Her Highness Princess Märtha Louise of Norway has opened up about motherhood in a new interview with the Norwegian women’s magazine, Kvinner og Klær (KK); her colleague, Elisabeth Nordeng was also interviewed. They had both just returned from India for a retreat related to their Soul Spring business.
Admittedly for the Princess, she was not keen on having children and never had a real connection with them until she met her nephew, Marius Borg Høiby. Marius is the son of her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Mette-Marit through a previous relationship. He was adopted as one of the family after Mette-Marit married Crown Prince Haakon.
The journalist hosting the interview, Kjersti Salvesen, described Märtha Louise as the talkative type. Her Highness gives out sound advice in the interview, “If you have any problems, you should talk to your mum.” She added that she often speaks to her mother, Queen Sonja about her problems.
“When I was younger…I was pretty bad with children. They just started to cry when I spoke to them. Marius was the first child I felt that I clicked properly with; we two have had a lot of fun together. He was three when I got to know him, and we became good friends,” the Princess remarked about her nephew and her relationship with children.
Her Highness said she considered parenthood as a gift and went on to say that having children changes you and your perspective. The child must come first, “You have no choice …You just have to orient you. For suddenly there is someone else who controls when you can sleep and must be awake. Seeing how tired you may be, but still, [be able to] function is a valuable experience. One becomes rounder from being a mum; you learn to take things more on the fly.”
Additionally, Märtha Louise explained that children give parents an opportunity to work through any trauma in their young lives, which allows them to reset themselves.
Elizabeth, who has children a few years older than the Princess, agreed and told her friend that going back through adolescence is a challenge. She said she has often thought, “Who is 16 years old now? Is it the kid or me?”
Salvesen concluded the interview by asking what the Princess wanted her children to remember her by, and she replied, “I hope that my children feel that I am the secure base – but I also hope that they perceive me as an honest mother, who meets them as they are. When they are a little bit bigger, I hope that the children know that I am always there for them – that they can always come to me to talk or just be together.”
