Crown Princess Mette-Marit turns 50: - When you turn 50, you actually realize that life is not endless

Crown Princess Mette-Marit turns 50 on Saturday. Next week there will be a big backyard party at the castle for a double 50th-anniversary celebration.

Neidenelva 20230711. Crown Princess Mette-Marit photographed by the Neidenelva in Sør-Varanger municipality. The Crown Prince's family is currently sailing with the Royal Ship Norway along the coast of Finnmark.

 - When you turn 50, you actually realize that life is not endless, says Mette-Marit in an interview with the magazine D2 on the occasion of her birthday.

- But there is something very good about this age too. It is a security. I am much less concerned with what people think of me. There are other things that are more important now.

Big backyard party

The birthday itself will be celebrated privately, the Royal Palace informs. But next week, the crown prince couple have been invited to a large joint 50th-anniversary celebration in the backyard of the castle in Oslo.

Around 380 guests from all over the country have been invited.

- Guests from all over Norway are invited. Together with people from all over the country, the crown prince and couple want to use the opportunity to celebrate Norway we have helped to create together over these 50 years, the Royal Palace says.

Crown Prince Haakon turned 50 on 20 July.

In addition to guests from all over the country, representatives from official Norway, including the president of the Storting, the government, the Supreme Court justice, parliamentary leaders, the state administrators and organizational life, will be part of the celebration, according to Slottet.

Mette-Marit became engaged to Crown Prince Haakon on 1 December 2000. They married on 25 August the following year, which is why they have chosen this date for their joint birthday celebration.

Broad commitment

As Crown Princess, Mette-Marit has made a special note of her commitment to literature.

She is also particularly involved with young people in Norway, entrepreneurship, the sea, the environment and sustainability, mental health and global health and development issues, according to the Royal Palace's official biography.

Youth and mental health have become two of her most important areas of work.

- It became important to me for several reasons, she says in the interview with D2.

- Both because I experienced a number of challenges when I was young, where I struggled to find a party in my life, and because I think it was quite challenging in the period when I met my husband, says the crown princess.

Has traveled around the country

Together, the crown prince and couple have marked their 50th birthdays with several trips around Norway over the past six months.

At the end of March, they were in Vinje in Telemark and Bykle in Setesdal to experience Norwegian craft and cultural traditions, and in February the crown prince was on a business visit to Stord. In April, the trip went to Finnmark to highlight the Sami part of Norwegian cultural heritage.

- These journeys culminate in the celebration in the backyard of the castle, where many of those the crown prince couple have met around Norway are also invited, the crown prince couple informs.

They were actually going to Træna in May to highlight the sea and coastal culture, but storms and rain stopped the trip - which was postponed until the end of August. In June, the crown prince couple marked urban culture in Oslo.