King Harald of Norway has praised his future daughter-in-law for her courageous decision yesterday to publicly address her wild past. Calling Mette-Marit “brave and honest,” the Scandinavian monarch told a Norwegian newspaper that he had great respect for her and that he had grown “very fond” of her.
“I’ve always viewed her as both a brave and honest woman, and now I think everyone can understand what I mean,” he said. His views on the woman who, on Saturday, will walk up the aisle of Oslo’s Domkirke Cathedral and marry Crown Prince Haakon, are shared by one of the country’s most conservative bishops, who was strongly opposed to the couple living together out of wedlock.
“I think it was appropriate for her to make such amends,” said Bishop Odd Bondevik. “Everyone has something in their past that they’re ashamed of, and now we should judge Tjessem Hoiby for the person she is today.”
The bishop feels that her public admission will help boost her standing among Norwegians – and a poll taken yesterday seems to show that he is right. Eighty-four per cent of the people questioned thought it was “positive” that Mette-Marit apologised for her colourful past, and around 70 per cent now think that the single mother will make a good queen.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
