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Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway

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Mette-Marit
Crown Princess of Norway
The Crown Princess at the Wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden, June 2013
Born (1973-08-19) 19 August 1973 (age 51)
Kristiansand, Norway
SpouseHaakon, Crown Prince of Norway
(m. 2001)
IssueMarius Borg Høiby
Princess Ingrid Alexandra
Prince Sverre Magnus
HouseHouse of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
FatherSven O. Høiby
MotherMarit Tjessem
ReligionChristianity

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (née Tjessem Høiby; born 19 August 1973 in Kristiansand, Norway), is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne of Norway.

A Norwegian commoner and a single mother with a rebellious past, she was a controversial figure at the time of her engagement to Haakon in 2000. She became crown princess of Norway upon her marriage in 2001. As such, she has championed humanitarian projects and arts, as well as taking part in official visits at home and abroad.

Background and education

Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby was born in Kristiansand, Norway, daughter of Sven O. Høiby, who worked as a journalist in a local paper, and Marit Tjessem. Her parents divorced, and her father would later marry Renate Barsgård. She has a sister and two older brothers; her stepbrother Trond Berntsen—by her mother's 1994 marriage to Rolf Berntsen—died in the 2011 Norway attacks. She 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 organisation 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.

By her own admission, Mette-Marit experienced a rebellious 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 Cafe Engebret in Oslo.

In the late 1990s, Mette-Marit attended the Quart Festival, Norway's largest rock festival, in her hometown of Kristiansand. She met Crown Prince Haakon at a garden party during the Quart Festival season. Years later, after becoming a single mother she met the prince again at another party related to the festival.

Since becoming Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undertaken several university level courses. In 2012, she obtained a master's degree in Executive Management.

Engagement and marriage

See also: Wedding of Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby
Styles of
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
Reference styleHer Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Royal Highness
Alternative styleMa'am
Norwegian royal family
* Member of the Norwegian Royal House

When the engagement between Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit was announced, some Norwegians felt that the Crown Prince’s choice of partner was questionable because of her previous socialization in a milieu "where drugs were readily available". At the time of their engagement, Mette-Marit was a single mother to a son named Marius Borg Høiby, born 13 January 1997.

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, 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.

The couple married on 25 August 2001 at the Oslo Cathedral. Upon her marriage she acquired the title Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. They now live at Skaugum estate, outside Oslo.

The couple has two children together:

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 Crown 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. 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 organization and Malawi because of this post. In 2007 the Crown Princess extended her commitment as a UNAIDS Special Representative for another two years. The Crown Princess and her husband attended the International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006 as part of this role, serving as Jury member to the UNAIDS family-led Red Ribbon Award.

Along with UNAIDS, the Crown Princess is president of various other organisations. They are 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.

On December 2008, she received the Annual Petter Dass award, which recognises a person that helps to unite people and God. Mette-Marit released the CD Sorgen og gleden with religious psalms: the Crown Princess wrote in the booklet "psalms are a link between me and God, between me and life".

She is godmother to

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.

Grant recipients

  • 2008
  • Fundación Xochiquetzal Fundasion Šusital, Nicaragua
  • 2007
  • The good childhood: A collaboration between the Norwegian municipality Karasjok and Lovozero municipality in Russia
  • 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”, Petrozavodsk, 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)

Patronages

She is a patron of:

Honours

See also List of honours of the Norwegian Royal Family by country

As mentioned on her official website page, Mette-Marit has received the following honours and decorations (° = on official page):

National orders and decorations

Foreign orders

References

  1. "Hylles av Kristen-Norge - VG Nett om Kongehuset". Vg.no. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  2. "Snakket om død og kjærlighet i Nidarosdomen - VG Nett om Kongehuset". Vg.no. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  3. Nygaard, Fridtjof (3 November 2005). "Sven O. married today". Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  4. "Norway's royal family touched by tragedy: Crown Princess's step-brother was killed in island gun massacre". Daily Mail. London. 25 July 2011.
  5. Biography HRH Crown Princess Mette Marit
  6. Steven Erlanger (15 October 2011). "Again in Norway, Events Provide Test for a King's Mettle,". New York Times.
  7. ^ Birkeland, Monika B. (22 August 2006). "Ingen skandaler i Mette-Marit-dokumentar". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  8. August 2, 2012 (2 August 2012). "Mette-Marit gets her master's : Views and News from Norway". Newsinenglish.no. Retrieved 25 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. "Latest news and profile of Crown Princess Mette-Marit". hellomagazine.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  10. "Royal News: December 2000". Nettyroyal.nl. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  11. "Press release". Archived from the original on 3 June 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  12. "Latest news and profile of Crown Princess Mette-Marit". hellomagazine.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  13. "About UNAIDS". Unaids.org. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  14. "Feature stories - 2006". Unaids.org. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  15. "Ceremonia Oficial De Bienvenida De Sus Altezas Reales Haakon Magnus Y Mette-marit (Official welcoming ceremony of Their Royal Highnesses Haakon and Mette-marit)". youtube.com. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  16. "Godmothers and Godfathers". royaldish.com. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  17. "The Crown Prince and Crown Princess' Foundation". kongehuset.no. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  18. "Organisations under the patronage of The Crown Princess". kongehuset.no. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  19. "The Decorations of HRH The Crown Princess". kongehuset.no. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  20. - website typischich.at
  21. "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (pdf) (in German). p. 1811. Retrieved November 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
  22. "DOU 06/09/2007 - Pág. 7 - Seção 1 - Diário Oficial da União" (in Template:Pt icon). Jusbrasil.com.br. Retrieved 25 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  23. State visit of Bulgaria, Photos
  24. Estonian State Decorations, Kroonprintsess Mette Marit - website of the President of Estonia (Estonian)
  25. "Noblesse & Royautés » Dîner en l'honneur du président de Finlande au palais royal d'Oslo". Noblesseetroyautes.com. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  26. "Photograph". Noblesseetroyautes.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  27. Italian Presidency website, Mette-Marit
  28. "State Visit from Japan - Page 3". The Royal Forums. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  29. "Photograph". Cdn.theroyalforums.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  30. "Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentė". Lrp.lt. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  31. Photo of a State visit of Lithuania to Norway, March 2011
  32. Norwegian Royal Family Website, State visit of Luxembourg in Norway (05/2011), Group photo
  33. Scanpix, State visit of Beatrix in Norway, 06/2010, Group photo
  34. Portuguese presidential website, Orders search form
  35. Boletín Oficial del Estado
  36. "Noblesse et Royautés", Guests to Victoria of Sweden's wedding, Photo

External links

Norwegian princesses
Generations are numbered from the ascension of Haakon VII as King of Norway in 1905.
1st generation
2nd generation
3rd generation
4th generation
Princess of Norway by marriage
Lost her title as Norwegian princess by birth before the ascension of Haakon VII to the throne

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