Palace officials, under pressure following months of intense and unusually critical media coverage of the royal family, confirmed a royal engagement was forthcoming during a meeting Monday with the heads of major newspapers and television stations. Norway's national wire service and every major media outlet picked up the story, and then proceeded to report reaction to a royal engagement from a host of top politicians and even the bishop of Oslo.
But the crown prince stressed later Monday afternoon that "we're not engaged yet." Haakon and his girlfriend, Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, made a rare appearance together in a local Oslo park, strolling hand in hand in a somewhat bizarre walk that attracted hordes of reporters.
Haakon said the pair didn't want to hold any sort of press conference there and then, adding that "we really just want to tone all this down." He warned against anyone jumping to any conclusions regarding an eventual engagement.
Palace officials later toned down their earlier statements and said they certainly didn't mean to make any engagement announcement. In fact, admitted the top palace spokesman, "we are not aware that Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby have decided to get engaged."
The palace had called the editors in for "an open dialogue" about media coverage of the royals. The editors were told that Tjessem Høiby, who has never publicly commented on her relationship with Haakon, would meet reporters later this fall, likely in connection with an engagement announcement.
Among those attending the meeting at the palace were top editors from NRK and TV2, newspapers Aftenposten, Dagbladet, Dagsavisen and VG, wire service NTB and magazine Se og Hør. The latter has been the most aggressive in its royal coverage and initially broke the story about Haakon's at-the-time new girlfriend last December.
The relationship has caused a lot of royal worry both inside and outside the palace, mainly because Tjessem Høiby is widely considered an unconventional candidate to be Norway's next queen.
Tjessem Høiby, 27, is an unwed mother from Kristiansand who allegedly has links to criminal circles in Norway. The father of her young son has been convicted of drug possession and Haakon himself has confirmed she was an active member of Oslo's drug-infested "house-party" scene in the 1990s.
King Harald, however, has publicly voiced his support for the match and said both he and Queen Sonja have grown fond of Mette-Marit. Palace officials reportedly contend there is nothing in Tjessem Høiby's background that make her ill-suited to be queen.
