Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised. Hey,
Speaker 1: this is Dana Schwartz, the host of the podcast you're
Speaker 1: listening to a few quick bits of housekeeping before this episode.
Speaker 1: We have merch that's available. I love the merch. I
Speaker 1: wear my Noble Blood sweatshirt almost every day in my
Speaker 1: house and they're amazing. Pins and mugs that are beheaded queens.
Speaker 1: I just love them. The link is in the bio.
Speaker 1: We also have a Patreon where you can support the show,
Speaker 1: get episode scripts, and get access to exclusive seasonal stickers.
Speaker 1: So if you're at a certain level on the Patreon,
Speaker 1: every season we send a new, exclusive designed sticker just
Speaker 1: for patrons. Other bits of housekeeping, let's see, oh, I
Speaker 1: wrote a book called Immortality, a love Story that comes
Speaker 1: out in February. Pre Orders are so important, so if
Speaker 1: you're interested and want to pre order, that would be
Speaker 1: a huge help to me. It's the sequel to my
Speaker 1: last book, Anatomy, A Love Story, so you should probably
Speaker 1: read that one first. You should read both. I think
Speaker 1: I think you'll like them a lot. This one, though,
Speaker 1: the sequel, has a big Noble Blood Connection, and I
Speaker 1: don't want to spoil it, but if you like this podcast,
Speaker 1: I think the book will be right up your alley.
Speaker 1: Oh and finally, I'm leading in August. I'm helping to
Speaker 1: lead a pilgrimage in Cornwall to talk about the novel
Speaker 1: Rebecca and Daphne Demurier. I did one of these last
Speaker 1: year about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, and it was just incredible.
Speaker 1: You stay in this beautiful house and you're just talking
Speaker 1: about books and going on walks and writing and getting
Speaker 1: in touch with their creative spirit. I just think they're
Speaker 1: incredible experiences. It's called common Ground, the company that runs them.
Speaker 1: Google Dani Schwartz, common Ground Rebecca, and it will come up.
Speaker 1: It's in August and we're going to Cornwall. The place
Speaker 1: is absolutely beautiful. If that's something that interest to you,
Speaker 1: you should absolutely look it up and enjoy the podcast.
Speaker 1: As a member of the generation that grew up with
Speaker 1: clickbait articles, it's become alarmingly easy to find myself just
Speaker 1: glossing over the majority of absurd, often misleading headlines that
Speaker 1: passed through my Twitter feed on a daily basis. It
Speaker 1: makes sense that in a culture where clicks equal dollars.
Speaker 1: The methods used to entice readers have become increasingly ridiculous,
Speaker 1: bordering on desperate, in order to grab our limited attention.
Speaker 1: Think about out of context celebrity misquotes designed to anger
Speaker 1: niche corners of the Internet, or the alarmist headlines about
Speaker 1: the inevitable end of the world being caused by well
Speaker 1: any number of things. Considering the onslaught of our daily
Speaker 1: media diet, it makes sense that we've con shtioned ourselves
Speaker 1: to be able to tune out the perpetual barrage of
Speaker 1: insanity we find ourselves doomed scrolling through our phones every day.
Speaker 1: But even with all that in mind, truly nothing could
Speaker 1: have prepared me for the November tenth headline tweeted out
Speaker 1: by The New York Times, a headline in which every
Speaker 1: clause of the sentence becomes more and more enthralling. Princess
Speaker 1: Martha Louise of Norway, who has long claimed to be clairvoyant,
Speaker 1: has quit her royal duties over public criticism of her fiance,
Speaker 1: an American celebrity shaman who sells a two hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty two dollar heeling amulet and has suggested cancer is
Speaker 1: a choice. We rarely do episodes of this podcast that
Speaker 1: focus on modern royals, but in this particular case, I
Speaker 1: couldn't get the story out of my head. The headline
Speaker 1: itself reads more like a Stefn Club from SNL than
Speaker 1: it doesn't actual piece of journalism, with as many outlandish
Speaker 1: scraps of gossip haphazardly crammed into a meager two character
Speaker 1: limit as humanly possible, But incredibly, the clairvoyant princess and
Speaker 1: her fiance's two twenty two dollar healing amulets are really
Speaker 1: just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to
Speaker 1: this story. Even beyond the Times article, researching Princess Martha's
Speaker 1: life with her fiance, Dorik Verrett is like opening a
Speaker 1: Pandora's box of increasingly unbelievable snippets of information. Highlights range
Speaker 1: from the princess's self proclaimed shaman fiance stating in a
Speaker 1: social media post that he is quote a hybrid species
Speaker 1: of reptilian and andromeda end quote, to a moment as
Speaker 1: recent as June nine of this year, when the couple
Speaker 1: went on Instagram live and five minutes in Verett casually
Speaker 1: mentions his past life as an Egyptian Pharaoh. The Royal
Speaker 1: House of Norway's official statement claims the withdrawal of the
Speaker 1: princess from her official royal duties is quote intended to
Speaker 1: draw a dividing line that more clearly separates commercial activity
Speaker 1: from the Royal House of Norway and quote. But with
Speaker 1: publications waiving their metaphorical pitchforks at her fiance's controversial medical opinions,
Speaker 1: it's enough to make anyone wonder whether quote commercial activity
Speaker 1: is all that the Crown is wishing to separate itself from.
Speaker 1: I'm Dana Schwartz and this is noble blood. As I
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, if you're a regular listener of this podcast,
Speaker 1: you've probably realized I rarely cover modern royals, if only
Speaker 1: for the fact that I consider this, first and foremost
Speaker 1: a history podcast meant to contextualize the lives of royals
Speaker 1: as real life figures within the rigid institutions that they
Speaker 1: were born or otherwise brought into. Adding fuel to the
Speaker 1: tabloid inferno of modern royals has never been my aim
Speaker 1: with this show, especially since, as I previously mentioned, these
Speaker 1: are real life people who I assume are similarly just
Speaker 1: trying to navigate their lives to the best of their abilities.
Speaker 1: But in the case of Princess Martha Louise's withdrawal from
Speaker 1: her royal duties, I feel that her relationship with her
Speaker 1: fiance in connection to her royal title, as well as
Speaker 1: the Norwegian crowns response to their engagement as a whole,
Speaker 1: warrants at least a noble blood minisod, which brings me
Speaker 1: to my second disclaimer. Obviously, everyone is allowed to believe
Speaker 1: in whatever they want to believe in as long as
Speaker 1: those beliefs aren't causing harm to others, then it's really
Speaker 1: no one's business how someone decides to live their life.
Speaker 1: But when someone with a significant platform and ties to
Speaker 1: the Norwegian royal family begins spouting that they refused prescribed
Speaker 1: medical treatment for COVID nineteen in favor of their two
Speaker 1: d and twenty two dollar healing amulet, which they claimed
Speaker 1: to use to quote get the poisons out of their
Speaker 1: system and quote, then suddenly one person's beliefs aren't so innocuous,
Speaker 1: and again, the connection to a royal family adds legitimacy
Speaker 1: stature to those beliefs and statements. All this is to say,
Speaker 1: while I personally don't believe in the types of spirits
Speaker 1: or angels that Princess Martha and her fiance Derick Verrett
Speaker 1: claim to be beholden to. I think the criticism I
Speaker 1: may have toward the couple is less to do with
Speaker 1: their specific spiritual beliefs and more to do how their
Speaker 1: beliefs have harmed vulnerable communities. All Right, with that out
Speaker 1: of the way, let's get into it. Long before her
Speaker 1: name was ever scattered across tabloid headlines, Princess Martha Louise
Speaker 1: was the first child of the then Crown Prince Harald
Speaker 1: the fifth and Crown Princess Sonja, born on September twenty two,
Speaker 1: seventy one. Like most reigning royal families today, the Norwegian
Speaker 1: monarchy is largely a symbolic institution, having established a constitutional
Speaker 1: monarchy following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in eighteen fourteen.
Speaker 1: From a young age, the princess claims to have been
Speaker 1: what she calls highly sensitive, a trait which she believes
Speaker 1: has enabled her to sense other people's feelings. On the
Speaker 1: website for her spiritual education center, her bio goes more
Speaker 1: in depth into her sensitivity, detailing how her word with
Speaker 1: horses allowed her to quote make contact with the angels
Speaker 1: end quote. Despite the inherent public controversy the statements brought forth,
Speaker 1: for the most part, Princess Martha's let's say, extracurricular activities
Speaker 1: were largely kept separate from her royal persona. This was
Speaker 1: predominantly due to the fact that, despite her being the
Speaker 1: firstborn child to the King and Queen at the time
Speaker 1: of her birth, the Constitution of Norway prohibited women from
Speaker 1: inheriting the throne. This meant that in three her younger brother,
Speaker 1: the Crown Prince Hakun, became the next in line of succession,
Speaker 1: even though he was second born. It wouldn't be until
Speaker 1: nine that the constitution would be amended to allow women
Speaker 1: to inherit the throne, but with a stipulation that still
Speaker 1: kept Princess Martha behind her brother in the line of succession.
Speaker 1: So while she may have had royal duties that require
Speaker 1: her presence for charities or social gatherings, her role within
Speaker 1: the Norwegian royal family didn't stop her from conducting her
Speaker 1: own spiritual practices outside of familial obligations, at least until
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen, when she would be introduced to none
Speaker 1: other than the amulet wielding shaman himself, Derrick Verrett. By
Speaker 1: the time Direc and Martha met, the self identified sixth
Speaker 1: generation shaman was already well on his way making a
Speaker 1: name for himself within Hollywood. Raised in the suburban northern
Speaker 1: Californian town of Foster City, Dirk Verett claims to have
Speaker 1: been connected to the spirits from the age of three,
Speaker 1: when he says from his crib he could quote see
Speaker 1: other beings in the room, such as ancestors and family
Speaker 1: members that had already passed end quote. Rather than capitalizing
Speaker 1: on his spiritual connections early on, Verrett first began his
Speaker 1: career in Hollywood as a model, with sporadic appearances on
Speaker 1: television before he began cultivating his brand as a shaman,
Speaker 1: working his way up in elite Hollywood circles. By two
Speaker 1: thousand sixteen, Verett was appearing on social media alongside Gwyneth Paltrow,
Speaker 1: who described him as her quote light and shining armor.
Speaker 1: On his website, he claims to quote demystify spirituality and
Speaker 1: quote redefine what wellness means by putting the power back
Speaker 1: in the hands of the people end quote, though exactly
Speaker 1: whose hands that power ends up in seems to depend
Speaker 1: rather heavily on the depth of their wallets. Apart from
Speaker 1: the infamous overpriced amulets, which he calls spirit optimizers, the
Speaker 1: shaman also offers a one hour private healing sessions for
Speaker 1: the humble price of two thousand dollars. Of course, if
Speaker 1: you can't afford one of his private healing sessions, Verett
Speaker 1: encourages per rusers of his website to sign up for
Speaker 1: one of the many quote woke shops available through his
Speaker 1: online shaman School, or to pick up a copy of
Speaker 1: his book Spirit Hacking, where he goes into detail about
Speaker 1: his belief that quote the walls of a woman's uterus
Speaker 1: are literally encoded with geometric symbols which act as portals
Speaker 1: end quote, or how he talks about how his client's
Speaker 1: shadows told him he had cancer quote because the client
Speaker 1: hated his job and felt confined in his marriage end quote. Frankly,
Speaker 1: I could go on for days with the amount of
Speaker 1: truly wild conspiracy theories that Derk Verita has released into
Speaker 1: the world, but ultimately his importance to us today only
Speaker 1: begins after his introduction to Martha Louise in two thousand eighteen,
Speaker 1: much to the dismay of the Norwegian press. The couple
Speaker 1: quickly hit it off, so much so that in the
Speaker 1: spring of two thousand nineteen, the couple announced their first
Speaker 1: speaking tour together, which was titled The Princess and the Shaman.
Speaker 1: Now this is where things for the new couple begin
Speaker 1: to take a turn. Predictably, news and media outlets had
Speaker 1: a field day with the couple utilizing the princess's royal
Speaker 1: title in their joint speaking engagement. After all, public engagements
Speaker 1: as a princess on behalf of the Royal House of
Speaker 1: Norway obviously means something vastly different than a seminar on
Speaker 1: spirituality with a clairvoyant princess and her shaman boyfriend. Predictably,
Speaker 1: the Crown did not comment on Martha Louisa's use of
Speaker 1: her title for her and Verett's business ventures, but their
Speaker 1: silence could only last for so long. Following the couple's
Speaker 1: engagement this past June, on November eighth, two thousand twenty two,
Speaker 1: the Royal House of Norway finally released an official statement
Speaker 1: in which they announced Princess Martha Louise would be stepping
Speaker 1: down from all of her remaining royal duties. Quote. Princess
Speaker 1: Martha Louise and Derek Verrett are seeking to distinguish more
Speaker 1: clearly between their activities and their association with the Royal House,
Speaker 1: the statement reads. In the statement, the Royal House also
Speaker 1: seems to finally address the Princess and the Shaman controversy,
Speaker 1: stating quote, in two thousand nineteen, the Princess decided in
Speaker 1: consultation with her family not to use the title of
Speaker 1: princess in connection with her business activity, adding for good measure,
Speaker 1: this principle will now apply to her fiance, Derrick Verrett
Speaker 1: as well. While the Princess still remains fourth in line
Speaker 1: for the throne, behind her brother and his two children,
Speaker 1: it's clear through the Royal House of Norway's statement that
Speaker 1: they are attempting to put some space between Princess Martha
Speaker 1: and drik Verett's beliefs. The final section of their statement
Speaker 1: is fully dedicated to their confidence in the Norwegian Health
Speaker 1: Service and Norwegian health Authorities, a structure based on established
Speaker 1: medical knowledge and scientific research carried out by skilled health
Speaker 1: personnel across the entire health service has resulted in one
Speaker 1: of the world's best health care systems for the benefit
Speaker 1: of everyone in Norway end quote. Similarly, in a joint
Speaker 1: statement made through the Princess's Instagram following her official withdrawal
Speaker 1: from her royal duties. The couple clearly establishes their support
Speaker 1: for what they call the school of Medicine, with Veretts
Speaker 1: adding quote, I am for the school of medicine and
Speaker 1: always have been doubt dot dot. However, I do believe
Speaker 1: we should always use all available resources for health on
Speaker 1: our planet end quote. Then again, this is the same
Speaker 1: man who suggested oncologists prescribe chemotherapy quote to make a
Speaker 1: cool million a year off the patient, assuming he lasts
Speaker 1: that long end quote. So maybe take that pr statement
Speaker 1: with a healthy metric ton of salt. In the wake
Speaker 1: of the statement made by the Royal House of Norway
Speaker 1: this fall, news outlets around the world have been all
Speaker 1: but foaming at the mouth to tell their own versions
Speaker 1: of the story. To be fair, though, there has been
Speaker 1: a vocal contingent of the population that has been aware
Speaker 1: of and adamantly against the Princess's relationship with the shaman
Speaker 1: ever since they went public as a couple back in
Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen. Today, royal institutions are largely meant to
Speaker 1: be symbolic of their country's values. Hence why the late
Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the Second was seen more as a grandmother
Speaker 1: who favored her coregies than any sort of catalyst of
Speaker 1: public change. Royals are at their strongest when they are
Speaker 1: really not people, when their symbols instead of individuals, because
Speaker 1: individuals can have opinions that are wrong. Individuals can be misguided,
Speaker 1: they can fall in love with the wrong people. And
Speaker 1: while the Norwegian monarchy no longer has much of any
Speaker 1: say in how they govern the day to day lives
Speaker 1: of their citizens, it's clear from the royal family's decision
Speaker 1: to have Martha Louise stepped down from the remainder of
Speaker 1: her royal duties that they too wish to project a
Speaker 1: socially conservative image to the public. Though with the princess
Speaker 1: still maintaining her title at their quest of the King,
Speaker 1: only time will tell if her and her fiance's beliefs
Speaker 1: will be able to remain separate from the crown. That
Speaker 1: was a quick minisoda on Princess Martha Louise's engagement to
Speaker 1: Derrick Verett, but stick around to hear how Verett's shamanism
Speaker 1: is reminiscent of another mystic we've covered on this podcast
Speaker 1: in articles analyzing their relationship. Verett has been called everything
Speaker 1: from a con man to a conspiracy theorist. There are
Speaker 1: Reddit threads dedicated to his resemblance to Gregory Resputin, the
Speaker 1: Russian mystic who manipulated his way into the Romanov's inner
Speaker 1: circle with his mystical healing abilities, And if I'm being honest,
Speaker 1: the comparison, at least in my mind, doesn't seem that
Speaker 1: completely off base. If you aren't familiar with the life
Speaker 1: and legendary death of Gregory Rasputin, I highly recommend going
Speaker 1: back to our episode on him from earlier, this called
Speaker 1: Ra Ra Rasboutine. If you have listened, you'll know the
Speaker 1: morally dubious mystic rose to power by praying off the
Speaker 1: beliefs of those, primarily the Czarina of Russia, who were
Speaker 1: desperate for some sort of higher power to heal them or,
Speaker 1: in the case of the Czarina, heal her son's hemophilia. Yes,
Speaker 1: remember when Verett went on Instagram Live to plug his
Speaker 1: spirit Optimizer as a cure for COVID same candy, different rapper.
Speaker 1: But Resputants and Verrett's ideas may seem ridiculous to the
Speaker 1: vast majority of people, But giving credit where credit is due.
Speaker 1: There is no doubt that both problematic figures got to
Speaker 1: be as popular as they are by being charismatic and
Speaker 1: had respued and had the same access to Instagram that
Speaker 1: Derrick Verett does. I have little doubt he also would
Speaker 1: be going on multiple hour long Instagram lives a week
Speaker 1: to preach his rhetoric to the masses. Noble Blood is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild
Speaker 1: from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Sports.
Speaker 1: Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,
Speaker 1: Mirra Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The show is
Speaker 1: produced by rema Il Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thane
Speaker 1: and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.