crown prince of norway

[winoblue1]

I have an opportunity to meet the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway later this year, as part of my work, and was wondering what people here on this site know about them, from a religious or political perspective.

 

I checked out info on them from the web and it seems rather generic. I am assuming that they are protestants, and are basically figure-heads, however the event that we are participating in has something to do with discussions on the EU. I am also assuming they are big fans of it.... but am not sure.

 

Any interesting info on them from the monarchists out there would be appreciated....

 

thanks

[HMiS]

Varus should know, also royalcello!

[royalcello]

Yes, the Norwegian royal family are Lutherans and come from a line which has been Lutheran since the "Reformation."  Like most contemporary royals, they generally keep their political opinions to themselves, though Princess Märtha Louise's husband, who is not technically a member of the royal family, recently caused a stir by declaring his support for the Labour party.   It is probably safe to assume that the Norwegian royals are "centrists" (liberals by traditional Catholic standards) who believe in "tolerance" and "democracy" and all the other things that modern Western people are supposed to believe in.    (I like to hope that there are at least a few royals who secretly don't, but it's hard to tell....)

Crown Princess Mette-Marit, formerly Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, was originally quite controversial--even in liberal Norway--when she became engaged to Crown Prince Haakon, as she had a[n illegitimate] son from a previous relationship and supposedly had a "wild" past involving drugs.   However, since her engagement she seems to have made a sincere effort to repent, reform, and put her past behind her, and is now a hard-working and popular contributing member of the royal family.  I watched their wedding live on Finnish television in August 2001.  In addition to her son Marius, who I think is now about 10, she and Crown Prince Haakon have two children together, Princess Ingrid Alexandra (b. 2004) and Prince Sverre Magnus (b. 2005).

I don't know what websites you looked at, but these might be helpful:
http://www.kongehuset.no/default.asp?lang=eng (official site, in English)
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/royals/ (news articles)
http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/norway.html (genealogy)

[HMiS]

Royalcell',

Believe me: Polish and French nobility generally is not "centrist". Neither ist most of Roman nobility and neither is a lot of Spanish nobility. The rest probably is spoilt and liberal, I fear.

[royalcello]

I'm sure you're correct.  I was talking about reigning royalty (the families of kings), not to be confused with nobility.  Since aristocrats are not generally expected to fulfill official roles representing the entire nation, they have more freedom to hold traditionalist views.

[winoblue1]

Thanks for the info and some background information. I believe that the Prince will be speaking on the EU or the UN or something like this... I will receive more info from the embassy this week, however it always strikes me as odd when royalty, an institution that is ultimately traditional, is used to promote modern liberal democratic causes.

 

It's sad that the traditionalist  viewpoint is not even given the opportunity for public expression and so has become marginalized, even by those that should know what lies in their best interests ie royalty.