Royals warned against backing new Olympics bid
It's been 10 years since the Olympic flame was lit at Lillehammer. Now a former prime minister who often speaks out on various issues is warning members of the royal family against trying to attract another Olympics to Norway.
Kaare Willoch, considered a patriarch of Norwegian politics, says neither King Harald nor Crown Prince Haakon should get too involved in a new bid to attract the Winter Olympics to the northern city of Tromsoe in 2014.
The late King Olav took an active role in securing the Winter Games for Lillehammer. He lobbied for Lillehammer while attending the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in 1984, for example, and even wrote a personal letter to Juan Antonio Samaranch, who headed the International Olympic Committee at the time.
On Wednesday, Queen Sonja was among those traveling back to Lillehammer to attend anniversary ceremonies for the 1994 Olympics, which Samaranch called "the best ever" at the time.
But neither the queen, the king or others should follow King Olav's example in lobbying for the Olympics, Willoch claims. The question of whether to finance Tromsoe's bid will be decided in parliament, where politicians currently are divided on the issue.
"I don't want to criticize King Olav for what he did," Willoch told newspaper Aftenposten. "King Olav had greater authority than King Harald has, because the times have changed.
"I will put it diplomatically: Neither King Harald nor Crown Prince Haakon should join the fight around Tromso's candidacy in 2014 with the same fervor."
Willoch was prime minister in the mid-1980s, when King Olav wrote his letter. He wouldn't comment on whether some politicians found it awkward or difficult to argue against spending taxpayers' money on the Lillehammer bid, when the king so actively supported it.
Former palace official and political scientist Carl Erik Grimstad, however, addressed the issue in his book "Behind the Facade" ("Bak fasaden").
He wrote that it throws "sand into the machinery" when a monarch gets too engaged in an issue. "When the king gave his support for the Lillehammer Olympics, the politicians felt there was no way back," Grimstad wrote.
The first budget prepared for the Lillehammer Olympics totalled NOK 600 million (about USD 70 million at the time). Willoch's government ended up having to approve a budget for NOK 1.4 billion, while the total cost of the Games eventually landed at NOK 7 billion.
"It was a huge budget overrun, and I don't think King Olav (who died in 1991) ever understood the costs involved for an Olympics," Willoch said. He admits he didn't understand how costly the Games would be, either, nor did athletic officials.
King Harald and Queen Sonja carried on King Olav's support for the Games, believing it was good for the nation. Now, however, even current Olympics director Petter Roenningen, who is a friend of King Harald, agrees with Willoch.
"I would advise King Harald against getting involved in the competition," Roenningen said. "Lillehammer was a success in all ways, but a fiasco (in Tromsoe) could have consequences for the monarchy's status and reputation."
