The three-day wedding festivities for Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and his fiancée Mette-Marit continued Friday with a royal cruise and a gala dinner.
The couple hosted the pre-wedding cruise for a selection of guests, including many of Europe’s young royals, on Friday afternoon. The group sailed the Oslo Fjord on the royal yacht Norge, a craft given to King Haakon VII, the Crown Prince’s great-grandfather, as a gift from Norway in 1947.
Wearing a blazer and naval cap, his arm around his casually-dressed bride-to-be, Haakon waved to crowds waiting on the shore during the voyage. The yacht’s route took the party past Aker Brygge, a public waterfront complex where well-wishers were gathered to catch a glimpse of the happy couple.
Royals were not the only special guests on the yacht - Mette-Marit’s maid of honour Linda Tanevik and American friends from the crown prince’s years at the University of California, Berkeley, were also along for the ride.
Later on Friday evening, Haakon and Mette-Marit were honoured by Norway’s government at a gala dinner at Oslo’s 14th-century Akershus castle. As the evening began, all eyes were on Mette-Marit, picture-perfect in a floor-length gown of ice blue Thai silk, as she arrived on the arm of her prince. At her throat she wore the famous ‘fan-diadem’ diamond heirloom necklace, a gift from her future in-laws that was first given by England’s Queen Victoria to her granddaughter Queen Maud.
Among the 320 guests at the banquet were the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and Queen Margrethe of Denmark and her son, Haakon’s best man, Crown Prince Frederick. Another heir to the throne, Spain’s Prince Felipe, arrived not with girlfriend Eva Sannum, but with his cousin, Nikolaos of Greece. King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden attended with their elegant daughters Victoria and Madeleine, who both wore delicate pastel gowns and jewelled chokers.
During the gala event, the groom addressed the guests, giving thanks for the support that he and his family have received. In an emotional and sometimes light-hearted speech, the Crown Prince acknowledged that his choice of bride had been difficult for some to accept, and vowed that he and Mette-Marit would build “a life and service based on a combination of tradition and renewal.” He also thanked those who had so warmly embraced Mette-Marit and her son Marius from a previous relationship.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
