20 AUGUST 2001
As if there weren’t enough excitement in the air in Oslo as the city gears up for the wedding of Norway’s crown prince this Saturday, there is now added speculation as to who will be accompanying his elder sister, Princess Martha Louise, to the festivities.

Over recent months, the princess’ relationship with established Norwegian writer Ari Behn has become increasingly solid, to the extent that she is now quite happy to stroll about publicly hand in hand with her boyfriend, as these pictures at a recent equestrian event show.

Martha Louise, who turns 30 in September, is also clearly on excellent terms with Ari’s family, and recently accompanied his mother, Marianne, on a visit to a beauty salon. All these indications have led to heavy speculation in the Norwegian press that it will be 28-year-old Ari who is at Martha Louise’s side this weekend when Crown Prince Haakon marries Mette-Marit Tjessem in the country’s biggest royal wedding since the now King Harald wed Sonja Haraldsen more than 30 years ago.

Like Britain’s prime minister and his family, Martha Louise chose Cornwall in the southwest of Britain for her summer vacation. She and Ari spent four weeks on holiday there together, returning to Oslo just recently for the run-up to Haakon’s wedding.