The Norwegian ex-royal Ari Behn who killed himself on Christmas Day said he felt like a ‘clown’ after the divorce from wife of 15 years Princess Martha Louise – months after she began dating Gwyneth Paltrow’s bisexual ‘spiritual mentor’.
The 47-year-old feared he would die alone and that he was seen as a ‘fool’ and ‘public actor’, he told a Norwegian newspaper in a remarkably open interview a year before he took his life.
The author separated from the fourth in line to the Norwegian throne in 2017, who he had three daughters with called Maud, 16, Leah, 14, and Emma, 11.
Princess Martha has since claimed she has met her ‘twin flame’ shaman Durek Verrett, 44, based in Los Angeles, who she began dating after becoming his client.
The pair have even alleged they met in a past life, claiming he was an Egyptian Pharaoh and she was his Queen.
Ari Behn, pictured with wife of 15 years Princess Martha in Sweden in 2013, also said he was seen as a ‘fool’ and ‘public actor’ in an interview a year before he died
After the divorce in 2017, Princess Martha announced she had started a new relationship with shaman Durek Verrett, who is reportedly best friends with Gwyneth Paltrow, in May this year
The shaman said that when he introduced her to Ms Paltrow they were ‘like sisters’. The pair are pictured together dancing in a field this year. The pair are pictured together in a gushing Instagram post taken at Hamptons, near New York
The shaman is Ms Paltrow’s spiritual mentor and a close friend (They are pictured together)
After the divorce Mr Behn put his heart on paper by writing his last book Inferno, which critics described as ‘oozing with despair and sadness’ as it explored his struggles with mental health, headaches, hallucinations and difficulty breathing.
Promoting the literary work last year, he told Norwegian newspaper VG: ‘I am yesterday’s news, even though the world has not yet been told.
‘I’m a clown, at worst. At best, I am a publicist and a public actor. For many I’m a fool.’
His heartbreaking words came nine years after a candid interview with Massiv magazine, where he predicted he would die alone and become ‘more and more lonely’.
‘I’m going to die without the company of anyone, but without being lonely and bitter,’ he said. ‘It’s like I’m never really able to connect with anyone.’
Detailing his struggles, the former royal also revealed his ‘bad habit’ of drinking from 1.30pm and said it made him worry about his ability to be a good father.
In a heartbreaking interview years earlier, Mr Behn had also predicted he would ‘die alone’ and gradually get more and more lonely (He is pictured with Princess Martha in Sweden in 2015, a year before the pair began divorce proceedings)
The author, whose last book Inferno was described as ‘oozing with despair and sadness’, also said he feared he would not be around to raise his three daughters. He is pictured at their wedding in historic Trondheim cathedral in May 2002
The former royal also previously accused Kevin Spacey of touching him inappropriately at a Nobel Prize banquet in Oslo held in 2007. He is pictured with Princess Martha at a 70th birthday banquet in Sweden, 2016, the same year that they announced their divorce
The artist also caused controversy when he alleged Kevin Spacey had touched his balls under the table at a Nobel Peace Prize banquet in Oslo, held in 2007, during a radio interview held ten years later.
‘We had a nice conversation, he was sat next to me,’ he told radio station P4. ‘After five minutes, he says ‘Hey, let’s go out and have a cigarette’ – and then he touched me right on the balls under the table.’
He stopped the advances by saying ‘eh, maybe later’, he claimed.
He had battled to marry Princess Martha after the pair faced heavy criticism because Mr Behn, a self-styled Bohemian author and artist, was not a traditional partner for a royal.
They married in a lavish ceremony at the historic Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim in 2002 but chose to flee to London ten years later following sustained scrutiny of their married life.
His ex-wife of 15 years new boyfriend is a spiritual mentor of Gwyneth Paltrow, and one of her best friends. They announced their relationship two years after the divorce
The shaman said that when he introduced her to Ms Paltrow they were ‘like sisters’. The pair are pictured together dancing in a field this year
They began divorce proceedings in 2016 because, as Princess Martha said, they had ‘grown apart from one another’ and ‘no longer meet like we did before’.
‘We have tried everything over a long period of time, and when we still can’t meet where we did before, it’s impossible for us to continue,’ she said reports Norway’s News in English.
After the split was finalised in 2017, Princess Martha later began having appointments with Gwyneth Paltrow’s shaman Durek Verrett.
In May this year they announced their relationship, although the pair were seeing each other from as early as February, claims W Magazine, citing an Instagram post from the shaman which said his mother predicted he would one day be made happy by a Norwegian princess.
The pair have been pictured cozying up together on Instagram, at a campaign march in New York and sitting in robes on ‘Planet Earth’ as they prepare to give a webinar on ‘love, life and change on this planet’.
He has even introduced her to the superstar actress and his ‘best friend’, who the princess heralded as a ‘new friend’ with ‘wisdom, strength and vision’ before saying she had an inspiring ‘soft personality and great sense of humour’.
After meeting her shaman boyfriend’s best friend, Princess Martha gushed in an Instagram post that the star has an inspiring ‘soft personality and great sense of humour’
Durek even said that Martha was ‘like a sister’ to Ms Paltrow, after the pair met at star-studded venue The Hamptons near New York.
Revealing her newfound romance, the princess gushed that Durek had ‘made me realise that unconditional love actually exists’ and that he ’embraces all of me without question or fear’ in an Instagram post announcing their relationship.
‘He makes me laugh more than anyone,’ she wrote, ‘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. I love you from this eternity to the next.’
Durek describes himself as a ‘gifted healer’ and ‘spiritual guide’, on his website, who can act as a ‘bridge’ between the ‘spiritual and physical planes’.
The self-proclaimed 6th generation shaman offers £300-an-hour classes to A-list clients to help them achieve a ‘spiritual detox’, with customers including actress Selma Blair and famous singer LeAnn Rimes.
He has also claimed he is best friends with Ms Paltrow, during an interview with The Times, and said she had been an ‘amazing mentor’ and someone he could lean on while the media scrutinised his past relationships.
Tributes have flooded in for Mr Behn since his death with his ex-wife’s parents, Harald V and Queen Sonja, saying they carry ‘warm, fond memories of him’.
‘We grieve that our grandchildren have lost their dear father, and have deep compassion for his parents and siblings, who now have lost their dear son and brother,’ they said.
And in a moving Facebook tribute, Mr Behn’s grieving mother Marianne Behn said her son was taken by the ‘bright shining light’.
‘Dear my beloved favourite boy’, she wrote in a heart-rending post on Facebook, ‘It wasn’t darkness that took you… It was the light that came to meet you.
‘The darkness never took you… it was the bright shining LIGHT merging with you.’
Mr Behn’s manager Geir Hakonsund said after his death was announced, on behalf of his family, that they all have ‘sadness in our hearts’.
‘It is with sadness in our hearts that we, the close relatives of Ari Behn, announce today that he has taken his life,’ they said.
‘We ask for respect for our privacy in the coming time.’
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
Who is ‘spiritual healer’ and ‘bridge’ between the physical and spiritual world shaman Durek Verrett?
Shaman Durek, who is Princess Martha’s boyfriend, pictured arriving in Norway in May this year
Shaman Durek Verrett, 44, claims to be a 6th generation shaman and ‘spiritual healer’ and offers £300-an-hour classes to A-list clients including singer LeAnn Rimes and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
Based in Los Angeles, he claims to be able to act as a ‘bridge’ between the ‘spiritual and physical planes’, on his website, and to be able to help people find ‘success, happiness and healing’.
He also sways he is a ‘gifted guest speaker’ and inspirational teacher, who has worked with a diverse array of public organisations and in areas of conflict.
The jet-setter also has a tour taking in 12 major cities including New York, Dubai, Ibiza, Moscow and London.
His clients include Hollywood celebrities, TV stars, CEOs of US companies, European royalty and housewives.
To prepare for an appointment, his website recommends wearing ‘light colours’ or ‘all white’ and not to eat meat, smoke or drink for 24 hours beforehand.
Shaman Durek at Stavanger, Norway, holding a lecture at the Carlton hotel
He told The Times that his appointments offer people ‘their true self’ and said they are about ‘using and building the power inside you’.
He added that the British have a particular problem because they ‘don’t communicate their real feelings’ which makes them ‘become passive-aggressive and take it out on other people’.