Haakon & Mette-Marit's 40th Birthday


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Surprises me that Victoria and Daniel won´t be there ?
 
liv said:
Surprises me that Victoria and Daniel won´t be there ?
Click to expand...

Maybe we will hear the reason to that this weekend. Maybe they just had other plans. And it has been also told earlier that Gustaf Magnuson and Vicky Andrén are getting married this summer, and also Emma Pernald and Tomas Jonson. Maybe it is a wedding weekend for them.
 
The whole interview is now available online. I am not sure if it’s available outside of Norway, hopefully it is. If people want I can try and translate most of it. It’s interesting and gives quite a few insights in regards to what the Crown Prince think of his role and the institution.

NRK TV - Kronprins Haakon - veien til et kongerike

Beside the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Victoria also answer questions. We also see King Harald and the Crown Prince showing Princess Ingrid Alexandra around the rooms connected to the council of state and explaining to her what different paintings show and teach her what goes on at a council of state.

We also meet the Crown Prince family (minus Marius) skiing near their winter cabin.
 
It works for me in the UK. I wish I spoke Norwegian, but I guess I will get the general gist of the show.

Dronning Elizabeth, is that in reference to Queen Elizabeth II? What language are Victoria and Frederik speaking when they are interviewed by the way?
 
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Crown Princess Victoria speaks Swedish, Crown Prince Frederik Danish and the interviewer Norwegian.

And yes, it’s Queen Elizabeth 2. They are talking of the Norwegian palace and how it’s a smaller scale than most, nothing like Versailles and the Crown Prince says it’s very Norwegian and suits our way of life. He is asked how he feels when Queen Elizabeth is visiting, and he says he’s no ashamed.
 
vestfoldlilja said:
Crown Princess Victoria speaks Swedish, Crown Prince Frederik Danish and the interviewer Norwegian.

And yes, it’s Queen Elizabeth 2. They are talking of the Norwegian palace and how it’s a smaller scale than most, nothing like Versailles and the Crown Prince says it’s very Norwegian and suits our way of life. He is asked how he feels when Queen Elizabeth is visiting, and he says he’s no ashamed.
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Thank you very much. What do Victoria and Frederik talk about in their interviews?
 
Does anyone have a link where I can watch it live? and are there any pictures of the guests arriving?
 
vestfoldlilja said:
Crown Princess Victoria speaks Swedish, Crown Prince Frederik Danish and the interviewer Norwegian.

And yes, it’s Queen Elizabeth 2. They are talking of the Norwegian palace and how it’s a smaller scale than most, nothing like Versailles and the Crown Prince says it’s very Norwegian and suits our way of life. He is asked how he feels when Queen Elizabeth is visiting, and he says he’s no ashamed.
Click to expand...

Thank you SO much for providing a link to what looks like a fabulous documentary. It is an hour long so a lot for our Norwegian, Danish and Swedish speakers to translate, but perhaps it is possible to give those of us who are more linguistically challenged an overview of what is being said:flowers: In the interviews with CPs Frederik and Victoria, I wonder if they are talking about what it is like to grow up with your future job already determined:bang:
 
gerry said:
Thank you SO much for providing a link to what looks like a fabulous documentary. It is an hour long so a lot for our Norwegian, Danish and Swedish speakers to translate, but perhaps it is possible to give those of us who are more linguistically challenged an overview of what is being said:flowers: In the interviews with CPs Frederik and Victoria, I wonder if they are talking about what it is like to grow up with your future job already determined:bang:
Click to expand...

Around 8 min into the film, Fredrik talks about how great they all get along (I assume that he talks about him, Haakon and Victoria + families). They don't just get together because it's expected of them.

Victoria talks about Haakon as a person. She says that he thinks he's wise and thoughtful. Then she's asked when she understood that she was the crown princess, and that she would be queen one day in the future. She says that it didn't happen at a particular point in time. It came gradually, and became natural ("...if you can say that it's natural", she adds). Fredrik says that it dawned on him when he was around 10-12 years old. They had lunch with the family, and his parents talked about how his brother was going to inherit a large farm when he got older, and Fredrik thought "But what about me then? What do I get"? He asked, and his mother said "You're going to inherit Denmark". He says he didn't understand that. It was very mystical to him.

(Victoria then talks about how it became an integral part of growing up. The older she got, the more she followed her parents on different official duties).
Fredrik again says that he really didn't understand the "inherit Denmark" thing.

At the end (around 1.11 into the film), the interviewer asks Victoria, Fredrik and Haakon the same question: With all that you know today about the role, if it had been open for applications, would you have applied for the job? They all laugh. Victoria says that it's a interesting question. She doesn't know. Fredrik says that it's hard since it's a hypothetical question. He doesn't think that too many people would have applied. Victoria then says that she thinks it's an advantage to have been born and raised into the role.

Mette-Marit says that she didn't apply for the job directly, but when she and Haakon became a couple, that was in a way an application as good as anything.

Haakon finishes by saying that yes, he probably would have applied.
 
Were Mette-Marit and the children giving a speech on the stage? What did they say?
 
Translation of the documentary veien til et kongerike (the road to a kingdom) part 1

I’ve written where they are in the documentary, so that those who have seen know where they talked of what.

Interviewer/voiceover: One day Crown Prince Haakon shall inherit Norway, minus the Palace that belongs to the state and politics that belongs to the politicians. Haakon Magnus has turned 40 years old. Who is he? And how should he fill his role?

Outside the palace:

I: What do you think of it (the palace)?

CP: I think we have a beautiful palace. I’m glad it’s a palace that’s quite Norwegian, more down to earth, different than Versailles and I think that we’re very comfortable with it in Norway.

I: When Queen Elizabeth 2 is visiting do you feel like it’s too shabby or is it enough?

CP: (laughing) I don’t think so. I think it represent how we are. I think it’s good.

I: Do you feel it’s a good thing that the Norwegian monarchy is only 100+ years?

CP: Yes, I think it is. The family of course follows the Danish monarchy that King Haakon came from and goes further back.

(Clips from when Haakon, Maud and Olav arrived to Oslo from Denmark, how that came to be, and other clips of the family. The state form is not older than that the Crown Prince remembers the little boy in the video.)

CP: It’s tangible. It’s a story that’s easy to comprehend.

The interviewer/voiceover says that a normal part of preparations to royal duties are a military education and studying relevant subjects such as political science and law at universities. The expectation of the Crown Prince where clear even if they were not loudly spoken of.

CP: Especially earlier I felt like I carried a lot on my shoulders (expectations and traditions.)

I: Do you remember a turning point?

CP. When I had to decide in my teens whether I was to take a military education or not. That was the first proper choice I took where I felt I chose not only in regards to what I myself wanted, but I reflected over the position I was in, what I were to do in the future, that I was part of the monarchy, that I manage the tradition Norway have had in three generations before me.

I: It’s my understanding that it was a process for you to accept that you were to one day be King, but how difficult was it? Did you close doors harshly? Can you give us a picture on how it was? How did you get used to the idea?

CP: There were no doors closed harshly as I remember it. I talked a lot with my father, but that was in large part about how I in my youth so strongly separated my royal persona who did his duties and Haakon who did sports and listened to music and went to concerts. I didn’t find a way to unify them, but as I grew older it became more and more difficult to keep them apart. I felt I had to choose (who to be) to feel more real. It was about growing up.

CP: (about him and MM during their early days) We were vulnerable because we challenged norms.

CP: If you had asked (people at an earlier stage) if I could marry someone who had a child, many would have said no. But it was possible.

I: Did you feel like you put the monarchy in danger when you married MM?

CP: I did feel that, to a certain degree, but I also felt like it was a test in a way. A test to see if there was room for me in this institution, and that if it wasn’t there was little reason for me to have a place in it.

I: You are a people near distinction in many ways (royals) even though you have great survival skill.

CP: That has to do with culture and history. You can’t separate it from the history and what lies in the tradition. It’s a part of the modern society. And I find that interesting. Because there are those who will say that monarchy is outdated, but you can turn it around and say that the most modern societies and most well-functioning societies are monarchies. You can view it from both sides. It’s one of the ingredients in a well-functioning form of society.

But the debate surrounding monarchy is not my debate, very many think so, but it’s not. I feel like I sit on the sidelines of that debate, and I am quite tired of it, many people wish to talk to me about it. But it’s completely different for me, I have to ask myself if I feel this is a way of life I should use my life on, can I contribute to anything? It’s I that fill my role, and how the monarchy evolves in many ways depend on me and my family. I don’t need to discuss what the best state form is. Since the Norwegian people continue to want the monarchy I have to ask myself if I want to do this and how to do it well.

I: Even if you can’t change the world as Crown Price there is an activist in you standing guard?

CP: Humans have lots of dreams, hopes and projects and things we do that are important to us. But you can’t let it take over. You are more than all of that combined. To be passionate about something is positive, but you can’t be so bound to it that everything falls apart if the dream does. Regardless of how it turns out you have to be okay. I think that’s where happiness is to be found.

I: Let’s say that the monarchy was dissolved in your time, would you be able to separate that from who you are?

CP: I could at least try. I thought a lot about that in the time before the wedding. If this (the engagement and consequences of it) turns out to be very difficult, how do I live with that? It’s easy to say I would have handled it, but it’s not certain I would. But I could have tried, and I believe everyone have a great capacity to handle change. The most important thing to me is not to be afraid of it. That’s not okay, to live a life where you are afraid all the time. So I try not to.

I: Do you wish at times you were part of something more progressive?

CP: Yes, at times I may feel like that. But there are a lot of possibilities within the framework I am in.

I: How much room do you have to do as you want?

CP: That’s an open question; larger than one would think.

I: Can the projects be too weak and boring?

CP Yes, and that is something that is in the press from time to time. People saying we are too bland and boring. Just as often people also say we are too political, so perhaps most of time we are just at the right place.

I: What is needed to keep the relevance?

CP: The point of origin is what is important to us, Mette and I work with thing that are important for us. Like youth, UN.

CP: I wish to look Ingrid in the eyes and give her something worth fighting for.
I: If the job as heir were announced would you apply?

CP: (laughing) Yes, I probably would have. The question is always if I have chosen it or not, and I have.

CP: (about the role) I like that we’re not very formal here, but it can’t be too informal either.

I: What about doing an interview on the steps like this?

CP: It’s on the line to being too informal.
 
Translation of the documentary veien til et kongerike (the road to a kingdom) part 2

CPMM out in the snow:

I: Does he (the CP) get frustrated because he can only go so far with his radical/activist self, up to a certain point before he has to back down again because of his role?

CPMM: I think so, of course. He does have an activist spirit, but it does come to a point where he has to stop, but he carries that with him naturally. He was a little more edgy when at Berkley. I met him just after his time at Berkley and he carried that way of life with him here. He had an international perspective in a way and he was very interested in multiculturalism and seeing Norway as part of larger whole. In the period before we got together he spent a lot of time with the boys, having fun, but when he met me everything got very serious as we had to take many serious decisions rapidly. My life was turned upside down with a newspaper front page; my life was suddenly completely different. It was very strange.

CPMM: (about the pre-wedding interview where she talks of her past) I was very focused on doing a good job and didn’t register everything. I had in mind that I had to act like a perfect princess-subject, and I wasn’t.

I: What did you lack?

CPMM: I had my son and things I’d done in the past where things that stood against me, many people thought I was unsuitable. I had Marius, and stood there with a child and every decision was taken very rapidly. I think it was hard for Haakon because he felt that in a certain way he put the institution in danger.

CPMM: (about not over-stepping) To be, as you say, on the top and not express opinions at all; it’s complicated to live in 2013 and not have opinions. That can mean that people see us a weak.

CPMM: (about being relevant) I think the Crown Prince can be relevant in regards to standing for values he finds important. In our time values are not constant. I think having a conversation with youth about values today will be much different than when we were young. They have a completely different availably to everything, many diverse expressions. I think he can play a role there. But of course it’s a challenge to be relevant, and we have to be if we are to be an institution that means something to people.

CPMM: (about whether she would have applied for the job as heir/princess) I did apply I suppose when I became Haakon’s girlfriend.

CPMM( (about sense of direction) Haakon and Martha have poor sense of direction, and get lost all the time. Martha is better than Haakon. I think it’s because they were driven everywhere by the police as kids. They never learned.

With the family skiing:

When we see them in the snow skiing they are up in the mountains near their cabin in Uvdal, and the Crown Prince said the cabin they built there was their joint project; that they found a lot and built a home together; an important piece.

The Crown Princess says they are a fast phased family, always on the move and is then called on by the children to get a move on before she can finish was she was going to say. Prince Sverre Magnus told his father he should buy a scooter as he thought it looked fun to ski after it on a rope.
 
Translation of the documentary veien til et kongerike (the road to a kingdom) part 3

CPV&CPF:

Interviewer: to understand the job (as heir) we go hunting for colleagues in other Nordic countries; to Crown Princess Victoria at Stockholm Palace and Crown Prince Frederik at Amalieborg in Copenhagen.

CPF: It’s wonderful that we all get along, that’s it’s not only a family that has to spend time together.

CPV: I see a very wise person, in Haakon. The Crown Prince is very thoughtful.

I: How did you understand that you were to be Crown Princess of Sweden, and later Queen?

CPV: It’s not a specific happening. It dawns on you as you grow up. Its small things that follow each other that clues you in. I don’t have a specific time. More and more as you grow older you follow your parents on official engagements and it becomes natural.

CPF: It began to dawn on me when I was around 10-12. I think it was during a lunch many years back when our parents told Joakim and me (it’s quite difficult to understand what he’s saying here, but I think he’s saying they were told Joakim would inherit certain specific farms/houses.) I wondered what I would one day inherit and was told I would inherent Denmark. It was something mystical and strange for a little boy, and I wondered how that was done.

CPF: CPH, CPV and I are products of our time and of being Nordic; Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, and luckily in the Nordic countries there is an accepting and forgiving nature in our population.

CPF: CPH have done things, new things as Crown Prince that has inspired me personally. He has involved himself in subjects I wondered if perhaps were too close to subjects not suited for a king. But it has not been a problem in Norway. Neither has it Denmark. It’s funny that it was Haakon who started it, he made a new road.

I: How shall you three heirs manage to keep your positions in a world that changes so rapidly?

CPV: To be relevant. If something is not relevant, it is not needed. To be relevant. And I do truly believe there is a need.


I: With everything you know if the job (as heir) was announced would you have applied?

CPV: Interesting question. (laughing) Very difficult to say. I think it is an advantage that one is born into the role.

CPF: (laughing) Good question. I think it’s difficult to say since it’s a hypothetic question. I don’t think there are many people who would have applied.
 
Translation of the documentary veien til et kongerike (the road to a kingdom) part 4

In the car/ship:

The ship is the one he served on during his military training, and it was docked where he spent his first military year.)

CP: My first military time was my first real life experience outside the school bubble I had been living in.

I: Did you have a choice?

CP: Yes, everybody has a choice. But it was expected that I had some military education.

I: Who had those expectations?

CP: Perhaps it was only in my head.

CP: There are three things the role consists of: head of state, head of military and head of the Norwegian church. One can wonder why it’s not a tradition to study theology instead of a military education, as is the tradition. I did get some religious training during my confirmation.

I: How did it feel when the King came to the military base?

CP: A little strange as it was both family and the Admiral that was coming, but it was very easy to communicate with the Admiral, you just had to do as you were supposed to.

I: On a scale from proud to embarrassed how did you feel?

CP: Not embarrassed.

I. So proud?

CP: Perhaps, I haven’t really thought of this. I’m not sure what to answer.

I: You may answer I don’t know. (they laugh because the CP said earlier he thought he was afraid of giving that answer in the interview we saw clips from earlier, when he was 18)

CP: I do think there was a feeling of being proud, but at that moment I think I was focused on doing what I was supposed to.

We see the Crown Prince have no idea which way is the right way on the drive, and he says he is very bad a finding the correct direction and that he drives wrong for a long time because he doesn’t like asking for directions.

We see the CP show the interviewer around the ship and tell some tales of the time he spent there, how he felt larger than life when he learned to navigate, how he washed floors and toilets, how it was okay for him sharing a small space with three others and that he listened to a lot of music, especially grunge back then.


At Berkley/the beach:

He did consider studying at Oxford, as his father and grandfather, and his parents really liked Standford after visiting the school, but he chose Berkley.

We see him showing the interviewer around and telling of the time he spent there. He gets lost again trying to find where he lived.

He felt it was easier being there than home since he was not noticed as he was in Norway and he felt he could participate a little more freely, he was never the subject.

He says he got average grades and wanted to learn what he wanted to learn more than he wanted good grades. He liked learning about EU from an out-side perspective and it was during this time he first learned about development questions which he continued to study for his master degree and works with these days.

He loved being at the beach and to surf. He feels the point of an education is too experience that not everybody knows more than you. He feels he knows enough now, about the things he should. He wanted to continue living as he did at Berkley back home, go to grocery store, live in apartment in town, and such.

I: What is it you have inherited? What does the inherence consist of?

CP: It represents continuity and it’s bound to a nation, and to people as it is people, Mette, me, my parents and Ingrid that drives it. It feels very familiar and close. It’s tangible. Everything changes rapidly in our time, but we are one from one generation to the next, a forever-perspective. We don’t find much of that at all anymore in our society. I think that’s a strength as I think we have a need to have the longer lines and stability in our society.
 
Translation of the documentary veien til et kongerike (the road to a kingdom) part 5 (last one)

At the palace:

I: What is a normal day?

CP: Some days are like the Haiti-trip, others are office days where I try to be home in time for dinner with the kids.

CP: The plan is that it’s I that will one be king, and as such it is I who decides the road forward.

I: How much room for change do you have?

KH: What you make really. As CP you have a larger room, you are more bound by rules as king.

KH: It’s good to see that there are people who can take over.
I: It’s good people?

KH: Yes, it’s good people. Both generations even if one are yawning. She’s had a long day at school.

We see King Harald and the CP show Princess Ingrid Alexandra different rooms at the palace leading to the room where the council of state is held. They explain what different paintings show and it’s a funny moment when the PIA asks why the painter didn’t bother to paint Prince Olav properly in the painting of him and his parents when they arrive in Oslo. She says he is only painted as a small dot and is not impressed.

They show her the room where the council of state is held; explain where the different people sit, where the King and CP enter the room and where they sit. She asks what the big red books are (Norwegian laws) and they look at one of them and the CP explains that if anything in the book is to change it has to be discussed where they are.

In Haiti:

(on why he does this) I have always been interested in the big questions, and have wanted to find answers and to understand. As humans we all have the same equal value. What happens far away impacts people other places. I believe change is possible and that we can move things in the right direction.
 
Thanks for the translation, you are a jewel for us, who don't speak and understand norwegian. (And it goes for everyone who help/ed for us by such translations) :)

An article about the festival:
Google Fordító
 
No one from Spain or Luxembourg? :( I think Haakon's party would have been a event to attend.
 
vestfoldlilja said:
Translation of the documentary veien til et kongerike (the road to a kingdom) part 5 (last one)

At the palace:

I: What is a normal day?

CP: Some days are like the Haiti-trip, others are office days where I try to be home in time for dinner with the kids.

CP: The plan is that it’s I that will one be king, and as such it is I who decides the road forward.

I: How much room for change do you have?

KH: What you make really. As CP you have a larger room, you are more bound by rules as king.

KH: It’s good to see that there are people who can take over.
I: It’s good people?

KH: Yes, it’s good people. Both generations even if one are yawning. She’s had a long day at school.

We see King Harald and the CP show Princess Ingrid Alexandra different rooms at the palace leading to the room where the council of state is held. They explain what different paintings show and it’s a funny moment when the PIA asks why the painter didn’t bother to paint Prince Olav properly in the painting of him and his parents when they arrive in Oslo. She says he is only painted as a small dot and is not impressed.

They show her the room where the council of state is held; explain where the different people sit, where the King and CP enter the room and where they sit. She asks what the big red books are (Norwegian laws) and they look at one of them and the CP explains that if anything in the book is to change it has to be discussed where they are.

In Haiti:

(on why he does this) I have always been interested in the big questions, and have wanted to find answers and to understand. As humans we all have the same equal value. What happens far away impacts people other places. I believe change is possible and that we can move things in the right direction.
Click to expand...
thank you: mange tak for your work:flowers:
 
 
Is there a link to the live stream or will it be up later in whole?

I've missed a huge chunk of it so I am hoping we can view it later in it's entirety.
 
polyesco said:
thank you Vestfoldlilja for the translations to the interviews. Very thoughtful.

Here are some gifs of Frederik watching the events :wub:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/81c659ac3ad6b8a165e9218148272304/tumblr_mq8vhuKW9Z1srdf3to1_400.gif

http://24.media.tumblr.com/88d7ac6f07097987938908e0c17b6dc6/tumblr_mq8vhuKW9Z1srdf3to3_400.gif

and of prince Constanjin with Emma (Martha Louise daughter)

http://24.media.tumblr.com/c82a91f10738a104f90923b48d8f26eb/tumblr_mq8s7w7Aso1srdf3to5_400.gif

http://24.media.tumblr.com/4743148ba84c7f8a8230e2e5ac8e3567/tumblr_mq8s7w7Aso1srdf3to8_400.gif
Click to expand...

Oh wow thanks polyesco, I must have missed Frederik when I watched it! nice to see him having a good time! (especially with a beards grr:wub:)

That was Constantijn? didn't realize that they were so close. that last gif if them was adorable!!:flowers:
 
The gif of Constantijn and Emma is so cute!
 
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