In the annual year with the Royal Family program on NRK this year, the King and Queen were asked about the upcoming wedding in Geiranger:
King Harald: ''Jeg tror det blir veldig fint. Vi gleder oss."
"I think it will be very nice. We are looking forward to it."
Queen Sonja: ''Jeg er jo veldig begeistret for Geiranger, så jeg synes det er veldig, veldig hyggelig at de legger bryllupet dit. Det er et spesielt vakkert sted. Og hvis det kommer noen utlendinger, så får de se noe av det beste vi har i Norge. Det blir veldig spennende om været holder, men i august lover det bra.''
"I'm really excited about Geiranger, so I think it's very, very nice that they're holding the wedding there. It is a particularly beautiful place.
And if some foreigners come, they will get to see some of the best we have in Norway. It will be very exciting if the weather holds, but in August, it promises well."
And despite her fondness for Geiranger, the Queen didn't have any say in the choice of location for the wedding. But she says she was pleasantly surprised.
Read more here (
link). Google translation (
link).
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In the new biography about CP Haakon, which was released in November, we can read about a conversation he had with the author last year, which was on the day he was meeting the press to talk about Märtha and Durek.
He says: ''Jeg skal møte pressen i dag for å snakke om søsteren min og Durek, og kritikken mot dem og kongehuset. Jeg tror det går fint, men jeg har en liten klump i magen, siden jeg må balansere to hensyn som begge er viktige for meg. Det er hensynet til institusjonen kongehuset, det jeg bruker livet mitt på, og det menneskelige hensynet, altså familien min.
Jeg ønsker å ta vare på både institusjonen og familien, og jeg tror vi kan få til begge deler samtidig. Søsteren min, og Durek, skal føle seg ivaretatt, og det vi bestemmer oss for, bør vi stå sammen om. Dette skal jeg si til mediene etterpå. Søsteren min og Durek må få frihet til å jobbe med det de tror på, leve livet sånn de ønsker.
Jeg vil også få fram at jeg er glad i søsteren min og at jeg setter pris på Durek. Det har vært veldig spennende å bli kjent med han. Vi er jo forskjellig på mange måter, og det gjør det også interessant å være sammen med han. Det er gøy å bli utfordret og å diskutere og prate med noen som tenker annerledes enn meg selv. Og så er han morsom. Durek har masse humor.
Vi må tåle kritikk og lytte til den. Men det er en side ved diskusjonen som overhodet ikke er bra.
Durek er utsatt for rasisme, særlig på sosiale medier.''
"I will be meeting the press today to talk about my sister and Durek, and the criticism of them and the Royal House. I think it's going to go well, but I have a small lump in my stomach, as I have to balance two considerations that are both important to me. It is the consideration of the institution, which I spend my life on. And the human consideration, i.e. my family.
I want to take care of both the institution and the family, and I think we can achieve both at the same time. My sister and Durek should feel looked after, and what we decide on, we should stand together on. This is what I will say to the media afterwards. My sister and Durek must be given the freedom to work with what they believe in, to live their lives the way they want.
I also want to state that I love my sister and that I appreciate Durek. It has been very exciting to get to know him. We are different in many ways, and that also makes it interesting to be with him. It's fun to be challenged and to discuss and chat with someone who thinks differently than myself. And he's funny. Durek has a lot of humour.
We have to tolerate criticism and listen to it. But there is one side of the discussion that is not good at all.
Durek is exposed to racism, especially on social media."
Read more in this TV2-article (
link). Google translation (
link).
Well, I think the Durek-dude should be very glad that the future King is such a nice bloke. Because he really is!
He's kind, friendly, understanding and folksy, all very good qualities for a future monarch!
And I think it's very wise of both the King and Queen and Haakon to be as understanding and careful as they possibly can when it comes to Märtha and Durek. Because if not, the parent-daughter relationship between the Regent-Couple and Märtha (which has always been very strong) could be damaged and we could get something of a British/Danish royal family drama here. The same with the very strong brother-sister relationship between Haakon and Märtha.
But it's also important that they create a distance between the monarchy and Märtha/Durek, which they IMO have been doing!
But the best thing would, of course, have been if Märtha had renounced her princess title, which would have created an even greater distance between Märtha/Durek and the monarchy, but I can't see that happening. I mean, Märtha hasn't exactly been in the habit of putting the monarchy before herself, and I doubt she'll start now.
King Harald and the future King Haakon can (as I said in a previous post), of course, strip her of it, but that will most likely only create family drama.