It is really her daughter-in-law who is the high protector of the Hamsun year, but Queen Sonja was replacing her for the opening today in Oslo.
Norwegianne.net
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Learning the languages of the country?
While in Finnmark, Haakon and Mette-Marit received the question of whether or not Princess Ingrid Alexandra would be receiving training in the Sámi language. The Crown Princely couple replied that it was doubtful as not all schools offer lessons in the language, but that if they really wanted to, they would have to look at the offering in the area.
The Sámi version of NRK has examined the matter further, and for Ingrid Alexandra to receive Sámi classes, there would have to be nine other children on her age level in the municipality demanding it, as she is not of Sámi descent and not living in Oslo. The other option would be private lessons.
If she follows the public school plans, Ingrid Alexandra will start learning English as a second language in elementary school. She will pick up a third language in middle school, with possibilities for picking up more in high school, depending on what the school offers. But presumably, in Asker municipality, there will be no Sámi classes.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra will start elementary school in August 2010.
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Marie’s Danish
In this video posted by Her & NU, from Joachim, Marie, Nikolai and Felix’ winter holiday in Switzerland, we can hear Marie speaking quite a lot of Danish. It is evident that she is still learning the language, as she sometimes looks to Joachim for explanation to certain questions the journalists are asking, or how to phrase certain replies, and she also speaks English and French in the video. However, the chief parts of the Danish pronunciation seems to be in place. It does not sound overly French-Danish. Furthermore, she seems to answer the questions in the language she gets them, if she can.
For someone who’s been learning the language for a year, I would say, it is a fairly good effort so far.
For those curious about the pregnancy, they said that it is going well, but that she’s having back-pains and therefore some trouble sleeping. (After which Nikolai was ready with questions about pregnancy- which were probably more detailed than his father was ready to answer in front of journalists, as he was stopped rather quickly 😉 )
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Norwegian official visit to Mexico
The Norwegian royal court has announced that Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will be making an official visit to Mexico, from March 16 to March 19.
With their official visit to Chile last year, Mette-Marit caught the stomach bug, and Haakon had to make the trip on his own. One hopes that they will be luckier this time.
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The Norwegian Institute of Fashion
Tonight, the Norwegian Institute of Fashion opened its doors for the first time, during the Oslo Fashion Week. Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who has made a habit of fronting Norwegian fashion and designers, attended the opening. She is the high protector of the Norwegian Design Council.
The institute has been in the works since 2006. The aim of getting such an organization together is to make the Norwegian fashion world more professional, and to raise the level of ambition and knowledge to those working in the industry.
The purpose of the fashion institute is to build networks, cooperation between subject areas, supervise trends, work at knowledge development, recruit and be an unifying channel towards embassies, financial institutions and investors. With the current financial situation of the world in mind, it seems to be a smart choice to try to work together as a whole to promote the fashion rather than have everyone make their own way.
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How well do you know your English dynasties?
Sporcle has a timed quiz going on to see how many of the English royal dynasties you can name. Some of them may be self evident, whilst others may be hidden well within your mind. I got stuck with one remaining for what felt like ages, but eventually perservered.
It’s quite entertaining, and at most takes two minutes, so I suggest you give it a go and leave a comment with how you did. 🙂
Good luck.
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Haakon and Mette-Marit in Finnmark
As is the tradition for the Norwegian Crown Princely couples, Haakon and Mette-Marit visited Finnmark and the Sami people last week. Their visit started in Kautekeino on February 5 and ended in Karasjok on the 6.
Haakon’s grandparents King (then Crown Prince) Olav and Crown Princess Märtha visited Finnmark in 1934, his parents, Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja visited in 1969, and now, in 2009, it was Haakon and Mette-Marit’s turn. (Nordlys has a side-by-side comparison of a picture from the two last visits.)
The Royal House apparently has a very solid position within the Sámi community.
The occasion for this visit was the Sámi National Day on February 6.
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1015 København K: One reader’s review
I picked this book up in October 2007, as something to read on a long train ride. It was a substitute for the gossip magazines I would buy on other occasions when I am on a journey. As a substitute for that, it works just fine. The style is similar to the style of Ekstrabladet, Billedbladet, Hello, etc. There is nothing new there – it’s not the work of a Nobel laureate, but the work of a journalist who has had the focus on the royals for some time.