Queen begins state visit to Norway

The Queen receives a warm greeting from King Harald

The Queen is in Norway on Wednesday on a short state visit to the capital Oslo.

She was greeted by Norway's heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, whose forthcoming marriage in August is causing controversy in the country.

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will meet Prince Haakon's bride-to-be, Mette Marit Tjessem Hoiby - during the one-and-a-half-day itinerary.

The 27-year-old prince has already moved into a luxury apartment with his fiancée - a single mother - whom he intends to marry in August.

Controversial wedding

The relationship between his parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, also caused controversy in the past.

When Harald fell in love with Sonja Haraldsen - a commoner - back in 1959, it was nine years before his father, King Olav, gave the royal blessing for a wedding. But times have changed.

Meeting the "controversial" crown prince

The Norwegian Royals feel at home in Britain where King Harald, now 64, a former Olympic and world-champion yachtsman, studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College, Oxford.

Both Britain and Norway are constitutional monarchies where the Labour Party has recently held power.

Labour is currently a minority government in Norway under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

It is the Queen's third state visit to Norway, following visits in 1955 and 1981.

On this occasion, the Queen and Prince Philip are without the now decommissioned Royal Yacht Britannia, but the Royal Navy's flagship, HMS Illustrious, will arrive in Oslo on Thursday to support the state visit.