"We still get daily requests for more information about her, or about the royal wedding last August," Stein Eriksen at the embassy told newspaper VG. "The interest around the couple is extreme."

Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon will visit several small towns in Germany as part of an official tour May 12-16. The visit already is sparking wide media interest and is sure to be followed closely by flocks of reporters.

"This is a story about a modern, pretty princess who everyone can identify with," claimed one journalist for Bild in Germany, drawing comparisons to the late Princess Diana. "She is a princess of the people," he said, claiming that she "completely overshadows" her husband.

The couple is currently spending the Easter holidays with the rest of the royal family at a timber cabin in the mountains west of Vinstra.

Soon after Easter, on April 9, they'll visit the prison island of Bastøy off Horten, in connection with the 100th anniversary of Bastøy Church.

The couple will visit historic buildings on the site, a former boy's detention facility, and mingle with prisoners.