Documentary about Mette-Marit aired on TV2

[Larzen]

TV2 is makeing a docu on Mette-Marit called "The Cinderella of Our Time" (lets hope the docu is more inspiering than the title )

TV2 says its an honest docu on both good and bad and will go into why she moved to Australia when she was 16, why she came in contact with the "house-environment" and they have talked to her host-family in Australia as well as some of her former friends from the house scene. (one says: there are alot of destinies in the house-scene, some ends at the palace, some ends in the grave)

The docu will also tell about how reporters from Se og Hør travelled to Kristiansand with an open check book to buy old pictures and stories. It will also deal with the much talked about video in the hands of the exboyfriend which there was alot of rumors about around the wedding.

It also includes an interview with the writer Håvard Mælnes (he used to work in se og hør, now he is writeing a book exposing their working methods) he wrote the unauthorised book "Mette-Marit - Princess against all odds" He says he thinks the ex boyfriend holds on to the video to see what the market value is the day Mette-Marit is Queen

TV2 says Mette-Marit and her advisors will get to see the docu before it airs on August 21st and they would be very suprised if the palace tried to stop it
http://www.seher.no/cm/SeHer/Kongelige/Norske+kongehus/1.128014
http://www.side2.no/kjendis/article700554.ece

I wonder how it will be, TV2 had last year docus on Märtha and Ari and both where boringly terrible from the beginning to the end, and nothing new was revealed, but I guess here there is more to dig into.

****************************
Very unrelated, Budstikka has a big flash special of Mette-Marit on the "from Valdres to Vogue" exhibition
http://www.budstikka.no/sec_bildeserier/article90584.ece#visning

 

[sylla]

"TV2 says its an honest docu on both good and bad and will go into why she moved to Australia when she was 16.."

You mean she flew all the way to Australia without the aid of a psychologist? I am not so sure I believe her fear of flying issue. It never seemed to occur when she took the plane on private trips.

I wonder what happened on the Australia trip. One would have thought that the royal pr would have played this up as foreign culture education and M-M needs all the education credits possible. But I don't remember hearing about her spending time in Australia.

 

[Larzen]

According to the press Mette-Marit got afraid of flying after the birth of her son, about the Australia stay, its mentioned on the royal website

After starting at Oddernes upper secondary school in Kristiansand, The Crown Princess spent six months at Wangaratta High School in Australia as an exchange student. On moving back to Norway, she attended Kristiansand Katedralskole, where she passed her final examinations in 1994

http://www.kongehuset.no/dt_kongehuset_allAtOnce.asp?ogid=25&mgid=21&gid=99&aid=

 

[sylla]

Thanks, Larzen, I did not know that. Of all the current CPs I find M-M's story the most interesting because her fate to be princess was soooo unlikely.

 

[Larzen]

Articles about the content of the documentary that will be aired tonight.

Sven O Høiby says there is no reason to regret selling information about his daughter to the press (Se og Hør)
-There is several that has ment that I should shut up, but there is no reason to spend time regrettting it, what has been done cannot be undone

Håvard Mællnes (author of the book MM-Princess against all odds and previously employed in se og hør) says Sven O Høiby got a free phone and money to spill the beans on his daughter
- I would suggest he got a decend years sallary from them

Mælnes also tells how reporters from Se og Hør travelled to Kritiansand to buy pictures and stories, amongst others they payed 100 000 NOK for a series of pictures from a vacation she went on as a teenager

German gossup press says the make 15 % more when they put Mette-Marit on the cover.
- We I magine how she has it and then we write that
http://www.side2.no/kjendis/article716245.ece

A former acquaintance from the house/party scene, Lars Eitun, speakes out
about the house environment he says
- We (the people in the party scene) tried everything, we broke all limits.
- Ecstacy and speed was flowing, 90% of the people at the parties were on theese substances
- There are many destenies in the house environment, some ends at the palace, some in the grave

Eithun does not directly say she used drugs.
-She was friend of my friend, she was at several of the parties.

About the much rumored "Mette-Marit video" in posession of her ex boyfriend John Ogneby
Hævard Mælnes says he thinks Ogneby holds on to the video until she is Queen so the market value wil be higher and that he belives it contains scenes of sex and drugs

The docu offers no answer to what it really contains, why it was made and who the businessmen and royalists who tried to buy it before the wedding to keep destroy it was
http://www.side2.no/kjendis/article716269.ece

At the Palace there is silent as in the grave

Astrid Versto, information secretary:
AV: We have no comment to this documentary

but you have seen it?
AV: We have no comment

How does the palace react to the docu beeing shown
AV: We have no comment to this docu

Before Haakons engagement it had been anounced he would not answer any questions today

According to TV2 Haakon and Mette-Marit has had tough times since the marriage, especially because friends has spoken to the press, Haakon has also tried to get Mette-Marit and her father to make up, but without success (Cant really say I blame her ) and his stunts has been very straining for her
http://www.side2.no/kjendis/article716386.ece
the docu has been sold unseen to may european countries (let me guess atleast Spain and Germany..... )

Nothing really new in what is reported in theese articles IMO, but certainly not good for them to have this brought up again, right before their wedding anniversary

 

[Avalon]

I am really sorry they had to write all these (old news) on Mette-Marit's birthday and before the anniversary, though I don't think it's a coincidence.
I don't blame her for not wanting a reunion with her father. For what? So that he could sell a few more pics and a few more stories? Especially since he says he is not sorry.

 

[Zonk]

I totally agree with Mette Marit. Why should she speak to her father is he is making money off her. I mean, goodness, its hard enough to find good, honest, and loyal friends in her position without worrying about her father selling her out.

 

[Next Star]

There was a up roar about Mette-Marit marrying into the norway royal family I guess some people have dealt with her being their Crown Princess she does make Crown Prince Haakon happy which is a good thing and they the some cute kids.

 

[kwanfan]

I think we can all understand why Mette-Marit wouldn't want to makeup with her father! It's really a shame that this stuff is getting brought up around their anniversary, when the couple seems to be working to bring attention to issues through their humanitarian fund. It's too bad more attention isn't paid to that or some of the things they did at the AIDS conference. But unfortunately, scandal sells papers.

 

[Valhalla]

This documentary didn't change my opinion of Mette Marit. She's human, and it's only human to make mistakes.
As for her father...I've never liked him, but now I like him even less. He's a horrible man who should not be allowed to talk to people at all...

 

[Eliza]

My professor once said to me "it's not a mistake if you learn from it and change your course of action"

So in that context, i don't think CP MM made any mistakes - it's life, it's the path and choice she made and learnt from. We all do the same - maybe not in such seriousness - it's just we're not in a CP position where it gets blasted all over the press.

I think she's a remarkable woman to face up to all this madness and i think she does her country proud as their CP and future Queen. Above all she has made Hakkon a very happy and contented man and from all pictures, she's very much a loving, devoted, caring and wonderful mother.

Three cheers for CP MM and a very happy birthday to her!

 

[hrhcp]

My professor once said to me "it's not a mistake if you learn from it and change your course of action"

So in that context, i don't think CP MM made any mistakes - it's life, it's the path and choice she made and learnt from. We all do the same - maybe not in such seriousness - it's just we're not in a CP position where it gets blasted all over the press.

I think she's a remarkable woman to face up to all this madness and i think she does her country proud as their CP and future Queen. Above all she has made Hakkon a very happy and contented man and from all pictures, she's very much a loving, devoted, caring and wonderful mother.

Three cheers for CP MM and a very happy birthday to her!

Couldn't have said it better myself.


Better yet, it shows (to me) the faith that Crown Prince Haakon had in his wife. Too bad .... that the majority of ladies here have their head in the sand, and ergo do not wish to acknowledge that "to forgive" is the one learning of life that needs re-learning at every step along the way of life. But Haakon doesn't need to forgive .... he just saw (and still sees) the life shining at the soul of MM, and fell in love.

 

[GrandDuchess]

So the documentary was basically just about Mette-Marit's past?? Nothing around her role as Crown Princess and her "new" life after her wedding etc? Or her childhood for that matter?

Poor couple, such a thing before their 5th wedding anniversary... I think they are worth so much more than to have this thrown in their faces, the past is the past and we've heard all of these things before...

I would personally love to see a docu about Mette-Marit's life, from her birth to where she is in life now, covering all angles of things.

 

[Valhalla]

The documentary didn't really show CP MM in a positive way. To me it seemed as if they wanted the contrast between Mette Marit Tjessem Høiby and Crownprincess Mette Marit to be as big as possible. They never really 'gave her a break' untill the wedding, or the speach she gave at the press-conferance, 3 days before the wedding. Most of the time they 'showed' her as lazy and unsympathetic, whos only real interest in life was to party all night long.
I remember I thought it strange that they never looked into her life from the time Marius was born to the time she met Haakon again, 3 years later. So you sort of got the impression that since they met at the Quart-festival, both when she was pregnant with Marius, and then again 3 years later, that she had not really changed that much. That's very strange to me, because we can all see how much care, love and devotion MM has for her children.

The documentary didn't spend any time on ther work as a CP, it went from the wedding to the birth of Ingrid Alexandra, and then they mentioned that they have also got a son, Sverre Magnus...and that was it. Not very good work in my opinion.

But the one thing I really HATED about this documentary, is that this video seems to hang over it like a black cloud. We have known about this video since before she and Haakon got married, but as for the rest of Mette Marits life at that time, it's part of her past. It should be burried and forgotten as soon as possible.
If this video SHOULD (I actually don't believe it will) be realeased into the public, it will not make me think any less of the Crownprincess. It will on the other hand make me feel very, very sorry for her, and also it will make me despise the man who now says he has it for not getting rid of it once and for all.

 

[Larzen]

I agree, I also found it strange that they showed nothing about her life after the birth of Marius until she met Haakon again, infact very little is known about this period, excpet that she studied various things and worked a little. Nothing that was in yesterdays docu has not already appeared in Se og Hør or the two unauthorised books written about her, infact they seemed to be the main sources for this "tell all but not really anything new" docu. But you see how much stronger TV is as a medium, how they can add music and voice-over and picture to create drama.

They did say she had help from a psychiatrist twice a week when it was at its worst, when the press followed her every day until she would start to cry or beg them to leave her alone, the former reporter of se og hør said it went several months when they could not get a smile from her and that she was depressed. It does give another picture to the many speeches of the oh so nice press in Norway and the oh so terrible spanish press who followed Eva Sannum around day out and day in, the Norwegian press and Se og hør in particular does not seem the least bit better IMO.

Also a PR person said the royal house did not support her at all and did threat her appalingly until the engagement and that all support and help she got came from Haakon. It also says the one new thing that I learnt from this that the staff at the palace threated her badly after the engagement and that they would call her names behind her back, until the chief of the court called a meeting to have put a stop to it and took her around to meet and greet every singel staff of the palace.

 

[Valhalla]

They did say she had help from a psychiatrist twice a week when it was at its worst, when the press followed her every day until she would start to cry or beg them to leave her alone, the former reporter of se og hør said it went several months when they could not get a smile from her and that she was depressed. It does give another picture to the many speeches of the oh so nice press in Norway and the oh so terrible spanish press who followed Eva Sannum around day out and day in, the Norwegian press and Se og hør in particular does not seem the least bit better IMO.

Also a PR person said the royal house did not support her at all and did threat her appalingly until the engagement and that all support and help she got came from Haakon. It also says the one new thing that I learnt from this that the staff at the palace threated her badly after the engagement and that they would call her names behind her back, until the chief of the court called a meeting to have put a stop to it and took her around to meet and greet every singel staff of the palace.

Yes. I forgot about these things. It's terrible how people can behave sometimes. But this can also help us understand just how strong the love between those two are. I'm not sure I could handle any of this...I probably couldn't. Crownprincess Mette Marit is a strong woman, that's for sure.

 

[Larzen]

The docu was the most seen program on Norwegian TV yesterday with 778 000 viewers and 60% of all the viewers watching TV at that time choose this program
http://www.propaganda-as.no/emneomrader/media/mette-marit+vant+seerne/art315475.html
Carl Erik Grimstad, previously worked at the palace in a higher position (never quite understood what he did there, but he used to be standing behind the royals at the balcony on national day) and a political scientist and author who has critisied the royals before (amongs other in a book called "What broke so high") calls the docu a "kick below the belt" He is not impressed with TV2 way of marking it has been 5 years since they married

- I wish TV2 would have used their resources in a differen way to mark the anniversary of the Crown Prince couple. This kind of program where one speculates in things that are obioulsy uncomfterble I dont have any sympathy for. In the program they insinuate part of her past might be published
- It is a kick below the belt at a woman that the Norwegian people respects. It is a attack on everyones integrety because noone wants to know about this video anymore, IF it exists

I wont even dignefy it with a grade (on a scale from 1-6) TV2 could have chosen a more interesting view than what they did. It would have been more interesting with a program describing her role and how it has changed over theese years. We are comfterble with CP Mette-Marit and she does a good job. The Norwegian peoples attitude to the monarchy has also changed

http://www.side2.no/kjendis/article716752.ece
The docu does not seem ot have gotten alot of attention in the other press, maybe because it brought close to nothing new.

 

[bbb]

I totally agree with Mette Marit. Why should she speak to her father is he is making money off her. I mean, goodness, its hard enough to find good, honest, and loyal friends in her position without worrying about her father selling her out.

]

i'm with you zonk. its just wrong for him to take $ to sell out his daughter. I admire her more since hearing about all she's gone through, and shows what a strong charecter she has. i feel sorry for her IF there is a video hanging over her head, it would be torture waiting for it to appear. but it won't change my opinion of her, her past is past, i think she will be a wonderful queen.

on this subject last night on PBS the show "history's mysteries" had a segment on the car driven by grace kelly in it takes a thief, anyway long story short at the end it talked about the fairytale wedding in monaco and then goes on to talk about "new blood" is good for royalty and had a story about MM and H- it was really cool. showed the wedding and a couple of events and talked about how much in love they are.

 

[norwegianne]

I guess it is a good thing that the official biography is coming soon. I have to admit, I forgot to watch the docu, I don't really care much for TV2's standards in documentary making (seriously, the one they did on Märtha Louise was a joke in terms of revealing anything) and having followed Mette-Marit's life since she entered the spotlight, I figured it wasn't very important to watch. Glad to see I was right.

 

[Zonk]

First, I am going to admit that I didn't watch the program. Chances are we wont' get it in the States.

Second, these types of programs really piss me off. They are so general in nature and rarely I mean RARELY get any true friends to speak on behalf of the person. Having a someone speak on behalf of someone who doesn't have the guts to say what they have to say in front of the cameras really doesn't work for me. In addition, as avid royal watchers (and yes I am speaking on behalf of hte group) most of the time they repeat stuff we have already heard or they say it wrong. Using Diana as example, I stopped watching the stuff they did on her before she died. It was like really, don't you have anything worthwhile to report!

Those who truly know Mette Marit before she was a Crown Princess and those who know her only thru the public lense appreciate what she has done and how she has grown. She isn't perfect and she have never pretended to be.

 

[GrandDuchess]

It also says the one new thing that I learnt from this that the staff at the palace threated her badly after the engagement and that they would call her names behind her back, until the chief of the court called a meeting to have put a stop to it and took her around to meet and greet every singel staff of the palace.

Really?! I didn't know this, that is absolutely terrible and low - you can't sink much deeper! No matter their own personal feelings & preferences, that is no way for a professional to treat anyone!

Did Mette-Marit really greet every staff member of the Royal Palace? How many would that be, approximately? Not the whole Royal Court I guess, since probably not all of them work at the Royal Palace on a daily basis...

 

[Alisa]

Thank you Larzen for a summary of the documentary.

Grand Duchess I completely agree with you. Reading about the court's attitude reminds me of Princess Margarita's claim that the Dutch court was quite rude to Maxima when she first arrived. Many dismissed Margarita's claims but I can't help thinking that there's some truth to it, especially after reading about similar behavior from the Norwegian court.

 

[Larzen]

Really?! I didn't know this, that is absolutely terrible and low - you can't sink much deeper! No matter their own personal feelings & preferences, that is no way for a professional to treat anyone!

Did Mette-Marit really greet every staff member of the Royal Palace? How many would that be, approximately? Not the whole Royal Court I guess, since probably not all of them work at the Royal Palace on a daily basis...

Let me be more presise. The writer from Dagbladet who wrote the book Mette-MArit in good days and bad days (the creativity in titles are staggering ) its an unauthorised, but fairly credible book, I would say.

he says in the docu that: There were strong forces working aginst her, there was people working against her inside the Palace, they did not understand why they should work for someone they did not consider worthy of the position, and they made up names behind her back (not all the staff but some of them)

How many at the staff, In 2005 there were 141 people sharing 131 full time appointments divided at the Palace, Skaugum farm, the open Palace, on top of that they rent guides and and extra help in the palace green house during the summer. and extra vaitors and chefs for big dinners. Here is the whole bunch anno 2002
Det Kongelige Hoff

 

[kwanfan]

That's awful that staff members treated her like that. It must have been an incredibly difficult time for her, as well as for Haakon.

 

[Valhalla]

I hope things have improved. Mette Marit has done a great job and deserves to be treated with respect (Not just because she's the Crownprincess). And I do think that most people can see what a good representative she is for Norway.

 

[carlota]

it's a real shame that they are doing this right now. it's also horrible to hear all the difficulties they had to overcome at the earliest stage, with all the hoff against them. it must have been a hard time. what really matters though is that now all of them seem to be quite comfortable with mm being princess and future queen.

i saw many of you are talking about a so-called "the video". what is it that you mean? the documentary or another video? could you please explain me?

 

[Valhalla]

"The video" is a video made by Mette Marits ex-boyfriend (John Ognby) in the middle of the 90's, that is supposed to contain damaging matereal.

 

[sylla]

Well, I don't consider the initial objections and concerns of the Norwegian people unreasonable.

As for the staff, their initial resentment was not unreasonable either. Consider:

Staff: showing up for work everyday, earning an honest living, probably with a good education

M-M: parties, drugs, promiscuous, very spotty work record, little education

Who do you think should be elevated to and is deserving of a life of priviledge and wealth and should represent Norway in international gatherings?

I also don't think the "poor Mette-Marit" label does apply either since she brought this discontent on herself. How did she expect people would react? I do agree, however, it is done and should not be relived over and over. That is why I don't understand why she agreed to the upcoming book.

Haakon took a big gamble and lucky for him for most part it has paid off. Aside from the tantrum at the airport and showing up in jeans on the red carpet, no major gaffes. Alas, her work schedule always seems pitiful, describing her as lazy is not that far off. Never mind three children, afterall she has a nanny, and I bet she does not do her own housework/cooking either.

 

[kwanfan]

Well, I don't consider the initial objections and concerns of the Norwegian people unreasonable.

As for the staff, their initial resentment was not unreasonable either. Consider:

Staff: showing up for work everyday, earning an honest living, probably with a good education

M-M: parties, drugs, promiscuous, very spotty work record, little education

Who do you think should be elevated to and is deserving of a life of priviledge and wealth and should represent Norway in international gatherings?

I also don't think the "poor Mette-Marit" label does apply either since she brought this discontent on herself. How did she expect people would react? I do agree, however, it is done and should not be relived over and over. That is why I don't understand why she agreed to the upcoming book.

Haakon took a big gamble and lucky for him for most part it has paid off. Aside from the tantrum at the airport and showing up in jeans on the red carpet, no major gaffes. Alas, her work schedule always seems pitiful, describing her as lazy is not that far off. Never mind three children, afterall she has a nanny, and I bet she does not do her own housework/cooking either.

If someone is going to work for royalty they should understand the fact that people are going to be elevated based on their birth or their marriage. If they don't like that, they really shouldn't work for royalty. Just because someone doesn't approve of their past doesn't mean they should call someone names and be nasty to them. The fact is the staff is employed by the royal house. Therefore, the royal family are their bosses. Part of being an employee is treating your boss with respect, no matter what your private opinion of them may be. If I went to work and called my boss or their spouse names and was rude to them I would expect to be reprimanded at the very least and possibly fired.

 

[sylla]

I said that I understand the staff's resentment, or rather that their resentment was not unreasonable, not that I agree with their actions.