December 3, 2018 | On the occasion of his 13th birthday the Norwegian Royal Court has released two new official portraits of Prince Sverre Magnus, one also features her sister, Princess Ingrid Alexandra.
November 17, 2018 | Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Crown Prince Haakon visited Polaria Aquarium after the baptism of “Kronprins Haakon". The center provides research-based knowledge about the Arctic.
The trip to Polaria went with a dog team. The Polaria adventure center has aquariums with seals, fish and sea creatures from arctic areas. Princess Ingrid Alexandra fed both catfish and seals.
Polaria is housed in a distinctive building that represents ice floes pushed ashore. It is just a five-minute walk from Tromsø city center.
November 17, 2018 | Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Crown Prince Haakon have attended the baptism of “Kronprins Haakon”, Norway’s new research vessel, in Tromsø, Norway. The Princess is the godmother.
8 November 2018: Queen Sonja presents the 2018 Queen Sonja Print Award to Canadian graphic artist Emma Nishimura, and a Lifetime Achievement Award to David Hockney in recognition of his work in graphic art and printmaking. The Queen Sonja Print Award is the world’s leading graphic art award, and it is designed to inspire interest in and the development of graphic art.
“In other words: Norway is you. Norway is us (…) My greatest hope for Norway is that we will be able to take care of one another. That we will continue to build this country – on a foundation of trust, solidarity and generosity of spirit. That we will feel that we are, despite all out differences, one people. That Norway is one.” – 79-year-old King Harald V of Norway celebrating the diversity of his people and stressing the importance of support for refugees, religious tolerance and LGBT rights in a speech on 1 September 2016
If you need a moment of relaxation today, check out this live feed of a Norwegian train making its journey through the wintery countryside. A fine example of slow TV.
“The bravery and courage Mette-Marit showed us, made a strong impression. We never considered denying Haakon the love we ourselves fought for for nearly nine years. And now Marius came into our lives. I went to the attic and found old toys.”
— Queen Sonja on accepting Mettte-Marit (and with her Marius) into the family
““Never before have we had women to cover the positions of the President of Parliament, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Prime Minister. Times are changing. For the better, many will rightly claim. I feel at least in the right place. In addition, when I am surrounded by both the Queen and the Crown Princess, I find myself in the middle of a sea of gold.””
Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been diagnosed with a chronic lung disease that could limit the exercise of her official program.
Crown Princess over time undergone extensive studies related to their health and there is evidence of an unusual variant of fibrosis in the lungs, according to the Crown Princess physician, Professor Kristian Bjøro at the National Hospital. It is not yet clear whether the lung disease is part of a more comprehensive autoimmune disease process, or whether there are other causes that underlie lung changes.
“For a number of years, I have had health challenges on a regular basis, and now we know more about what these are. The condition means that the working capacity will vary. The Crown Prince and I choose to inform about this now, partly because in future there will be a need to plan periods of time without official program. In connection with the treatment, and when the disease is more active, this will be necessary,” says the Crown Princess.
Professor Bjøro informs that lung changes have already been followed for several years, and the disease development in this period has been slow. Examination and treatment of it is taking place at the Rikshospitalet in Oslo, and with collaboration with doctors abroad.
“The Crown Princess will have to undergo further ‘investigation’ in the future and also treatment trials. With such state of the Crown Princess, it is common for us to cooperate with environments abroad,” says Bjøro.
He further states that the reason for the type of fibrosis the Crown Princess has been shown is known to a small extent, but there is broad agreement that it is not related to environmental or lifestyle factors as is the case with other more common types of pulmonary fibrosis.
The fact that the disease is detected in an early stage, is beneficial in terms of prognosis.
“Even if such a diagnosis will restrict my life, I am happy that the disease has been detected so early. My goal is still to work and participate in the official program as much as possible,” says the Crown Princess.
That’s very sad news. I was never a fan of MM and her work ethics but I’d never wish any health problems on anyone. The usual life expectancy with this disease is 3-5 years.
80 facts about Queen Sonja and King Harald publised in a book Sonja & Harald. En kjærlighetshistorie, which was released on the occasion of Their Majesties’ 80th birthdays.
1. King Harald has stated that when he became King he was terrified.
2. When Harald was born, his father, King Olav, was present at the birth.
3. Both Stortinget and Hans Majestet Kongens Garde gave beer mugs in silver for his christening.
4. He loves to go fishing, and his interest for it came at an early age.
5. King Harald was only 3 years old when he learned how to swim.
6. At the age of 3 he tasted coffee for the first time, while he and his family fleed from Sweden via Finland to the US. He spit it out and said “and you guys like this stuff?”
7. As a kid Harald sowed some buttons on a piece of clothing, wrapped them up and gave them as a Christmas gift for president Roosevelt.
8. Crown Prince Harald represented Norway in the 1964, -68 and -72 Olympics.
9. He became the world champion in sailing with his men in 1987.
10. The King loves to watch TV, preferably Sports, but comidians are also one of his favourites.
11. He prefers traditional jazz, but loves all kinds of music.
12. The enviroment at Oxford, where he studied, was pretty radical.
13. He chose language over science when he was in the Army, which his father was not happy about.
14. While spending his Easter Breaks at Prinsehytta, the outhouse is the real deal.
15. Hot dogs will always be a favourite for the King.
16. Out of all the Norwegian cities, Bergen is the city the King and Queen have visited most times.
17. Sonja is 163 cm (5,4 feet) tall.
18. King Harald stopped smoking in 2003, which later stated was “disappointingly easy.”
19. The King doesn’t mind being in charge of the bbq.
20. According to Sonja, Harald is good with colours.
21. The Queen’s favourite flower is fresia, which was a part of her wedding bouqet.
22. She got her interest in art from her father and big brother.
23. As a child Sonja walked in the children’s parade and wondered how it looked like inside of the Palace.
24. At home, in her favourite chair, Queen Sonja has a pillow with the quote “it ain’t easy being a queen”.
25. Sonja has weekly walks on Bygdøy.
26. She’s the one behind the paintings at the roof on Kongsseteren.
27. Bygdøy kongsgård is the Queen’s favourite of all of their estates.
28. The Queen takes her camera with her everywhere.
29. Sonja graduated as a ski trainer, but failed the first time at plow turn, so she had to retake the exam.
30. Queen Sonja has 6 different bunads.
31. Sonja loves listening to music and her iPod is filled with folk music.
32. The Queen attended Rosenvilde in Bærum in 1962.
33. The King sends hundreds of Christmas cards a year, and writes them himself. [can I get one myself also please thank you]
34. Sonja was the first who had an iPod out of everyone at the Palace.
35. King Harald is always nervous before holding a speech.
36. Harald has stated that he easily gets touched.
37. King Harald makes sure to be updated on the people that he meets.
38. He thinks details are important, and always makes plans ahead of official engagements, such as which car he’s going to use, how long the breaks should be and who he should meet.
39. Harald prefers meeting general people while out at work.
40. King Harald’s rolemodel is his grandfather, King Haakon.
41. The Queen uses gloves with electricity to keep herself warm.
42. The King and Queen often take their grandkids to the theatre.
43. For dinner at the Palace, King Harald often serves his guests moose that he has hunted down himself.
44. Both Sonja and Harald were born on a Sunday.
45. The King and Queen has a graveyard for their dogs at Bygdøy kongsgård.
46. When they were on their honemoon, they used the names Tom and Eva Manstad.
47. Some years after she married Harald, Sonja cut her hair short for the first time, in London.
48. The Queen has always had a permanent seamstress, who makes both new outfits and remakes old outfits for her.
49. Before Christmas in 2016 Queen Sonja invited her grandkids for a workshop at the Palace.
50. King Harald has two dogs named Huldra and Gila.
51. Every year in November the King and Queen spend a week in London, where they buy Christmas gifts.
52. On Christmas Eve the Royal Family eats rice porridge with almond at noon, and for dinner they have lutefisk, cod, roasted pork and plum pudding.
53. The King would rather skip the lutefisk, while the Queen likes it if it’s not too fat and she can have aquavit on the side.
54. Queen Sonja packs dry clothes, a map, compass, seat pads camera and binoculars when she goes on hiking trips and in the mountains.
55. In 2005 Norsk Fjellfestival and Den Norske Turistforeningen ranked the Queen as “Årets fjellgeit.”
56. The Clothing section at Molstad in Oslo made most of Queen Sonja’s clothes in her first years as Norway’s Crown Princess.
57. Sonja has a red boxing bag, but she has never used it.
58. The Queen bought her first painting when she was 14.
59. When her grandchildren are visiting, Queen Sonja asks them to put away their phones.
60. In their apartment at the Palace the King and Queen have a toilet seat that is decorated by Queen Margrethe of Denmark.
61. The Queen made her debut as a painter at the age of 74.
62. One of Queen Sonja’s all time favourite designers is the late Erik Mortensen.
63. When they met Mette-Marit for the first time, they served pasta with tuna and olive.
64. Sonja loves Chanel purses.
65. Just like King Olav, Queen Sonja loves to vist Fortnum & Mason in London.
66. For many years now, the Queen has been a customer at Beth’s Beauty in Oslo.
67. The Queen has her own makeup room and hair saloon at the Palace.
68. One of the King’s and Queen’s favourite Norwegian artists is Wenche Myhre.
69. On her birthday, 4th of July, the Queen invites friends and family on a boat trip and smoakingparty to her cabin on Mågerø.
70. King Harald prefers to be the one who’s driving.
71. When it comes to cars, King Harald has a love for BMW’s 7-serie.
72. When the King is alone on official engagements, or with the Queen, they’re driving with the registration number A2. When the Queen is representing alone, the car has the registration number A7.
73. Marius calls King Harald and Queen Sonja beste-Harald and beste-Sonja.
74. The Queen is known for making small gestures when it comes to the choice of outfits, for example wearing gifts from the hosts.
75. King Harald’s New Years speeches are recorded beforehand. He held his first speech in December 1990, due to King Olav’s sickness.
76. Harald and Sonja have their private apartment on the third floor at the Palace, where they have an amazing view over Oslo.
77. Updated on fashion as she is, Queen Sonja is often seen in clothes from Holzweiler and Fleischer Couture, which ate both Norwegian brands.
78. The Queen has a huge jewellery box and she loves promoting modern, Norwegian jewellery art.
79. The King loves soccer, and his favourite team in English soccer is supposedly Tottenham Hotspur.
80. It still bothers the King that he and his team ended up on 10th place in the 1972 Olympics, where they supposedly were favourites.
September 3, 2018 || Her Majesty Queen Sonja invited minority women to a tea party at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway. It is the third time that Queen Sonja brings together women of multicultural backgrounds to chat over a cup of tea and the talk went lively around the table in the daily dining room.
“Most of you have in common that you have come here to Norway from different places – different backgrounds, with different challenges and circumstances. I’m looking forward to hearing more about this,” said Queen when she welcomed her guests to the table.
The guests had backgrounds from Eritrea, Somalia, Liberia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, India, Guatemala, Syria and Afghanistan. They actively participate in various projects that promote the integration of women.
There were five women from the Norwegian garden company project Grenseløse grønnsaker og herter (Limitless vegetables and herbs), five from the Mira Center and five members of the Norwegian Tourist Association’s department in Drammen with project for inclusive outdoor life. Each of the three projects were presented around the table.
The Queen’s commitment to minority women extends over a long period of time. She is interested in the women’s stories and how their everyday lives in Norway are. She has also emphasized the importance of minority women standing up and using her voice.
Basically Alexandra and Magnus aren’t middle names, they’re given names just like Ingrid and Sverre. Norway has a different system of naming from other countries. They don’t really use middle names. A middle name is generally something that would be a surname but isn’t used as a surname. So for example Mette Marit’s son Marius has the middle name Borg which is his father’s surname. So those names are just additional given names. It’s the same with their aunt, Martha Louise. They could choose to drop their second given names if they want to but there’s no indication of that yet.
I second that. However, Haakon was christened for Haakon Magnus but it was stressed in the announcement that he would go by the name Haakon, while nothing of sort was said for Ingrid, Sverre or Märtha. I think it’s interesting that Sverre Magnus actually goes by Magnus in the family and from what I’ve learned all other members go by their first names. I can’t say the same for Mette-Marit but I *feel* like she is refered as Mette or Mette-Marit and not Marit (based on the fact that that is her mother’s name).
I think that if/once (we don’t know the future) Ingrid becomes a crown princess or a queen, she will go by Ingrid only. That is my assumption bc she’s usually called just Ingrid. But we’ll have to wait and see.
May 31, 2012 || Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Queen Sonja and Ari Behn attend the celebration of King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 75th birthdays.
No he wouldn’t. The royal family is about blood. Perhaps when he married they could grant him a title, maybe, but he wouldn’t be given anything. That’s just not how it works. The royal family have a lot of titles because they have a lot of people but they’re actually very strict about who can get what.
Norway doesn’t have titles anymore beyond the immediate royal family. Nobility titles were done away with through legislation in the 19th century.
You’ve misunderstood the question. It relates to an earlier discussion about titles in Britain if Meghan had a child. No one is saying Marius will get a title, we’re talking about the imaginary British title. That’s why it’s tagged with British royal family and not Norwegian royal family
I understood the question quite well thank you. I stated what I had to say because Norway no longer has nobility like Sweden or Denmark. And it’s been that way for a longtime.
I said what I had to say earlier because using Norway in the question regardless of Marius’s status doesn’t make any sense. Marius cannot have a title not just because he’s not born from the royal line, but because Norway does not have nobility at all. There are no earls or duchesses in Norway. Nobility was abolished in the 19th century. King Harald cannot make Marius an earl even if he wanted to. It’s against the law. Literally. Huge difference compared to Sweden and Denmark where Carl Gustaf and Margrethe can bestow titles.
So, OF COUSE, the UK is more title heavy than Norway. The UK gives out honorary titles to those who are not even citizens, e.g. Angelina Jolie. The only people in Norway allowed to have titles are those born into the royal family. Sweden or Denmark would have made a more suitable mention in the question.
No he wouldn’t. The royal family is about blood. Perhaps when he married they could grant him a title, maybe, but he wouldn’t be given anything. That’s just not how it works. The royal family have a lot of titles because they have a lot of people but they’re actually very strict about who can get what.
Norway doesn’t have titles anymore beyond the immediate royal family. Nobility titles were done away with through legislation in the 19th century.
CAROLE’S SURROGACY MAFIA! haha. Anyway, unfortunately royal laws haven’t caught up with technology or society so I don’t believe there’s any law about whether a child born to a surrogate could be in the line of succession. I’m quite torn because royals go first and foremost off genetics so it would make me think that they could be in line but in the UK the surrogate is legally considered the mother of the child until she gives up parental rights which is essentially like the royals adopting their own child. And adopted kids can’t be in the line of succession. I don’t know about every other monarchy but I know in Norway surrogacy is illegal as it caused a scandal when MM went to India to look after twins born through surrogacy for a gay couple she’s friends with. I think it’s unfortunately a question without a clear answer. There are so many ways that monarchies haven’t caught up with modern society- there are no title systems for same sex couples for example- and this is one of them
Awww you’re a cutie. I’ll do my best but @norwegianroyalfamily might be able to help out if I get something wrong:
1) Why don’t princess Martha Louise’s daughters have titles? I know she gave up her own style and duties and stuff but shouldn’t they be at least something ! In Norway- as in most places- you get titles based on your father so ML’s children are styled with their father’s last names.
2) Do you think they will have access to the tiaras when they grow older? I expect they’ll have access for weddings and major events like birthdays and so on. I don’t expect they’ll attend as many tiara events as IA though.
3) Do you think prince sverre magnus will still be a working royal when Ingrid Alexandra becomes Queen? And will his offspring have titles ? I think he’ll follow Martha Louis’s pattern and do engagements but at a lesser level than his sister. I don’t know the title system well enough in Norway to know if they get titles but I know the King pretty much has the control over it. He said SM would be His Highness instead of His Royal Highness and I can see his children having the same, but still being a Prince/ss if Haakon is King.
So this is a couple of months later but here are my answers/confirmation of basically what you said
1) Why don’t princess Martha Louise’s daughters have titles? I know she gave up her own style and duties and stuff but shouldn’t they be at least something ! First of all, you gotta remember that Norway isn’t Swedenandthey give out titles differently. There aren’t any Dukes/Duchesses but rather you’re a Prince/ss or not. Since Märtha Louise was born at the time when women didn’t have a right to be in line of the succession, naturally her (younger) brother was the only one prepared to be the future monarch. But I feel like having limited people having titles is a good thing as Maud, Leah and Emma are not close to the throne and having title it would mean they would have to by working royals or the would give it up. And with Royal Family wanting to be as “short” as possible, Märtha Louise is not the heir, and her daughters don’t have any titles.
2) Do you think they will have access to the tiaras when they grow older? I agree with you, Jess, on that. However, I don’t feel like they’ll be attending many major event so we’ll see. If there’d be any huge celebration like Harald and Sonja’s 80th birthday celebration, I’m sure they would wear a tiara. But I’m 100% sure they’ll have a tiara on their wedding days unless they won’t want that.
3) Do you think prince sverre magnus will still be a working royal when Ingrid Alexandra becomes Queen? And will his offspring have titles ? I don’t see him as a working royal. At the moment, the royal family has 4 working royals (Harald, Sonja, Mette-Marit and Haakon) and once Ingrid gets older she’ll join them. I see Magnus as Astrid. She attends some engagements, usually gala dinners or some openings, as does Märtha Louise so he’ll probably follow their footsteps. I feel like in the future if Magnus has children, they won’t get any titles (or just style since being a boy gets your legal offsprings titles). But I hope that by then women and men will be completely equal and I think that the royal family will be operating the same way so that’s why I think Ingrid’s children will be the only ones having titles and style, while Magnus’ won’t. But we’ll see. Usually males only get their titles down on their offsprings but since Norway hasn’t had a case like that (Haakon VII had one son only, Olav had two daughters and a son, and Harald has a son and daughter) and law prevented women from ascending to the throne, we’ll just have to wait and see.
The Norwegian Royal Court has introduced new ethical guidelines for its employees following the #MeToo campaign. The new ethical guidelines give zero tolerance for sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination among the staff of the Norwegian royal household. This was announced by the Royal Court in their annual report which was published by the Court yesterday. The Court had started to rework…
Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad’s new book follows two sisters from the suburbs of Oslo who fled their family in 2013 for war-torn Syria – and their father’s desperate attempts to find them.
House of Brat 