10 of the Major Revelations From Netflix Documentary 'Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story'

Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett shook things up with bombshell revelations in their Netflix documentary, Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story.

In the film, which premiered on September 16, the couple looked back at their love story, including the time they broke a royal protocol when they confirmed their relationship on Instagram.

"You guys can't just announce things and not tell anyone!" one team member reportedly told them.

Princess Märtha Louise publicly shared their romance in an Instagram post in May 2019, uploading a photo alongside a lengthy caption.

"When you meet your twin flame, you know," part of the post read. "I have been lucky enough to have met mine. @shamandurek has changed my life, like he does with so many. He has made me realize that unconditional love actually exists here on this planet. He embraces all of me without question or fear. He makes me laugh more than anyone, has the most profound wisdom to share and all the bits in between from the diversity of his being. I feel so happy and blessed that he is my boyfriend. Thank you my love, for including me so generously into your family. I love you from this eternity to the next."

While deepening their relationship, Princess Märtha Louise and Durek worked hard to manage the intense media scrutiny surrounding them.

In Rebel Royals, Durek — who became the first Black man to marry into a European royal family — said the press "does not like [him]," adding, "They don't want a bisexual Black man marrying their princess."

He also recalled an incident that occurred during a royal dinner in Denmark: "One guy even said to me, 'You see all the pictures on the walls? Your family comes from Africa, right?' And I said yes, and he goes, 'Well, you know, all these people are the people who enslaved your family. How does that make you feel?' Who says that?"

Princess Märtha Louise, who admitted she has long been subjected to press harassment, shared, "Because he's a shaman, people say that he is dangerous for the royal family, and that I'm brainwashed."

According to Durek, Princess Märtha Louise's family — King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon — "didn't even know what racism was" when he was introduced to them.

"They would look at me like I'm crazy when I would say that there's racism," he noted.

But things changed after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in the 2021 CBS special.

Durek continued, "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?' And when I said yes, they were like, 'Okay, well, we need to have a family discussion.' And of course, my family is like, 'They don't want to have a family discussion because they don't want to treat you that way, they want to have a family discussion cause they're afraid you might be the next one on Oprah.' Like, let's be real.'"

After learning about his experiences, King Harald and Queen Sonja wrote a press release about racism and how Durek had been treated.

"Once we were able to hash it out as a family in a loving way, it brought us closer together," Durek added.

Durek met King Harald and Queen Sonja eight months into his relationship with Princess Märtha Louise. At the time, he wore a kimono and cowboy boots because the royal told him to be himself.

"I had no idea I was supposed to wear a suit because I thought I could be myself, as Märtha explained," Durek said. "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 Martha know that I was wrong. It wasn't like, 'Oh, welcome to our family, we love you, we get you.' It was like, 'Why are you with this guy?'"

After Princess Märtha Louise's ex-husband, Ari Behn, died by suicide on Christmas Day in 2019, she leaned on Durek during the difficult time.

"It was like we found this way of being together and getting through all our emotions, and for me, Durek was like really, really the rock… I needed my rock, I needed the person who could be there for me. And I could just talk to him about anything, because dealing with sorrow 24/7 is really, really heavy," Princess Märtha Louise revealed in Rebel Royals.

In the Netflix documentary, Princess Märtha Louise also got candid about her life after renouncing her royal role.

"I am the princess, and all my family will be at the wedding, of course. But I don't have an official role anymore, so I'm not invited to the big galas or the state visits like I did before," she candidly shared. "It has been a bit sad, but that's how everybody wanted it. And I'm good at accepting things I can't change."

"I don't see myself as straight or g--. Doesn't matter if it's a male or a female – or it could be another being from another planet, as far as I'm concerned. It's about the energy that they exude," Durek said of his sexuality.

Princess Märtha Louise's daughters, who also appeared in the documentary, said they thought Durek was g-- when their mother introduced him to them as a friend.

"We first started hearing about Durek three years after the divorce, and we were in L.A. and we were just meeting one of mom's g-- friends," Leah said of Durek, while Emma added, "When we first met him, I was like, 'Oh yeah, he's g--.' He has a lot of personality. We loved it, though."

Aside from sharing their love story, Durek also spilled about the health scare that helped him realize who he really is.

"The blood vessels in my kidneys exploded. I had kidney failure, and my whole body started shutting down. I was dying. I went to the other side and I saw my whole life through my childhood," he detailed.

When he "died in the hospital," Durek knew he had to be "the person I was born to be."

He reminisced, "After that, my sister gave me a kidney, and it changed my life. And I decided, no more working for anything other than being shaman Durek."

After a past kidney transplant, Durek has begun undergoing dialysis three times a week to stay alive. His condition reportedly began declining recently, and he is now waiting to receive a new organ.

"He's so much weaker than he has been before, but it takes 10 years before you get a kidney on the list," Princess Märtha Louise shared in the documentary. "And I've tested to give my kidney, but I wasn't a match, so that was really, really sad, and so we have to get a living donor. I just pray we get one in time."

In Rebel Royals, Durek claimed multiple people reside within him.

"I have a little boy inside. I have a woman. I have a diva," he said.