Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway

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Mette-Marit
Crown Princess of Norway
Full name Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby
Titles HRH The Crown Princess of Norway
HRH Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
Born August 19, 1973 (1973-08-19) (age 34)
Birthplace Kristiansand, Norway
Consort to Crown Prince Haakon
Issue Ingrid Alexandra (b. 2004)
Sverre Magnus (b. 2005)
Marius (b. 1997)
Royal House House of Oldenburg (Glücksburg branch)
Father Sven O. Høiby
Mother Marit Tjessem

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby in Kristiansand, Norway, on 19 August 1973), is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

Contents

[edit] Background and education

Her Royal Highness is the daughter of journalist Sven O. Høiby and Marit Tjessem, his ex-wife. She has a sister and two older brothers, and grew up in Kristiansand, in the southern part of Norway. She spent many weekends and holidays in the nearby valley of Setesdal and at the seaside, where she learned to sail. During her youth she was active in the local youth club Slettheia, where she was also an activity leader. As a teenager she played volleyball, qualifying as referee and coach.

After starting at Oddernes upper secondary school in Kristiansand, Mette-Marit spent six months at Wangaratta High School located in North East Victoria in Australia, as an exchange student with the exchange organization Youth For Understanding. Later, she attended Kristiansand Katedralskole, where she passed her final examinations in 1994. After another break from her studies, Mette-Marit attended Bjørknes Private School and then took the examen philosophicum (the preliminary university examination) at Agder University College.[1]

By her own admission, Mette-Marit experienced an unconventional phase before she met Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. As a part-time student, she took longer than usual to complete her high school education before going on to take preparatory university courses at Agder. She then worked for a year at a café in Oslo.[citation needed]

In the late 1990's, Mette-Marit frequently attended the Quart Festival, Norway's largest rock festival, in her hometown of Kristiansand. As a result, she met Crown Prince Haakon, since he used to attend the festival as well. They were introduced by mutual friends.[citation needed]

[edit] Courtship and marriage

Styles of
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am
Norwegian Royal Family
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Although King Harald had earlier broken with custom by marrying the commoner Sonja Haraldsen, the relationship between the crown prince and Mette-Marit sparked controversy. Many felt that Mette-Marit's past (which included a relationship with a man convicted on drug charges), her status as an unwed mother, and the couple's choice to live together before being married, would damage the dignity and the image of the Royal Family. Although few expressed personal criticism of Mette-Marit, her introduction into the monarchy led to a debate about the standards for Royalty in Norway. The controversy largely dissipated once the couple were engaged and then married. The new biography on the King revealed that the couple was permitted to live together before marriage for security reasons.[citation needed]

Her first official appearance as the intended bride of the Crown Prince was at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Hall on 10 December 2000, following the announcement of the couple's engagement on 1 December. At the press conference, Crown Prince Haakon said that he and Mette-Marit had been together for about one year. Haakon gave Mette-Marit the same engagement ring as his grandfather King Olav V and his father King Harald V gave to their fiancées.[2]

The couple married on 25 August 2001 at the Oslo Cathedral, Oslo, with attendance of statesmen and royalty from around the world. Upon her marriage she acquired the title Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.[3] They now live at Skaugum estate, outside Oslo.

[edit] Children

Well before her marriage to the Crown Prince, Mette-Marit gave birth, by a previous partner, to a son, Marius Borg Høiby, on 13 January 1997. Marius is now the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon and the elder half-brother of Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. There has been some controversy surrounding the conduct of the press around Marius; in a relatively unusual case of outspokenness, the Crown Princess asked the media to respect her elder son's privacy. In English, he is addressed as Master according to the royal family website. He has not been given a royal or any other title as he is not the Crown Prince's son.[4]

On 21 January 2004, Mette-Marit gave birth to a daughter, HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who became second-in-line to the Norwegian throne after her father, Crown Prince Haakon.

Mette-Marit gave birth to her third child, Prince Sverre Magnus, on 3 December 2005. He is third in the line to the Norwegian throne after his sister, Princess Ingrid Alexandra. However, in the line of succession to the British throne, he is placed before his sister due to the system of male-preference primogeniture.

[edit] Royal duties and further education

In October, 2005, Crown Princess Mette-Marit accompanied Crown Prince Haakon, King Harald and Queen Sonja to the United Kingdom on a royal tour to mark the centenary of Norway's independence.

During 2002 and 2003, the Princess undertook development studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, apparently without graduating. She was also accepted as an intern at NORAD, the Norwegian government's development organization. At present, Mette-Marit is attending lectures at the faculties of arts and social sciences at the University of Oslo.

The Crown Princess is a UNAIDS Special Representative and visited Geneva to learn more about the organisation and Malawi because of this post. In 2007 the Crown Princess extended her commitment as a UNAIDS Special Representative for another two years.[5] The Crown Princess and her husband attended the International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August of 2006 as part of this role. [6]

Along with UNAIDS, the Crown Princess is president of various other organizations. They are the The Norwegian Scouting Association, the Amandus Film Festival, Kristiansand's International Children's Film Festival, Risor Festival of Chamber Music, FOKUS Forum for Women and Development Questions, Norwegian Design Council, Red Cross Norway, The Norwegian Council for Mental Health, the Full Rigged Ship Sorlandet, and the Oslo International Church Music Festival.

Since her engagement, the Crown Princess has traveled to Luxembourg, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Canada, Russia, North Korea, Portugal, Monaco, France, Austria, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Poland, Switzerland, India, Thailand, the Netherlands, Japan, Jordan, Bahrain, Nepal and Malawi.

She is godmother to two royal children, Prince Christian of Denmark, and Prince Odysseas-Kimon of Greece and Denmark.

[edit] Humanitarian Fund

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess' Humanitarian Fund was established in 2001 in connection with the wedding of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. The couple announced that they wished for donations to the fund as wedding gifts. The fund allocates funds to humanitarian projects in Norway and abroad. In Norway the fund mainly focuses on projects aimed at improving conditions for children and young people. Abroad the fund mainly focuses on projects related to health and education.

[edit] Grant recipients

  • 2006
  • The Church City Mission: A youth project directed by the PMV Centre for health, dialogue and development (Oslo, Norway)
  • The AIDS Centre, “Project Bus”, Patrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, Russia
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003
  • Norwegian People’s Aid project ”Følgesvennen”, providing companions and provisional guardians to asylum seekers (Asker, Norway)
  • Norwegian Red Cross project “Leksehjelpen”, offering help with homework to pupils from minority backgrounds (Oslo, Norway)
  • 2002
  • National Community of Women Living with Aids (Uganda)
  • Education through Sport (Zambia)
  • 2001
  • The Vard Model (Haugesund, Norway)
  • Basic education in Alefa Takusa (Ethiopia)
  • Prevention of HIV/AIDS (Mozambique)

[7]

[edit] Patronages

[8]

[edit] Titles

  • Miss Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby (1973-2000)
  • Her Royal Highness, The Crown Princess of Norway (Since 2000)

[edit] Mette Marit's past

When the engagement between Crown Prince Haakon and Mette Marit was announced, many Norwegians felt that the Crown Prince’s choice of partner was inappropriate.[9] This was primarily connected to her being a single mother, but information concerning her involvement in the Rave music party scene in Oslo also added to the controversy.[citation needed] In a heartfelt press conference before the wedding, the Crown Princess explained about her past, among other things saying that her youth revolt might have been stronger than that of most young people.[citation needed] The issue of Mette-Marit's past has now been laid to rest in Norwegian public discourse.[citation needed]

[edit] Honors

[10]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Biography HRH Crown Princess Mette Marit
  2. ^ Royal News December 2000
  3. ^ Press release
  4. ^ Master Marius Borg Høiby biography at kongehuset.no, the official website of the Norwegian Royal House
  5. ^ UNAIDS web page on the Crown Princess Retrieved 9 November 2007
  6. ^ Article from UNAIDS home page on her appointment as Special Representative
  7. ^ Royal House web page on the Fund Retrieved 7 November 2007
  8. ^ Royal House web page on the Crown Princess' patronages REtieved 7 November 2007
  9. ^ Profile of HRH Crown Princess Mette Marit from Hello Magazine
  10. ^ Royal House web page on Crown Princess Mette-Marit's decorations (Norwegian) Retrieved 5 November 2007