Norway's crown princess mistaken for nanny while minding couple's surrogate children in India

OSLO - When friends of Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit couldn't travel to India to welcome their surrogate twins into the world, the royal stepped up to the task, minding the couple's newly born children for three days and being mistaken by hospital staff for a nanny.

Royal Court spokeswoman Marianne Hagen on Monday said the princess flew to Delhi on Oct. 23, after visa problems prevented the children's Norwegian parents from arriving at the hospital in time for the birth.

Hagen says the princess "didn't want them to be alone," staying with the babies until relatives, and eventually also the two fathers, could get to the hospital.

One of the men is an employee of the royal household and is a good friend of Mette-Marit's. The twins arrived in Norway last week.