Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Royal Pair: The Un-Fairy Tale Romance
Prince Haakon of Norway may be a direct descendant of Queen Victo-
ria, but he shares little in common with this staunch monarch. Instead
of going to Balliol College in Oxford, as did his father, King Garald V,
Haakon was a fun-loving young man on campus at the University of
California at Berkeley.
When it came to taking a bride, as he did in Oslo on August 25,
2001, he shocked conservative Norway, challenging one of the world's
most tolerant and enlightened societies. Crown Prince Haakon married
Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby (whom he called “the love of my life”), an
unconventional royal pairing. The prince had never been married
before, but the princess and future queen of Norway was a divorcée
and mother. The couple lived together before marriage in the palace
with her 3-year-old son by a previous marriage to a convicted cocaine
supplier.
Before marrying the prince, Mette-Marit had a “well-known past in
Oslo's dance-and-drugs house-party scene,” as the Oslo press so deli-
cately phrased it. It was rumored that pressure was brought on the
young prince by conservative elements to give up a claim to the
throne, eerily evocative of Edward VII's decision to marry the twice-
divorced Wallis Warfield Simpson. It is said that Haakon considered
renouncing the throne, but decided to maintain his status as the heir
apparent. “I think this is where I'm supposed to be,” he finally said to
the press, ending months of speculation.
King Harald was supportive of his son's decision. The future king
himself spent a decade trying to persuade his own father, Olav V, to
sanction his marriage to his commoner childhood sweetheart. (The
present Queen Sonja was born a shopkeeper's daughter.) Olav himself
had also intervened when his daughter, Princess Martha Louise, was
cited as a correspondent in a divorce proceeding in London.
The wedding has come and gone, and there is no talk of revolution
at this “scandal.” As Ine Marie Eriksen, a law student from Tromsø,
explained, “Why should Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit live by rules
of the 18th century? That would take away the very thing that the
Norwegian people like about our monarchy.”
Norway and Sweden. He ordered the construction of this palace, but died before
it was finished. Allot about 20 minutes.
Drammensveien 1. Free admission. Daily dawn-dusk. T-banen: Nationaltheatret.
3 Of Artistic Interest
See also listings for
Vigelandsparken
in Frogner and the
Henie-Onstad Kun-
stsenter (Henie-Onstad Art Center)
near Oslo, both earlier in this chapter.
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art
A 5- to 10-minute walk from
the Oslo City Hall, this museum was created by some of Norway's leading archi-
tects and designers and showcases post-World War II art. The changing exhibits
are often drawn from the museum's permanent collection. Here, you might see
