Experts: 'Many share princess' feelings'

Princess Ragnhild's own marriage to Erling Lorentzen in 1953 was controversial at the time, even though he was a resistance hero from World War II and part of the official escort that brought the royal family back to Norway after their war years in exile.

Many at the time believed royals should only marry other royals, but Princess Ragnhild fell in love with Lorentzen and was determined to marry him. The marriage was allowed only after the late King Haakon, her grandfather, gave his approval.

She admitted in TV2's documentary that she thinks many people were glad that the couple moved to Brazil after their wedding.

Lars O Gulbrandsen, who wrote a book about Princess Ragnhild, told news bureau NTB that he things the demands made on her have coloured her views. Her decades in Brazil, where Catholocism dictates many lifestyles, also have influenced her, he says.

"When Erling Lorentzen and Princess Ragnhild became a couple, they couldn't even go to the movies without being engaged," Gulbrandsen told newspaper VG. "They had to hinder speculation about their relationship."

"She is clearly influenced by a time when there were very high expectations of royalty, and she is very pre-occupied with the royal family's well-being," he said.

Carl-Erik Grimstad, a former official at the palace who now holds lectures on the royals, says he thinks many older Norwegians share Princess Ragnhild's criticism of the new royal spouses.

"I think her opinions are very common within the older generation," Grimstad said. Even politicians who were angered by Princess Ragnhild's remarks had to agree.

"I have understood that many in the older generation reacted when the royal children married as they did," Kjell Engebretsen of the Labour Party admitted to newspaper VG. "But the younger generation likes it. The monarchy also must be allowed to evolve as well."

He doesn't think the royal flap over Princess Ragnhild's criticism will hurt the monarchy. "I think she should be more concerned about the president in Brazil than the monarchy in Norway," he said. "We can take care of it ourselves."