As if the Norwegian princess wasn’t cute enough, she is now singing in a new video, seen at Diez Minutos TV (Haakon isn’t bad, either!).

Image via Wikipedia

The Royal Representative would like to congratulate Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway! Today the couple celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

It was announced that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon was engaged to Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby on December 1st, 2000. They married the following year on August 25th. It was the first major royal wedding since the marriage of Haakon’s parents, then-Crown Prince Harald and the former Sonja Haraldsen in 1968. Like Mette-Marit, Sonja was also a commoner.

Haakon met his future bride at a music festival in Kristiansand, a city on the south coast of Norway (and Mette-Marit’s birthplace). Haakon was immediately enraptured, and they became a couple soon after.

King Harald and Queen Sonja were supportive of the relationship, if not their cohabitation.  The king and queen remembered their own struggle to be together: Harald had to wait nearly a decade before his father, the late King Olav V, allowed Sonja into the royal family. Olav was not pleased with the idea of marriage between his son and a commoner. Harald had to throw down the gauntlet: either he married Sonja, or he would never marry. Since he was Olav’s only son and immediate heir, the king relented.

Unlike her future mother-in-law, however, the striking blonde Mette-Marit came to the royal family with what has been described as “an unconventional past”. Some of her friends were reportedly involved with drugs and “a criminal environment,” according to police reports. Mette-Marit had been known to attend parties where drugs were used. Police and security believed that this would put a strain on the monarchy.

Mette-Marit also had a child, Marius, out of wedlock with a man who was convicted of cocaine possession.

Haakon had to face the pressure of the media and the nation when he proposed to Mette-Marit. When her past was revealed, most Norwegians didn’t mind that Mette-Marit was a single mother, but they were not amused about the drugs and the underground party scene in which she had participated.

Haakon was steadfast in his devotion to his fiancee and knew that she would be a good and worthy member of the royal family, and wanted the people of Norway to know it, too.  With Haakon at her side, Mette-Marit acknowledged her past during a press conference just days before the wedding. She publicly apologized for living what she described as “quite a wild life”.

They have been by each other’s side ever since.

“What we two found together was so strong that I could not let it go,” said Haakon in an interview.

Mette-Marit entered the Oslo Cathedral on Haakon’s arm, another small break with tradition. She was an absolute vision in her bridal finery, which was devastatingly beautiful in its simplicity. The ecru-colored gown was a collaboration between the bride herself, designer Ove Harder Finseth, and seamstress Anna Bratland. It was made of thick silk crêpe and soft silk tulle with a 6.5 foot train, a corset waist, and a square neckline with long, tailored sleeves.  Her blonde hair was styled in a classic chignon, topped with a diamond bandeau tiara, a gift from King Harald and Queen Sonja. From the tiara flowed a 19-foot veil of silk tulle.

Instead of the usual bridal bouquet, Mette-Marit carried a stream of flowers worn on her wrist as a muff. It was comprised of rosary vine, Wanda orchids, hydrangeas, roses, bear grass, and beads interwoven on metal threads.

The prince was dashing in his black uniform of the Norwegian Army, complete with Norway’s red and blue sash.

Haakon gave Mette-Marit the engagement ring worn by both his grandmother and his mother.  He then slipped the white gold wedding band over her finger, and they were pronounced husband and wife. Norway gained a new Crown Princess.

Pivotal Role

After their wedding, Mette-Marit  dove into her role as Crown Princess by getting actively involved in HIV/AIDS-related work. A few years later she was appointed Special Representative for UNAIDS. Two years later she was invited by UNAIDS to participate in strategic planning of the future AIDS response. In 2010,  the princess was appointed Young Global Leader under the World Economic Forum. In addition to these activities, the princess promotes Norwegian trade and industry, architecture and design, education and humanitarian initiatives.

Mette-Marit has made a graceful and intelligent transition from new princess to a true, dyed-in-the-wool Crown Princess of Norway, future Queen.  She has provided two heirs to the Norwegian throne: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, born January 21, 2004 and Prince Sverre Magnus, born December 3, 2005.  Her son Marius, born January 13,1997, has been adopted by Crown Prince Haakon in all but name. His obvious love and care for Marius has been evident ever since he has been with Mette-Marit.

Again I say, many congratulations to the Crown Prince and Princess, and here’s to the continued happy success of their family, and the Norwegian Royal Family!

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If you have ‘tweens’ or teenagers, chances are you’ve heard the term “BFFs”. The catchy abbreviation stands for “Best Friends Forever”, a term that’s taken seriously by some of Europe’s royals.

Take the Scandinavian troika of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria: all three are close friends and, like most European royals, are distantly related through Britain’s Queen Victoria.

These three all have close ties with one another, as they share a unique position of being the heir to a throne. The burden is eased knowing that they can talk and share ideas with someone who understands the pressures. Both Frederik and Haakon have always regarded Victoria as a “lillesøster” (little sister), attending royal ceremonies and performing official duties together whenever they can.

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“We share experiences from travel, and talk together on complex issues where we need to exchange ideas,” says Princess Victoria.

“We always have a really nice time together. Meeting points are obviously not as frequent as you want. Full calendars sometimes prevent you from being united, but I am very fond of both the Crown Princes and grateful for their support.”

One of their joint outings occurred when Frederik, Haakon, and Victoria visited the Antarctic as patrons of the International Polar Year, a project which allowed them to schedule working time together. They all have a keen interest in the environment and are usually seen together for such causes. In December 2009, they spent time in Frederik’s homeland of Denmark, where they attended the opening of the Bright Green Expo in Copenhagen.

Previously, Victoria was the only unmarried royal among the group, and would often accompany her princely “brothers” and their wives at royal functions. Now Victoria is escorted by Daniel Westling, her fiance, who will become a royal prince and the Duke of Västergötland upon their marriage on June 19th. The Crown Princess will walk down the aisle the same day her parents married in 1976.

The Scandinavian triumvirate are so close that Victoria was named godmother to Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Christian, the eldest children of Prince Haakon and Prince Frederik, respectively.

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The Crown Princesses of the Netherlands and Belgium are close friends through their royal husbands. Even their countries are intertwined. Belgium was once a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but gained independence in 1830. Both nations remain close allies.

Princess Maxima of the Netherlands and BFF Princess Mathilde carry out several engagements for their respective countries, but try to make it a joint effort as much as possible.

Many say that the pair work ‘seamlessly‘ when they attend events together. The opening of a new museum in Leven, Belgium, was no exception: Maxima and Mathilde smiled and greeted the crowds with warm enthusiasm and clearly enjoyed each other’s company as well.

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Mathilde and Maxima have a lot in common. Close in age, they both married heirs of thrones; both women are university-educated; they speak several languages fluently; and both were successful career women when they met their husbands.

Argentine-born Maxima was working at the New York branch of Germany’s Deutsche Bank when she began dating Prince Willem-Alexander. Mathilde was employed as a speech therapist when she met her future husband, Prince Philippe, during a casual game of tennis.

The pair of princesses also share a love of being hands-on, attentive mothers. Maxima has three girls and Mathilde has two boys and two girls. Mathilde is godmother to Maxima’s middle daughter, Princess Alexia.

Add your favorite royal pairings in the comments below!

Yet another wonderfully adorable royal child: Norway’s Princess Ingrid-Alexandra, who is right on par with Princess Amalia in the personality stakes!

Ingrid-Alexandra’s 3rd birthday

Here’s a handy list in chronological order. There have been so many royal babies, and there’s more to come… it’s hard to keep track of them all:

October 25, 2001 – Princess Elisabeth (Belgium)
December 7, 2003 – Princess Catharina-Amalia (Holland)
January 21, 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra (Norway)
October 15, 2005 – Prince Christian (Denmark)
October 31, 2005 – Infanta Leonor (Spain)
September 6, 2006 – Prince Hisahito (Japan)

While things are quiet in Norway, Belgium, and now Japan, things are still happening in Denmark, Spain, and Holland respectively.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark is pregnant with her second child, due to be born in May 2007. Crown Princess Letizia is also expecting her second child in May 2007, and Dutch Crown Princess Maxima is pregnant with a third child due in late April 2007.

Congratulations to the happy parents!