According to court documents, the defendants are not distant critics offering commentary from the outside. Instead, the lawsuit alleges that the accused individuals—comprising former intimate partners, trusted business associates, and even a family member—took private access once afforded to them and weaponized it against the royal and her spouse.
The legal filing outlines a coordinated series of public attacks utilizing confidential communications, disputed accusations, and claimed insider knowledge. This sensitive information was reportedly deployed to target Princess Märtha Louise, Verrett, and Verrett’s company, Ohana, causing significant reputational and personal harm. According to reports from the Norwegian newspaper VG, the compensation claims total in excess of $80m.
The explosive lawsuit arrives during an intensely challenging and turbulent period for the Norwegian royal family, which has found itself navigating a cascade of historic losses, medical crises, and public scandals over recent months.
The royal household was profoundly shaken in August by the death of King Harald at the age of 89, an event that left a stormy succession and transitioned the crown to his son, Crown Prince Haakon, who is Princess Märtha Louise’s brother. The family’s grief was compounded just days later by the death of King Harald’s sister, Princess Astrid, who passed away at the age of 94 just two days after attending the late monarch’s state funeral in September.
Simultaneously, the royal family has faced severe scrutiny over separate domestic controversies. Revelations emerged regarding Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s past friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Compounding these difficulties, the crown princess’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, was found guilty of two counts of rape in June. Adding to the family’s trials, Queen Mette-Marit, who lives with pulmonary fibrosis, underwent a major lung transplant earlier that same year.
Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett have themselves been no strangers to intense media attention and public scrutiny in recent years. In 2023, prior to her marriage to Verrett—who identifies as a sixth-generation shaman—the princess formally renounced her official royal duties to focus full-time on the couple’s alternative medicine and wellness business ventures. Their unconventional path to marriage was further spotlighted last year when they starred in a Netflix documentary titled Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story, which chronicled their relationship in the face of public skepticism.
The newly surfaced court documents filed in Los Angeles detail how an alleged campaign of incessant misconduct began years ago, but significantly continued and escalated through 2025 and 2026.
The legal filing poignantly notes the heavy personal toll exacted on the plaintiffs during this timeframe. The documents cite significant medical and personal hardships, including Verrett’s serious kidney failure, intensive dialysis treatments, subsequent health deterioration, and a recent kidney transplant, alongside Princess Märtha Louise’s grief following the loss of her father.
Although the couple expressed a clear preference to devote this difficult period entirely to their health, family, grief, and recovery, their legal representation emphasized that the timing of the lawsuit was strictly dictated by applicable legal deadlines. The plaintiffs were forced to proceed at an unfortunate time in order to preserve their legal claims and protect their rights regarding publications and conduct that occurred across 2025 and 2026.
The lawsuit underscores the deeply intimate nature of the relationships the defendants once shared with the couple. Far from being uninvolved observers, the accused were welcomed directly into Verrett’s private life, family relationships, private communications, client-related affairs, and core business operations under umbrellas of trust, confidence, and professional responsibility.
Richard Roth, the couple’s US-based attorney, told the newspaper VG regarding the rationale behind the legal maneuver: “Our clients’ reputations have been judged by the public for years. Now the facts will be tested in a court of law.”
Court schedules indicate that preliminary hearings for the high-profile case are slated in Los Angeles for December. Representatives for the Norwegian royal palace and spokespeople for Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett have been contacted for further comment.
