Is it appropriate for royals to show grief-stricken tears in public?

pardon me, I must have missed something. Who are YOU to ask about appropriate behavior of the Norwegian royal family? Are you some arbiter of appropriateness all over the word? Of course in Norway, all the people were affected, and genuinely so. In Norway, during the war, the king rode the trams, so he is definitely part of the fabric of society.

Royals are human too.

I think they wept openly because they were young people that were killed. I see nothing wrong for a leader or ruler of a country to shed some tears at such a tragedy. They were hurting for the people that were killed and there families. I don"t know if the royal"s would have shed a tear. There suppose to show there countrymen that they are strong, even in such a difficult time. I don"t know how old you are, but when Princess Diana died, no one shed a tear in public, not even her son"s. It is also against the law to take a picture of a royal eating.

British royalty = stiff upper lip. Other people = different philosophies. Why do you apply one culture's values to another culture?

Certainly not. In difficult times one looks to the monarch to guide and provide comfort to his or her subjects. The stability of the public depends upon the sovereign's composure and stiff upper lip as it were. I look at it this way. When I was seven years old my family was in a car accident. My mother and sister and I were crying hysterically even though we were not hurt, just scared. My father jumped out of the car and calmed us down by comforting us and making us feel safe. We waited for the police and the ambulance to come and my father refused any medical treatment. We went home and when I woke up the next day my father was not there. It turns out he had an internal hemmorage and had gone back to the hospital after my sister and I had gone to bed. He did not want us to worry. My mother took us to see him after he was better. She did not allow us to see him until all the tubes and such were removed. This was all done to keep us calm and not suffer any more than we needed to. In a way, the sovereign is like our father. We look to him or her for support and guidance. If my father had broke down hysterically during the accident we probably would have gone mad. But he kept his composure and as a result we all came through alright. I think my father would have made an excellent King.