Yesterday there was an interview with Crown Prince Haakon in Magasinet. The interview was done while he was in East Timor with UNDP.
Some translated outtakes, as it is a lengthy interview. There is a lot of discussion on the Millennium Development Goals, the UNDP and the trip in general.
On January 24, Princess Astrid’s husband, Johan Martin Ferner, passed away. He was buried earlier this week. He was, in short, the model of the perfect royal in-law – never in the papers for his own gain, never speaking about his royal relatives, had a thriving business and life of his own, and always two step behind Astrid when she was out representing. Certain royal in-laws could learn a lot from him.
10 days before his death, Princess Astrid gave an interview to the weekend edition of Dagbladet, Magasinet. According to the wishes of the Princess and the court, the interview was published yesterday, as it was originally written. I have translated out-takes of the interview, below.
The interview took place in the Minister Salon at the Royal Palace in Oslo.
Princess Marie was interviewed in the Danish magazine Costume for the November issue. I bought the issue when I was in Denmark last week, and below are some translated out-takes of what she said.
In general, it is a nice enough interview, but as it is in a fashion magazine, it does not get too deep, or ask too many critical questions.
The weekend supplement to the Norwegian newspaper VG received an interview with Mette-Marit during the recent literary train ride. Snippets from the interview translated below.
I find it interesting that her reading habits (not what she reads, but how she reads) mimics my own. Because I read a lot. And I read everywhere. Even before I got the Kindle app on my iPhone, I would frequently walk around with books in my bag to read when I had a minute or two.
The programme is meant to follow Haakon to places that have been important to him so far in his life. The interviewer was Hans Olav Brenner, one of the names on a list that the palace gave to NRK when they agreed to the interview. (Which also turned out to get them into a media storm. You can really tell that it is not much else going on in Norway at the moment.)
My transcription below is very stream of consciousness as I am watching. The quotes aren’t alway directly translated, but to get the gist of them. They talk quickly.
I have mixed it a bit between calling the interviewer Brenner and just using I: when he is talking.
Link to the video of the interview at NRK’s site.
Personally, I am not crazy about the interviewer, as I think he usually jumps around a lot – but in this case I think it sort of worked. It’s a good interview, and Haakon has some reflections on his role that I think are interesting.
Just a notice that on Saturday, there will be a documentary and interview with Crown Prince Haakon on NRK. It may be available for international viewers, on their webpages.
The programme is called Kronprins Haakon – veien til et kongerike and airs on NRK July 20, at 20:10 Norwegian time.
I will try to summarize afterwards in English.
After returning from their honeymoon, Chris O’Neill and Princess Madeleine gave an interview to Svenska Dagbladet.
Can I just say how nice I found it that they didn’t go with some of the self-declared Swedish royal expert journalists for this, and a paper that appears to be not as “sensationalistic” as some of the more tabloid newspapers.
Did it feel a bit like the question about Madeleine’s previous engagement was approved with the couple, just so she could say that she’s ever so happy with her new husband?
Crown Princess Mette-Marit was interviewed in the Norwegian publication Natt & Dag. Here is a link to the original interview, including pictures.
I have translated bits of the interview.
Just a reminder: the programme where Rania, Haakon and Mette-Marit were interviewed by Christiane Amanpour, will air today, Friday. CNNi: 20:00 London | 21:00 Berlin
Amanpour’s interviews can also (one hopes this also will be true of this one) be found on iTunes, for free.