The New Mette-Marit?!?

[Smilla]

Originally Posted by sm1939

cant it just be she has changed because she has growen up, and has found love and is loved back ! thats it , people change all the time. we cant be the same person we were when we where 18, 25 , 30 etc life changes us for the better or worse ! .

Sure, but she changed such a lot within a relatively short time, and she changed so much - between the earliest photos and her earlies days as CP, I think she changed more. Now what's going on is just "normal" changing, I agree.

[RachelD]

She's maturing. She has three children, she's a CP of a country and has to take care of all that that entails....what else can make you grow up so fast? She's doing a great job!

[HRH Abigail]

Originally Posted by cute_girl

the change might be result of recovering from addiction.

To what?

I hadn't known ...

[rosalee]

Love is love, I guess.

[Mandy]

Mette-Marit didn't have to apologise to the country or anyone else to be accepted by Parliament. Once her name was submitted by Harald, it is was rubber-stamped. It was just a formality. Moreover, Mette-Marit only apologised to the people the night before her wedding so the people wouldn't have sufficient time to react to her confession before the wedding. Then, she shed enough tears during the wedding ceremony/events to convince most people to forgive her. None the less, her popularity remained low for years and she has the lowest rating amongst the four royal members.

[galatea_12]

Originally Posted by Mandy

None the less, her popularity remained low for years and she has the lowest rating amongst the four royal members.

How about now? How does she rate in Norway??

[norwegianne]

Originally Posted by galatea_12

How about now? How does she rate in Norway??

In a poll from VG done in December last year, the popularity of the royal family was measured as follows:

"Who do you think is the best representative for the royal house?"
King Harald 46.5%
Crown Prince Haakon 28%
Queen Sonja 9.5%
Crown Princess Mette-Marit 4.2%
Princess Märtha Louise 2.9%
Ari Behn 1.5%
No particular view 7.5%
Total: 100%
Kong Harald er kongehusets mest populære - VG Nett

Of course, why they're including Märtha and, especially, Ari in the poll and not Princess Astrid who's been at it for all her life, and has received a honorary pension for her work, is anybody's guess...

[rosalee]

They have beautiful children, though. Popularity or not.
I hope they are happy and content.

[vestfoldlilja]

When that poll was published I remember reading, or hearing that the results were as exspected and as they should be. The King at the top because he is the Regent, and the Queen following him since they make out the main Royal couple.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess naturally come as number three and four in the poll because they are not yet the main focus. That the Crown Princess do not have as much representing as the Crown Prince is because she wants to be more with the children when they are young. This will naturally change over time as well. I don't however think that while Marius is at school, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Magnus at day-care that the Crown Princess does nothing. It is more that official representing that makes out a royal role.

I don't understand why many people keep dragging up her past. Yes, she has had one, and hers may not have been the best starting point as a future Queen, but in my opinion she has proved herself able and capable to handle a royal role. I think she does a good job, and she has managed to put light and the public eye on some important issues like HIV/AIDS. I think the majority of the Norwegian public like and respect her. I see her as a strong person and admire her for the choses she has made.

Marius's father Morten Borg, do have a drug conviction for pot, and the reason that became such a big deal was because the trial came up when the press was busy digging up everything they could on the Crown Princess. At the time of the trial, it had been some years I beleive since Morten was caugh with the pot. For me it doesn't matter. He is Marius's father and he share custody over him. He now lives in Oslo together with his wife Celine, her son from a previous relationship, their son, and Marius when he is staying with them. In a recent interview with the weekend edition of Dagbladet Celine says that she concider herself to be Marius's other mother and that she has three children. That is the same way the Crown Prince speaks of his family.

[lyndaW]

We have watched Mette-Marit grow into her role as wife, mother, and a working Crown Princess ... she takes all her roles very seriously

[tanjakat]

It's nice if the Princess is beautiful as she is part of the collective face of the nation, but more importantly, look at what she'd doing for people with AIDS and for children! I think that she is really representing what Norwegian culture is all about, namely using the country's resources to help people around the worldwho have fewer resources. I also admire her strong relationship with her children - impressive considering all of her duties and stress.