SPEECHES AT THE DINNER AT THE ROYAL PALACE
Speech by HM The King
Your Majesties
Your Royal Highnesses
Your Excellencies
President of the Storting
Ladies and gentlemen
Dear Bride and Groom
First of all The Queen and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our foreign guests welcome. Many of you have travelled a long way to be here today and we appreciate that you wanted to share this special day with us.
Since this is a special Norwegian occasion, I hope you will accept my apologies for giving this speech in Norwegian.
Dear Bride and Groom,
Dear family, official representatives from Norway and friends.
The Queen and I would like to welcome you all to this wedding today. We are very glad that you are able to celebrate this great day together with us. The marriage of one’s only son is a great event, and so is gaining a new member of the family. Because we are such a small Royal Family, we are very close to each other. We are linked not only by family ties, but also by the common tasks we have been called on to undertake.
Dear Mette-Marit,
First I would like to welcome you with all my heart into the family, and to the tasks that you will now be part of. This evening you are sitting here as a newly married couple. This is in many ways the culmination of a process that has been going on for almost two years. For The Queen and me, this has been a challenging and valuable process, but above all it has been a good one.
On several occasions I have read that you are an ordinary young woman who has become Norway’s Crown Princess today. This does not fit with my own impression. You are not an ordinary young woman. You are an extraordinary young woman.
You are extraordinarily open and honest.
You are extraordinarily committed.
You have an extraordinary determination.
You have extraordinary courage.
Today you have made an extraordinary choice.
You are in love with Haakon to an extraordinary extent.
And today you have chosen to embark on an extraordinary life.
Your ability to care for others is clear to everyone. It is reflected in all your actions, especially in your role as Marius’s mother. The Queen and I have become very fond of you, and have deep respect for what you stand for.
Dear Haakon,
Most people regard making choices as one of the most important parts of their lives. An heir to the throne is born to a role that he is expected to accept. But you have never accepted that your destiny was predetermined. You didn’t wish merely to accept a role. You embarked on a process that involved a good deal doubt and hesitation. You worked your way through this and then concluded that you wished to fill your role, and that you would place yourself at the disposal of the Norwegian people if they so wished.
The fact that you have always had to ask questions before going into a new situation has not always made life easy for you, but it has allowed you to make your life your own, and in this way you have made your destiny your own personal choice.
You have close contact with the time we are living in, you are concerned about the issues of our time, and you are living in accordance with the trends of our time. This has been a challenge not only to your parents, but to others as well. However, those who are close to you see other sides of you that have become more visible recently.
In the field of sport, you have always sought challenges, tested limits and taken chances, but we have also been aware that you have a gentler side, which has become clearer since you met Mette-Marit.
We have also got a much clearer picture of the values and the traditions you stand for through the choices you have made in the last couple of years. You have now found your own path, founded on the traditions and values of our nation.
Today you have confirmed your choice of wife. This is one of the most important personal choices we make in our lives. The Queen/Mother and I are very proud of your choice.
Dear bride and groom,
During the last few months, you have experienced the enormous interest aroused by your engagement and marriage. Your life together will also be the object of much greater attention that that of ordinary couples who start out on their lives together.
You are privileged, and you will have a wealth of opportunities that no one else in our country has. You will live an extraordinary life.
In your life together it is important that you accept this extraordinary aspect. At the same time you must not lose sight of yourselves, or of the family life that you will be building. Perhaps the most important thing is that you continue to talk to each other, something that you yourselves have said means so much in your relationship.
You have included The Queen and me in these talks many times. This has given us a great deal - in many ways it has given our lives a new dimension, and we therefore hope that these talks, too, will continue.
Now I would like to ask you all to join me in a toast to the bride and groom, and to wish them every happiness in their future lives.
Speech by Marit Tjessem
Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Dear Bride and Groom,
Congratulations dear Haakon and Mette-Marit! This is truly a great day for all of us, and it gives us great pleasure to see your radiant happiness and love.
Like most people in this country, I never thought I would be a guest at the Palace. The King’s palace was the stuff of fairytales and fantasy. I must admit that it is all a little unreal.
I have always been certain that you would be a beautiful bride, Mette-Marit. But today I see that you are even more beautiful and more elegant than I could ever imagine.
All through your life you have been a very special person for your parents and your siblings. You have been a ray of sunshine and a great source of pleasure for all of us. I hope that you will give as much pleasure and inspiration to Haakon and all the others your meet along your way. We are extremely proud of you.
The task you are embarking on is a great and important one. I hope that you will be able to support and encourage each other. Practise taking care of each other. Good luck with your life and work together!
I know that one of the most important things in your lives is being able to talk to each other and with other people. I hope that you will continue to spend time and effort on preserving such golden moments.
Mette-Marit, you have a wonderful husband. Haakon charmed us all from the very beginning, and we have all become extremely fond of him. Thank you, Haakon, for the way you have accepted Mette-Marit - and the whole of our family.
I would also like to thank The King and Queen and Princess Märtha Louise for the warmth with which they have received us. We have always felt welcome and surrounded by affection. We are very moved by the way you have included us and taken care of us.
On behalf of our whole family, I would like to thank you, King Harald, Queen Sonja and Princess Märtha Louise, for giving us so much support, - and above all for the way you have accepted Mette-Marit.
Good luck, dear Haakon and Mette-Marit! I wish you every happiness with the words of the poem 'Being Great' by Tove Houck:
"Great deeds are not what make you great
deeds are often an expression of the abilities life has given you
but the love that warms your deeds
the goodness that smiles in your hands
show how great you really are."
Speech by HRH The Crown Prince
Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
President of the Storting,
Dear Mette-Marit,
Now we’re here. Now we’re together.
I would like to thank you, Father, Marit and the President of the Storting for your inspiring words.
Dear Marit, Sven, Espen, Per and Kristin. It has been a great pleasure getting to know you and your families. I felt welcome from the very start. And although it’s not always easy to be related to the woman who is to marry the Crown Prince, you have never let this get in the way of our friendship. I always enjoy visiting you in Kristiansand, at the family parties at Høyvoll, or at Aunt Sidsel and Uncle Ivar’s. I feel I’ve got to know you well in the relatively short time we’ve been together, and I’m happy that I can now call you my family.
Dear Mother and Father, dear Märtha, you have always been a fantastic support for me, and now also for Mette-Marit. We’ve spent many long evenings talking and discussing over the last year. This has taught me a lot and given me a good feeling. Although it has been tough at times, I feel that it has helped us grow. You are all strong, tolerant people with a great capacity for love. The way you have accepted Mette-Marit and Marius has been wonderful. Thank you for all your support and care.
I would also like to thank Lord Chamberlain Lars Petter Forberg, Private Secretary Berit Tversland, Head of Information Wenche Rasch, and the entire staff of the Palace. Thank you for your tireless efforts and dedication. You have all been of invaluable assistance to us.
My heartfelt thanks also go to all those throughout the country who have supported us in their thoughts and prayers, with handshakes, letters and good wishes. This has warmed and brightened our days.
Dear Mette-Marit,
Your soul glows with light.
Living, that means loving
The loftiest part of your soul;
Living, that means striving
To achieve the most worthy goal.
This is what is essential. Everything we do with love comes alive. If loving is combined with striving, each of us can achieve 'the most worthy goal'. Mette-Marit, you are sensitive, easy to please, detail-oriented, sometimes a bit apathetic, intensely committed, highly strung, courageous, inscrutable. You can be defensive - or resolute, you have a good sense of humour and a big and warm heart. In other words you are an absolutely fantastic, complex person.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry with anyone as with you.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so weak or so strong as when I’ve been together with you.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so filled with love as when I am together with you.
You bring out everything that is in me. When we communicate I feel like a whole person. Thank you for giving me this feeling.
Today you are no longer only my friend, my girlfriend and my fiancée. Today we have been married, and you have become Norway’s Crown Princess. I am looking forward to taking up our tasks side by side with you, and together with Marius. I cannot promise that it will be easy or that there will be no problems, but it will be interesting and meaningful.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to live together with Marius. This is a gift in itself.
Thank you for your love and for everything you’ve done, Mette-Marit. I’m proud to call myself your husband.
For now we’re here. Now we’re together.
Mette-Marit, I love you.
And now I would like to propose a toast to the bride.