"I hope we're good friends," King Harald said when asked about his relationship to his sister after her comments on a nationally broadcast documentary earlier this month.
"It would be sad if this affected our family relations," he added.
King Harald noted that he didn't see the documentary, called "Princess in exile," which was aimed to profile Princess Ragnhild 50 years after she left Norway to live in Brazil with her Norwegian businessman husband Erling Lortenzen.
In the program, she dished out harsh criticism of the king's son and daughter (Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Martha Louise) and especially their choice of spouses (Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Ari Behn). Among other things, Princess Ragnhild said she hoped she would die before Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit become Norway's next king and queen.
Her comments, said King Harald, simply show that conflict "can happen in most families, not just in the best families."
Some Norwegians have said Princess Ragnhild's comments can weaken the monarchy in Norway, but King Harald didn't seem particularly worried.
Support for the monarchy, he said, "has always gone in waves. Next year, the Norwegian monarchy will be 100 years old. In these hundred years, its popularity has gone up and down."
He said he's pleased with the job his son Crown Prince Haakon is doing while he remains on sick leave following cancer surgery in December.
"I've told him that 'I'm here if there's anything you need to ask about,'" King Harald said. "But there's been very little he's asked about."
He added that he's feeling good, thought it was "so boring" to be on sick leave, and looked forward to sailing in a regatta off Florida this week. He said he hopes to be back at work, attending to royal duties, after Easter.
