Norway is still a kingdom, with a king with absolutely no power at all. But you do need someone to cut ribbons and be an ambassador, and this job is done. At a cost. It’s said we have the second most costly royal family in Europe, but everything else costs so much here, so why not them too.
I am no expert on royal families. I do not read the tabloids, but there is no way to avoid the facts.
The king and queen have two kids, crown prince Haakon and princess Martha. Martha is married to a crazy author, has 3 girls and runs an angel-school (like, get in touch with invisible angles around you…). Haakon is married to what used to be a single mom with a frilly past, and they have 2 kids together.
If you want to know more, why not go directly to the source? http://www.kongehuset.no/english/vis.html (their official web page in english)