The bride:

Miss Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby

Publisert 23.08.2001 17:06 - Oppdatert 02.04.2002 11:53

Miss Høiby has two brothers, Espen (41) and Per Høiby (38), and one sister, Kristin Høiby Bjørnøy (36).

Engagement

She met Crown Prince Haakon briefly already four years ago through mutual friends, but it was not until the summer of 1999 that they really got to know each other.

They became a couple in the autumn of 1999 and the romance became publicly known towards the end of the year. The Crown Prince himself confirmed the relationship in a TV interview in May 2000.

On 1st December of that year, the royal court announced the engagement between the Crown Prince and Miss Tjessem Høiby.

Miss Tjessem Høiby has a son, Marius Borg Høiby, born 13 January 1997.

School start: 7 years old

Education

She got her primary education at Slettheia skole and then at Fiskå ungdomsskole. After spending half a year at Oddernes upper secondary school in Kristiansand, she spent six months at Wangaratta High School in Australia as an exchange student.

On moving back to Norway, she attended Kristiansand Katedralskole, where she passed her final exams in 1994.

After a break from her studies, Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby attended Bjørknes Private School and graduated in five subjects in the spring 1997, just a few months after having her son.

Later she took the preliminary university examination (examen philosophicum) at Agder College and then attended lectures in social anthropology and ethical subjects at the University of Oslo.

At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December 2000.

Official duties

She has had few official duties as Crown Prince Haakon’s fiancée. Her first official appearance was at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo City Hall on 10 December 2000.

On 21 May this year she was among the guests when Prince Constantijn of Netherlands married Laurentien Brinkhorst in Haag, and this was her first introduction to the European royal families.

Special interests

Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby has engaged in numerous leisure activities such as ballet, the Scouts, children’s choir and volleyball (also as coach and referee).

She is interested in travel, art and culture, especially literature and music. She also has a strong social commitment and was the initiator of The Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s Humanitarian Fund, which will be established on the wedding day and is to be donated to charity.