A new poll shows that the vast majority of Norwegians hold most of their royals in high regard.
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In a poll made by MMI for Dagbladet shows that 93 per cent of those asked said King Harald V is doing a good job for Norway, while only 1 percent think otherwise.
Queen Sonja got an 81 percent approval rating, while Crown Prince Haakon received an 89 percent approval and 75 percent believe Crown Princess Mette-Marit is doing a good job.
“This clearly shows that the royal family is rock solid in the Norwegian people,” the long-standing court reporter Kjell Arne Totland said.
The one member of the Norwegian royal family who got low approval rating was Princess Martha Louise. Only 25 percent think she does a good job for the country while 27 percent think she does not. Another 43 percent believe she does an OK job.
At the same time, only 15 percent believe her when she says she communicates to angels and the deceased.
Martha Louise’s husband, Ari Behn, who is not an official member of the royal family, received a low approval rating. 57 percent of Norwegians see him as doing a poor job for the country.
Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, began their tour of Scandinavia Tuesday by traveling to Oslo, Norway. Their tour of the region is part of the Diamond Jubilee celebration for Queen Elizabeth II.
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A Clarence House spokesman said prior to the visits: “The Prince and Duchess are deeply touched by the invitations from the sovereigns of Norway, Sweden and Denmark to visit their countries and to celebrate with them Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.”
Their Royal Highnesses landed in Oslo and were greeted by Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who introduced them to local dignitaries before whisking them away to the royal palace.
At the palace, Their Majesties, King Harald V and Queen Sonja were there to greet Charles and Camilla. A welcoming ceremony took place, and it was during that event that a soldier fainted and had to be carried away.
After the welcoming ceremony, Charles and Camilla went to Oslo’s National Monument at Akershus Fortress to lay wreaths.
Later, the Prince of Wales met with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg for a private meeting. It is believed they discussed agriculture and marine sustainability, topics both men are passionate about.
After that, Charles and Camilla were given a tour of the Nobel Peace Center by the King and Queen. It was there that the couple met with survivors of last July’s attacks in Oslo and Utøya Island.
Camilla said to a group of the survivors: “Have you been back? You’ve all been back.
“It was very brave of you.”
The Duchess also told the survivors, “The most important thing is to be able to talk about it, and talking to each other, between yourselves.”
In the evening, the Norwegian royal family held a state banquet for their British guests. Both royal houses are joined by blood, in a way. Norway’s first modern King, Haakon VII, was married to Princess Maud, the daughter of Britain’s Edward VII and thus a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Source: Press Association, AP, Views and News from Norway
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit was all smiles Monday as she inaugurated the Stella Red Cross women’s center in Oslo. She had been part of the center’s construction and planning, so she had every reason to be delighted to see it open.
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“It’s great fun for us who are allowed to work in this group to see that it becomes reality. It’s a great day for me and a great day for the Red Cross, which has put a great effort for this to become a reality,” said the Crown Princess after the formal opening of the center was over.
The Stella women’s center aims to help minority women, and others, with their self development, self-realization and to increase their participation in society.
“Norway has much to gain from unused resources of immigrant women,” Her Royal Highness pointed out.
Beginning in 2008, Mette-Marit began doing her part to see the project come to life. It was she who chose the design of the center after being shown drawings from the head of the Oslo Red Cross, Randi Hammer Power.
Monday had Mette-Marit tour Stella, along with the project manager Marianne Bockelie, volunteer and participants Iryna Hoxhaj and Fatima Hassan. The mayor of Oslo, Fabian Stang, conducted the opening ceremony.
The Crown Princess then sat down with the women involved with Stella and had a chat with them.
The center is open for volunteers, and service is free.
Mette-Marit is encouraging Oslo residents to volunteer at Stella, and added that she will try to do the same herself.
“I hope that I may be out soon so I can spend some proper time to sit down and get really good conversations,” she said.
Friday saw Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway visit the UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. She was there for an online town hall meeting on CrowdOutAIDS, in which 5,000 young people worldwide are working online to fight the illness.
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During the meeting, Mette-Marit, along with Medha Sharma, Manuel Rosas-Vázquez and UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibé went online for a video conference with some of the youths involved in CrowdOutAIDS. They answered questions submitted through Facebook and Twitter, as well as chat with those involved in Canada and Nigeria.
For the next five weeks, young people involved will work online and offline to create a strategy for UNAIDS to be more effective with the youth of the world.
“Creating a space of young people to have real decision-making power and influence has always been an issue close to my heart,” said Mette-Marit. “I am so happy to see that this agenda taken seriously by UNAIDS.”
Her Royal Highness has been a UNAIDS goodwill ambassador since 2006.
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit was in Frankfurt, Germany Wednesday to open an exhibition of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. The exhibit, called “The Modern Eye”, is at Schirn Kunsthalle, and will run from February 9 to May 13.
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Her Royal Highness toured the exhibit and gave a speech praising Munch, who is probably best known for the haunting painting, “The Scream”.
“We are celebrating a painter who put the individual the center stage,” said the Crown Princess. “Who showed us what it means to be human in all our complexity. A painter who has inspired artists all over the world with his timeless work.
“This 120 years long journey is worth bearing in mind when we look at, and judge, contemporary art.”
Mette-Marit also quoted Munch, by saying: “I do not believe in art that does not force its way to the surface through man’s need two open historical heart. All art, literature and music must be created from the artist’s life blood. Art is our life blood.”
After being shown at Schirn Kunsthalle, this exhibit will move to the Tate Modern in London.
With the 42nd World Economic Forum taking place in Davos, Switzerland, many of the world’s who’s who are gathering there to discuss ways to make the world a better place. Among them are a few of Europe’s royals – the Norwegian Crown Princely couple, Belgium’s Princess Mathilde and Dutch Princess Mabel.
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Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are in Davos mainly to promote Haakon’s Young Global Leaders (YGL), which he has been involved in since it’s beginnings in 2005. But Mette-Marit took the time to chat with the press and explain to them why she recently set up her own Twitter account.
“I think Twitter is a fantastic opportunity to spread information about the exciting projects taking place around the world, especially driven by young people,” she said.
The Crown Prince does not yet have his own Twitter account, but said he might start one. “I think I’m quite active as I am. We’ll see if I get my own account. We have the joint account. Maybe I have my own later if I want.”
In addition, Mette-Marit praised Microsoft founder Bill Gates for donating nearly $1 billion to the GAVI Alliance, which gives vaccines to people in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We’re very concerned about global health. And now, Bill Gates once again placed a very good focus on this health care,” said Mette-Marit.
She also mentioned how exciting Davos can be as it draws people from all over the world to participate. “It was incredibly exciting to hear their perspectives on the world situation today. And I could have the opportunity to give them advice on how to use the World Economic Forum to promote their projects.”
Meanwhile, Princess Mathilde of Belgium is at Davos. She sat alongside the Norwegian royals during Angela Merkel’s speech Wednesday.
Also at Davos is Princess Mabel, the wife of Holland’s Prince Friso. She also has a Twitter account and has been tweeting her experiences at WEF. Among them, listening to U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon point out that thousands of women still die in childbirth worldwide. Mabel voiced her dismay over that, saying “These are unacceptable, unnecessary deaths.”
January 21st marks Norway’s Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 8th birthday. The young girl who is second in line to the throne is celebrating her big day quietly with friends and family.
To mark this occasion, the Norwegian royal court released four new photos of the little Princess, taken by Julia Naglestad.
At the same time, Ingrid Alexandra’s mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who recently joined Twitter, shared a poem by Wislawa Szymborska to her followers. To read the poem, click here
Ingrid Alexandra is a student at Jansløkka Elementary School, where she’s been going to since 2010. She is slowly taking part in official engagements with her parents.
Norway’s Crown Princely couple started off 2012 by attending the opening of the NHO – Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise – conference at the opera house in Oslo.
The conference is an annual meeting where leaders in the private and public sector, politicians, academics and experts meet to lecture and debate the future of Norwegian businesses.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were introduced to Marit Foss upon arriving at the opera house. Foss is the general manager of the plumbing company Sverre Foss AS.
“The couple were very interested in business issues. We were four managers of small family-owned businesses had the pleasure to meet during one of the breaks, and both Mette-Marit and Haakon liked to hear about what we are doing,” Foss explained.
“Both are obviously very concerned that young people will succeed in completing their education, and we have on several occasions taken on apprentices who have had little trouble getting their lives in order. This benefits the business, youth and community.”
Among the topics to be gone over at the NHO conference is the economic crisis and the country’s aging population.
The Norwegian royal family are the latest to release Christmas photos this year. In the past, themes included playing outdoors and building a gingerbread house.
For 2011, this theme was simple. Queen Sonja read How The Snow Got Color by Dan Lindholm to her two grandchildren, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. The Princess, who will be 8 next month, listened intently while her 6 year old brother was more interested in the large Christmas tree behind them.
The Queen and Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore traditional Norwegian clothing for the photo shoot.
For Christmas this year, King Harald V and Sonja will join Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit at their home outside Oslo at Skaugum Palace.
In front of the Norwegian royals, three women jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Saturday.
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King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit watched as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee, also from Liberia, and Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakkul Karman, were given the prestigious prize.
Sirleaf and Gbowee won for their works on democracy in Africa while Karman won for her role in this year’s Arab Spring.
“You give concrete meaning to the Chinese proverb which says that ‘women hold up half the sky,’” said Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. “That was why, when giving its reasons for this year’s award, the Nobel committee stated that “we cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women acquire the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.’ We thank you for the hope you awaken in us all.”
Prior to the ceremony, the women met with the King and Queen.
Yesterday, the three laureates met with Norwegian children at an meeting organized by the Save the Children Foundation. Together with Crown Princess Mette-Marit, the women talked to the children about making the world a better place.
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“When there is war and conflict, there are mothers and children who suffer most. When I see children affected by conflict and suffering, I am angry. But in the mind I am inspired to work harder for peace,” said Leymah Gbowee.
“It is difficult for children to live with years of conflict,” said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “Some people lack clean drinking water, access to health care and the opportunity to get an education. Our focus has been to focus on children and provide education. But the most important was to get children to smile. And I am pleased to say that children now smiling again.”
Tawakkul Karman said simply, “The world must be built with love and respect. We must stop the hate.”
Besides receiving the medal, Nobel Peace winners also take home $1.5 million. These three women will split the prize money.
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