(26 Aug 2001)
1. Crown Prince Haakon arriving at church
2. King Harald V and Queen Sonja arriving at church
3. Bride, Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby, arriving
4. Cutaway of crowd
5. Bride arriving and being greeted by groom, and they walk into church
6. Cutaway of crowd
7. Close up young girl in crowd wearing golden crown
8. Wide pan from crowd to couple on balcony waving to royal crowd
9. Royal couple kiss
STORYLINE:
A young single mother became Norway's Crown Princess and future Queen on Saturday.
Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby, a 28-year-old Norwegian commoner, married Crown Prince Haakon in a Lutheran ceremony that began at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) before around 800 guests, including much of Europe's royalty.
The first royal wedding since 1968, when Haakon's parents, King Harald V and Queen Sonja married, was expected to draw as many as 120-thousand people - 25 percent of Oslo's population- along the wedding procession route from the palace to the cathedral.
Hoiby's relationship with the Prince has transformed her from student and part-time waitress to one of the most photographed women in Norway.
Prince Haakon's choice of wife, a single mother with drugs in her past, stirred heated debate in this liberal nation of 4.5 million.
Cohabitation and having children out of wedlock are commonplace, but Norwegians generally have strongly negative views about narcotics.
The father of Hoiby's 4-year-old son Marius has been convicted of drug possession.
Haakon said he never faced having to choose between the throne or marrying the one he loved because his family was supportive of his choice.
The Norwegian capital has been preparing for days for what is expected to be one of its biggest-ever street parties.
About 1,000 police will be out, partly because of worries that crowds could be so tightly packed that people might get hurt.
But the unusually large police presence was also to guard the many European royals attending, including the British princes Charles and Edward, Spanish Crown Prince Felipe and the monarchs of Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Hoiby was born and raised in the southern town of Kristiansand.
She met Haakon in 1996, but they did not become a couple until 1999 after they met again at an outdoor rock concert.
Although groomed from birth to become king, Haakon went to public schools in Norway and the University of California-Berkeley, served in the Norwegian navy, and underwent diplomatic training.
Haakon's father King Harald held out for nine years before winning permission from his own father, King Olav V, to marry Sonja Haraldsen, now Queen Sonja.
Norway's modern monarchy is relatively new, created upon independence from Sweden in 1905.
Olav wanted his son to marry a princess to help establish the Royal House.
Harald said he quickly accepted his son's choice of a spouse, even though he knew it would stir debate, especially among older Norwegians.
During the evening there will be two separate wedding banquets, because of space restrictions, followed by fireworks.
The couple's honeymoon plans are secret.
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