Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
|
|
Kronprinsessen.jpg
Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Norway (born Mette-Marit Tjessem-Høiby in Kristiansand, Norway, on August 19, 1973) is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, whom she married on August 25, 2001. She is the most controversial member of the Norwegian royal family, due to a readily admitted past that involved a relationship with a convicted felon and an out-of-wedlock child.
The crown princess is a daughter of journalist Sven O. Høiby and his former wife, Marit Tjessem. She has a sister and two elder brothers and grew up in Kristiansand in the southern part of Norway. Weekends and holidays were spent in the nearby valley of Setesdal and at the seaside, where she learned to sail. During her youth she spent a lot of time at the local youth club Sletteheia, where she was also an active leader. As a teenager she played a good deal of volleyball, where she also acted as referee and coach.
After starting at Oddernes upper secondary school in Kristiansand, The crown princess spent six months at Wangaratta High School in Australia, as an exchange student. On moving back to Norway, she attended Kristiansand Katedralskole, where she passed her final examinations in 1994. After a break from her studies, Crown Princess Mette-Marit attended Bjørknes Private School for a while, and then took examen philosophicum (the preliminary university examination) at Agder College.
Before marrying Crown Prince Haakon, she led what she has herself termed an extrovert life. As a part-time student, she spent many years to complete her high school education before going on to take preparatory university courses at Agder Regional College. She then worked for a year at a café in Oslo.
Mette-Marit gave birth to a son, Marius Borg Høiby, on January 13, 1997; the father was her then boyfriend, Morten Borg, a convicted drug dealer. At the time it became known that the crown prince intended to marry a single mother who was a commoner with a checkered history, many Norwegians complained that Mette-Marit's background made her unfit to be a member of the royal family, let alone a future queen.
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. The crown princess is interested in art and culture, especially literature and music. She also has a strong social commitment.
During 2002 and 2003 she studied development studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She was also accepted as an intern at NORAD, the Norwegian government's development organization. At present the Crown Princess is attending lectures at the faculties of arts and social sciences at the University of Oslo.
On January 21, 2004, Mette-Marit gave birth to a daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who became second in line to the Norwegian throne after her father, the crown prince.
Mette-Marit and Haakon are expecting their second child in December 2005.
External links
- Official biography (http://www.kongehuset.no/dt_kongehuset_allAtOnce.asp?ogid=25&mgid=21&gid=99&aid=)de:Mette-Marit