The princess is winding up a goodwill tour of Peru and Bolivia, where she's been visiting Norwegian-backed aid projects. She met reporters in Lima and seized the opportunity to speak out about public controversy surrounding her relationship with Behn, who was recently portrayed in a television documentary where he was surrounded by Polish prostitutes in Las Vegas who were sniffing cocaine.
"This has been very difficult for me," the princess told newspaper Dagbladet. "There have been so many rumors and not many truths."
The princess went on to imply that she often can't recognize descriptions of either herself or others she knows.
"If you merely go out to a disco, you suddenly get branded as landing in the narcotics world," she said. "Unfortunately it is true that there are a lot of drugs at discos and nightclubs, but I distance myself from that."
She also noted that she has grown up with police escorts and "wise parents" who helped warn both herself and her brother, Crown Prince Haakon, about the hazards of drug use.
She claimed that her personal dislike for narcotics has been so strong that she has stepped in to try to prevent friends from dabbling in drugs.
The princess has been repeatedly asked by anti-drugs groups in Norway in recent weeks to make a public statement condemning drug use. Several were glad she finally did so.
"Of course it's positive that she's taking a positive stand in this debate," said Anne Bleiklie of Youth Against Narcotics in Oslo. "We've always figured we had the royal family on our side."
Aftenposten Interactive English Desk
Nina Berglund
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