Norwegian royal turmoil: Durek Verrett's health battles revealed
The husband of Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise has released a statement detailing serious health issues. Durek Verrett confessed that he lost a transplanted kidney, and complications worsened following a media frenzy instigated by a tabloid.
Things aren't going well for the Norwegian royal family. Princess Mette-Marit is soon to undergo heart surgery, and King Harald V is also complaining of increasingly poor health. Princess Märtha Louise's husband is facing equally serious problems.
Derek Verrett stated in his announcement that he lost a kidney that his sister had donated to him years ago. As a result, he has to visit the hospital three times a week for exhausting dialysis treatments.
I now undergo dialysis three times a week just to stay alive. These attacks haven't just hurt emotionally. They've made that fight harder, he confessed.
The beloved of the aristocrat explained exactly what attacks he meant. Some time ago, the newspaper "Se og Hør" published his nude photograph, which he claims was stolen. Additionally, the magazine accused the 50-year-old of sexually assaulting his former manager, the Swede Joachim Boström.
I've been relentlessly targeted by Norwegian media, Se og Hør in particular, for the past six years. I’ve been portrayed in ways that have deeply harmed my health, my character, my reputation, my business, and the people I love, my family and friends, he declared.
The husband of Märtha Louise (they married in 2024) added that he "has never attacked anyone" and that all accusations are unfounded and result from a "planned strategy" by the media, which "targeted him."
The Norwegian Press Ethics Commission agreed with him, indicating that the tabloid "Se og Hør" broke the rules of integrity twice—in publishing the intimate photo and presenting allegations without substantiating them with evidence.
Husband of Norwegian princess was on dialysis for 8 years
Durek Verrett had been struggling with health issues since childhood. He was prone to infections and had high blood pressure. He was diagnosed with kidney failure at age 28. He spent two months in the hospital, in a coma.
Later, he was on dialysis for another 8 years. In 2012, his sister Angela donated her kidney to him, allowing him to return to normal function. If his current health condition permits, the man will be placed on the list for a transplant from a deceased donor.
