followed, and the documentary shows examples of both criticism and racial vitriol directed at Verrett.
Norwegian cultural norms framed some of the coverage. The country’s unwritten social code known as janteloven — which discourages self-promotion and emphasizes social equality — is described in the film as clashing with Verrett’s outspoken, larger-than-life persona and his American-style spiritual entrepreneurship. That cultural friction, the documentary suggests, helped fuel public skepticism and intensified press interest.
Verrett faced criticism for past public statements and business practices that tabloids and commentators highlighted. The film revisits several controversies widely reported in Norway: interviews and podcast appearances in which Verrett made unconventional spiritual claims, a product he said had helped him recover from COVID-19, and leaked audio messages that a tabloid published alleging inappropriate conduct during a healing session. Verrett denies the allegations shown in the voicemails and, according to the documentary, is pursuing legal action against the outlet that published them.
The Norwegian monarchy diverged from the path taken by Britain’s royal family in its public handling of the story. In November 2022 the king issued a statement condemning racist treatment of Verrett in the media, an unusual and direct intervention. The documentary shows the king and queen engaging privately with the couple on matters related to the coverage.
Public reaction was mixed. A poll cited in the film found that about 60 percent of Norwegians believed Verrett’s conduct had diminished trust in the royal family. The scrutiny and controversy coincided with Princess Märtha Louise’s decision in 2022 to step back from performing official royal duties; the film and subsequent reporting link the move to the intensifying pressures surrounding her relationship.
Because she no longer carried out official duties, the wedding in August 2024 was arranged as a private ceremony. The couple said they consulted spiritual advisers to select a date; they chose Aug. 31, 2024. HELLO magazine purchased exclusive photography rights to the event, which took place in Geiranger, a fjord region in western Norway noted in the film for its dramatic landscape and Viking-era history. Despite her withdrawal from public duties, the documentary shows that the princess’s immediate family, including the king and queen, attended the ceremony.
Rebel Royals places the couple’s story within broader conversations about modern monarchy, media responsibility and cultural difference. The film presents both intimate moments and public fallout, documenting how a relationship that began privately unfolded under national scrutiny. Verrett’s prominence in social media and complementary spiritual businesses added commercial and reputational stakes to that scrutiny.
The documentary notes that, as the first Black man to marry into a European royal family, Verrett’s presence prompted additional debate about race and national identity in Norway. The film concludes by showing the couple continuing their life together; they celebrated their first wedding anniversary in 2025.
Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story is now available on Netflix and adds to a recent stream of documentary treatments that examine how contemporary media environments intersect with traditional institutions. The film offers viewers a portrait of a couple whose private beliefs and public roles collided amid a changing landscape for royal families and public discourse.