{"id":2025590,"date":"2025-09-16T07:28:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T07:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2025590"},"modified":"2025-09-16T07:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T07:28:22","slug":"most-jaw-dropping-moments-from-netflixs-rebel-royals-an-unlikely-love-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/most-jaw-dropping-moments-from-netflixs-rebel-royals-an-unlikely-love-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Most jaw-dropping moments from Netflix’s Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Calling all royal fans! Netflix<\/a>‘s new documentary Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story<\/em><\/a> offers an “intimate” look at the “controversial” relationship between Norwegian Princess M\u00e4rtha Louise\u00a0<\/a>and her shaman partner, Durek Verrett<\/a>. The film follows the couple’s journey from their first meeting to their eventual marriage \u2013 seeking spiritual guidance and navigating a media storm as they go. HELLO! has followed their story closely over the years, even securing the exclusive rights<\/a> to their wedding photos<\/a> and covering everything from the pre-wedding party<\/a> to their first dance<\/a>. As someone fairly new to their love story, I must admit: from the trailer<\/a> alone, I was intrigued to see just how bizarre it could get. And if spirituality isn’t your thing, then you’re in for a wild ride. But beyond the eccentricity, what stands out is how both M\u00e4rtha and Durek live lives very different from most people \u2013 with moments that are jaw-dropping, heartfelt and occasionally hilarious. Read on for the nine most controversial moments from Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Durek’s relationship with the spirit world<\/h2>\n
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From the outset, Durek introduces himself as a sixth-generation shaman who communicates with energies from the spirit world. His practices range from ringing bells over Zoom to guiding former ITV host Eamonn Holmes through yawns and coughs to “release” bad energy.<\/p>\n

At one point, he even addresses the “Council members” on camera and asks them, “Can you release these energies from my mouth and throat?” \u2013 before letting out a moan that morphs into a scream. As one baffled journalist puts it: “I don’t understand what this guy does, but he does it.” Some people totally get it, though \u2013 including Hollywood names like Gwyneth Paltrow and Glenn Powell.<\/p>\n

Angelina Verrett, Durek’s sister, recalls: “He’s always been different. When we were young, he’d talk to the crows. He’d call these birds and I’ll never forget, they all would come.”<\/p>\n

Durek admits his powers terrified him when he was young, until a near-death experience in hospital gave him clarity: “It became obviously clear, I have to be the person I was born to be.”<\/p>\n

He’s equally candid about his sexuality: “I don’t see myself as straight or gay. Doesn’t matter if it’s a male or a female \u2013 or it could be another being from another planet, as far as I’m concerned. It’s about the energy that they exude.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

While I can’t be sure he isn’t leaving the door open for aliens, his sentiment is clear: he falls in love with energies, not genders \u2013 which is why he fell for M\u00e4rtha.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"The\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The media’s reaction<\/h2>\n
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For me, the press response to Durek is one of the most shocking parts of this documentary. As the first Black man to marry into a European royal family, he explains how he faced extraordinary scrutiny. “The press doesn’t like me,” he admits. “They don’t want a bisexual Black man marrying their princess,” Durek says.<\/p>\n

He recalls being chased by cameras the moment he landed in Norway, receiving racist abuse and even death threats. At one dinner at the palace, he was even asked how it felt knowing the portraits on the walls depicted those who had enslaved his ancestors: “Who says that?” he asks \u2013 and I couldn’t agree more.<\/p>\n

M\u00e4rtha adds: “Because he’s a shaman, people say that he is dangerous for the royal family, and that I’m brainwashed.” She explains she’s endured press harassment her whole life \u2013 a pressure that extended to her ex-husband, Ari Behn, who tragically took his own life on Christmas Day in 2019.<\/p>\n

For her parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, it has also been a balancing act. “They support me,” M\u00e4rtha says, “but it’s a really fine line \u2013 how to balance it all with the press.”<\/p>\n

Durek compares his situation to Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. “It was only when Harry and Meghan went into the press with Oprah did I get a message from the King saying, ‘Do you feel that we treated you the same way?'” After Durek said yes, the family had a discussion to try to resolve it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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WATCH: Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story Official Trailer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A clairvoyant princess<\/h2>\n
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Despite her royal roots, M\u00e4rtha is also deeply spiritual. She previously founded an “angel school” \u2013 or “spiritual centre” \u2013 where she and others communicated with angels. Durek describes her as both psychic and intuitive, even joking that her “witchy” family felt like “walking into Harry Potter land.”<\/p>\n

When M\u00e4rtha first met Durek, she was wearing a raven T-shirt \u2013 which Durek recognised as his spirit animal and recalled: “I saw my past life in Egypt. And I saw myself on a throne and she was standing next to me and she’s like, ‘I found you my love.'”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Durek's\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Durek’s inner child<\/h2>\n
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Between intense spiritual practices, Durek says he has multiple people living inside of him. “I have a little boy inside. I have a woman. I have a diva,” he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There’s a hilarious moment when M\u00e4rtha stands in the rain while Durek spins around in the background playing dizzy dinosaurs with his umbrella \u2013 clearly, his inner child was taking charge that day!<\/p>\n

“My thing is, I’m a Scorpio male \u2013 so I’m all about how people are going to feel, like what’s the vibe gonna be. And sometimes, I have a diva that comes out. Let’s be real about that,” says Durek.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The film then cuts to him saying: “Do we have someone to do my make-up? Because I want my pictures to look popping. And then can we go zip lining?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Breaking\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Breaking royal protocol <\/h2>\n
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The couple announced their relationship on Instagram without consulting anyone \u2013 which was a breach of royal protocol. One team member recalls telling them: “You guys can’t just announce things and not tell anyone!”<\/p>\n

Eight months into their relationship, Durtek was introduced to the King and Queen and was told by M\u00e4rtha to “be himself”\u2026 so he arrived in a kimono and cowboy boots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I had no idea that I’m supposed to wear a suit because I thought I could be myself, as M\u00e4rtha explained,” said Durek. “And that wasn’t the case obviously, because they hated my clothes. I mean, pretty much everything I did was wrong. And they would always let M\u00e4rtha know that I was wrong.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"The\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The couple’s joint spirituality <\/h2>\n
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M\u00e4rtha and Durek’s shared spirituality only intensifies as the documentary goes on. When planning their wedding, Durek explains they consulted the spirit world to choose the date \u2013 August 31st, “when Virgo and Scorpio merge with Venus.” At this point, they’re filmed sitting opposite each other \u2013 eyes closed, connecting to the spirit world. Nothing says true love like scheduling your big day around Venus\u2026<\/p>\n

Clearly, timing was crucial \u2013 so when they’re told the ceremony has to be at three, Durek protests: “But what about what the astrologer told us? That we have to do it between a certain amount of time. One and two o’clock\u2026 Okay, I have to get new coordinates then.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A clash with Janteloven<\/h2>\n
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One of the starkest contrasts between Durek and Norway’s royals is his lack of “Janteloven” \u2013 a Norwegian cultural code stressing modesty and humility. Norwegians are told: “You’re not to think you are anything special. You’re not to imagine yourself better than we are\u2026 You’re not to think anyone cares about you.”<\/p>\n

Durek, meanwhile, cheerfully admits: “I have a huge, super huge, ego,” and “I am the fashion police. If I had it my way, I would run around the world fixing everyone’s clothes because sometimes I think people really need to not step outside with the clothes that they’re wearing.”<\/p>\n

When he tries on sunglasses and asks his stylist what they think, they say “bigger please” \u2013 to which Durek replies: ‘Yeah, I know. It has to be more flashy.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Press\u00a9 Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Press revelations<\/h2>\n
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The documentary doesn’t shy away from controversies surrounding the couple, which surfaced ahead of their wedding. Old podcast clips showed Durek claiming he was “part reptilian” and “from Andromeda”, as well as divulging intimate things about his and M\u00e4rtha’s sex life.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other headlines revisited his sale of “Spirit Optimiser” medallions during the Covid pandemic, which he claimed could “bring high levels of light intelligence”.<\/p>\n

A leaked voice note allegedly from Durek to a former friend added further controversial complications \u2013 though Durek strongly denies any sexual misconduct and is pursuing legal action against the tabloid.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, I made mistakes \u2013 but they were digging everything they could trying to attack me from all angles,” said Durek.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Martha<\/figure>\n

M\u00e4rtha steps down from royal duties<\/h2>\n
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Ultimately, the pressure and media scrutiny led M\u00e4rtha to step back from official royal duties \u2013 and to help fund the wedding, she and Durek sold exclusive photo rights to HELLO! magazine.<\/p>\n

“I think a lot of Norwegians were disappointed about her earning money off her marriage from a celebrity magazine,” one journalist says. “It was a bit shocking because it’s so not what we have done before. It’s not how Norwegian society works. And this is not how we usually see our royals.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

My verdict<\/h2>\n

While undeniably controversial, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story is less about scandal and more about two people determined to be together, no matter how unconventional their journey. Whether you find their beliefs fascinating or bewildering, one thing’s certain \u2013 M\u00e4rtha and Durek’s love story is unlike anything we’ve seen in royal history, and it offers a very thought-provoking watch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Calling all royal fans! Netflix‘s new documentary Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story offers an “intimate” look at the “controversial” relationship between Norwegian Princess M\u00e4rtha Louise\u00a0and her shaman partner, Durek Verrett. The film follows the couple’s journey from their first meeting to their eventual marriage \u2013 seeking spiritual guidance and navigating a media storm as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2025591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[309584,23191,357275,24214,28442,319462,342744],"class_list":["post-2025590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-european-royals","tag-netflix","tag-norwegian-royals","tag-royalty","tag-tv-and-film","tag-what-to-watch","tag-whats-on-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Most-jaw-dropping-moments-from-Netflixs-Rebel-Royals-An-Unlikely-Love.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2025590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2025591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2025590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2025590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2025590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}