New Norwegian Prince

Norway has a new prince and his name is Sverre Magnus.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway gave birth to a boy last Saturday morning (Dec 3) at Rikshospitalet, Oslo. In line with tradition, a special sitting of parliament was held at the royal palace in Oslo on Monday morning (Dec 5) to approve the baby’s name. Afterwards the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenburg, made a public announcement that the baby would be called Sverre Magnus, pronounced ‘Svair-ah Mahg-noos’. The boy is the second child of Mette-Marit and her husband Crown Prince Haakon. He is third in line to the Norwegian throne after his father and elder sister, Ingrid Alexander, who will turn two in January. Unlike his father, mother and sister, the new prince will not carry the title His Royal Highness. A beaming Crown Prince said, at a press conference held a few hours after the birth,"We have had a son. And mother and child are fine”. He revealed that the baby was 52 centimeters (20.5 inches) long and weighed 3,944 grams (8 lbs and 11 oz) and that he cut the umbilical cord. The Crown Prince and Princess took the first official photographs of their son themselves and published them on the Royal Family’s website. This is Mette-Marit's third child as she already has a son, Marius, 8, from a previous relationship, a fact that stirred controversy when the royal couple’s romance first came to public attention. They married in 2001.