Royal Profile: Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway was born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby on 19 August 1973{Source}.
Her parents divorced when she was young, but remarried{Source} {Source}. She has a sister, and two older brothers{Source}. When her mother remarried in 1994, she gained at least a stepbrother.

The Crown Princess completed her upper secondary education at Kristiansand Katedralskole in 1994{Source}. During her time at upper secondary school, she spent a year abroad as an exchange student at Wangaratta High School in Australia{Source}. Later the Crown Princess attended Bjørknes Private School {Source}. In 1997 she took Examen philosophicum (the preliminary university examination) as well as examinations in chemistry and information technology at Agder University College{Source}. In 2000-2002, she studied ethics at the Faculty of Social Science and the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Oslo{Source}. In 2003, the Crown Princess followed courses at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, where she took examinations in Development-Experience, Theories of Development, HIV/AIDS and Development and The Global Refugee Crisis{Source}. The Crown Princess also spent three months as an observer at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), where she focused on HIV/AIDS issues{Source}. In autumn 2008, the Crown Princess began studying part-time at BI Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, where she completed her Master of Management in 2012{Source}.

The Crown Princess is deeply committed to a broad range of national and international issues randing from social inclusion, mental health, young leadership, global health issues, entrepreneurship and environmental issues being some of them{Source}.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit is the patron of the Norwegian Red Cross and several other organizations{Source}. Through the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s Foundation, the Crown Princess contributes to projects supporting young people at risk. On her many visits representing Norway, the Crown Princess actively promotes Norwegian trade and industry, culture, architecture and design{Source}. Since 2001, the Crown Princess she has been actively involved in HIV/AIDS-related work{Source}. In April 2006, she was appointed Special Representative for UNAIDS. In this capacity she has traveled to Nicaragua, Ukraine and Mali, and on several occasions led the Norwegian delegations to the biennial International AIDS conference{Source}. A main focus for the Crown Princess is to strengthen youth leadership and form international partnerships in the AIDS response {Source}. In 2010 Crown Princess Mette-Marit was appointed Young Global Leader under the World Economic Forum {Source}. In 2012 she became a member of the international Foundation Board of the Global Shapers Community{Source}.

She met her prince charming at Quart Festival only to meet him again the next year prior to starting their romance {Source}. Her engagement to Crown Prince Haakon was announced on 1 December 2000{Source}. She was married to Crown Prince Haakon in Oslo Cathedral on 25 August 2001{Source}. Together, they have two children, and she also has a son from a previous relationship:

• Mr. Marius Borg Høiby (1997)
• HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004)
• HH Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway (2005)

The Crown Princess’s leisure interests include outdoor recreational activities, physical exercise and literature{Source}.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess have an active family life and spend a great deal of time with their young children enjoying indoor and outdoor recreational activities, including sport and cultural activities{Source}.
She keeps an active presence on Twitter {Follow Her}.
She speaks fluent English & Norwegian at the very least.
In 2012, she traveled to India to care for twins who were born to a surrogate mother of a gay palace employee who had been unable to get a travel visa to India {Source}.
In the 2011 Norway shooting, her stepbrother was killed {Source}.
The Crown Princess did not attend his funeral {Source}.
No official reason for her not attending was given, but it's likely due to not wanting to make one loss bigger than the others. The Crown Princess did however attend a memorial service for ALL of the victims.She is known for a fear of flying {Source}.
In February 2012, she and Crown Prince Haakon were forced to evacuate their commercial flight when it ran into mechanical trouble {Source}.
In May 2013, she gave a speech at the The 2013 Impact Awards {Source}
She is a patron of{Source}:

• The Norwegian Guide and Scout Association
• Amandus Film Festival
• Kristiansand International Children’s Film Festival
• Risør Festival of Chamber Music
• FOKUS – Forum for Women and Development
• The Norwegian Design Council
• The Norwegian Red Cross
• The Norwegian Council for Mental Health
• Full-rigged Ship Sørlandet
• Oslo International Church Music Festival

She is godmother to:

• Prince Odysseus-Kimon of Greece and Denmark (2004)
• Prince Christian of Denmark (2005)
• Emma Tallulah Behn (2008) (her niece by marriage)

Due to the Succession Act of Succession of 1990, her daughter (and oldest child) will one day be Crown Princess and eventually Queen regent of Norway.

Like her mother-in-law before her, she was also a commoner, thus Mette-Marit will be the second commoner Queen of Norway.

The future Norwegian consort suffers from debilitating vertigo{Source}. Crown Princess Mette-Marit suffers from aviophobia {fear of Flying-and she's not the only royal to do so, as does The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg!} {Source}. In more recent years, she has announced she is suffering from a chronic pulmonary disease {Source}