#prince olav of norway

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

❤ Queen Alexandra with her grandchildren ❤

Edit made by me using CapCut!

[philibetexcerpts]

25 June 1955: The Queen and Prince Philip with the Norwegian Royal Family during their state visit to Norway.

[delicatuscii-wasbella102]

Art Deco David-Andersen Tea set, Gold and enamel, 1930s. Gift to President Roosevelt from Crown Prince Olav and Princess Märtha of Norway.

[sophiebernadotte]

Okay, I'm closing down the factory for today. Everything should be tagged with today's date - 240114. But here's a quick run-through in case you missed anything!

Articles

9-year-old Valdemar: "Every time I see a crown, I get happy."

Victoria of Sweden & Haakon of Norway speaks about Margrethe II, part 1

Victoria of Sweden & Haakon of Norway speaks about Margrethe II, part 2

Frederik X is now King of Denmark, Greenland & the Faroe Islands

Frederik X's motto is declared

All of Frederik's 'oops moments' ("When we talk about Frederik's popularity, we also have to acknowledge that there have been quite a few mishaps")

Photos

The Royal Collections of Norway shared a photo of Margrethe II & Olav V

Statements

Carl XVI Gustaf's telegram to Cousin Daisy

Harald V's telegram to Frederik X

Carl XVI Gustaf's telegram to Frederik X

Videos

Video montage of Margrethe II with members of the Swedish Royal Family

Behind-the-scenes video from the Danish Royal Court (the only glimpse of Prince Joachim we've gotten the whole day!)

Video clip of the proclamation of Frederik X plus his speech

Video clip of DR's interview with Crown Princess Victoria

[therealvinelle]

How does Norway view it’s royal family I’m from Canada and lets just say that we are not big monarchy fans. But I wonder about other countries because commonwealth countries are kind of in a unique situation where their royalty is actually royalty of another country (Britain) and we just pay for it. (no seriously, we pay more for the monarchy in canada than the uk does)

I can't speak for everyone, but I personally am in favor of having a royal family and would find it disappointing and a change for the worse if we became a republic.

The monarchy in Norway came about the right way, when the country became independent in 1905 the people voted with an overwhelming majority in favor of getting the Danish prince Carl to become our king. It was in order words not something imposed upon us by a thousand years of feudalism, but a newly independent people's choice to have a king of our own.

King Haakon proceeded to, when Norway was occupied by the Germans, refuse to accept our government's formal request to disband (as they had been driven into exile and could no longer govern), as well as refuse to surrender. Did this lead to war, yes, but it also meant that through the war we remained an occupied country with a legitimate government overseas broadcasting to every citizen by radio that we could look towards in place of the occupying government imposed upon us.

After King Haakon there was King Olav, who took the bus during the 1973 energy crisis so as to lead by example, and went skiing in the woods like everybody else, he was an immensely popular king. Now there is King Harald, who married a commoner in Queen Sonja and whose children have made even more scandalous marriages (Princess Märtha married an artist and author, Ari Behn, while the crown prince Haakon married a single mother of a child out of wedlock who was and in certain circles remains viewed as very low class), but both Harald and Sonja are very loved. Harald famously is very witty, and more importantly he is a very inclusive and kind-hearted person who made it explicitly clear he is as much the king of immigrants and LGBT people as he is everybody else. He has also competed in the Olympics seveal times, we love an athlete.

The big eyesore is Princess Märtha, whose sins and scandals are money but in a nutshell, she made the choice to be financially independent (good!) only to then do so in the worst ways she could manage. There was the angel school, where you would go learn how to speak with angels (I once went to a party where we read her book and followed her instructions on finding your aura, great fun and I recommend this for a party game), which had everyone laughing at her, to the much less funny adventure she is now on, where she has... gone full Gwyneth Paltrow. As in, she is engaged to a shaman who says children with cancer must have wished the cancer upon themselves and he will also cleanse women's vaginas of evil if they've had too much sex, and she has toured the country with this man using her princess title (The tour was called "The princess and the shaman") which... yes. When they are criticized, they say it's racism because he is black, this has not endeared them to many either.

She can live her life how she wishes, the fact that what she wishes is to give a platform to a man who talks about being a lizard who contains ancient spirits and also the 5G net is bad is what makes people upset and lose respect for the monarchy as a whole.

Personally, I remain in favor of the monarchy because she'll never be on the throne, she is already irrelevant in every way that matters. The relevant royals we do have do their jobs well and responsibly, which is where my wanting to have a monarchy in the first place comes in: I believe in the constitutional monarchy as we practice it in Norway.

The people who make the decisions will be elected by the people, but the person representing the country, whose job is only to represent and better the country through charities and strengthened diplomatic ties, has an advantage if he isn't political and gains a continuity from not being replaced every time he loses the election cycle. In these times of rising populism I think the advantage to having an apolitical head of state and military is even greater. We could in theory vote a populist party into power but we wouldn't have a populist president, the way certain countries experienced not too long ago and stand to do now. As for how one should go about finding such a non-political, continuous leader of the country, I think inheriting the position is as good a way as any to keep the transferrance of power from one sovereign to the next from getting political. In other words, monarchy but keep it constitutional.

(I'm also colored by how King Haakon handled the occupation, as well as how the King of Spain as recently as in 1981 prevented a military coup in Spain by denouncing the military's actions. How relevant these events are to the present day can be debated, but I think the past couple of years have proven that we should not take the status quo for granted and our democracies can come under threat. When they do, I prefer to have every safeguard imaginable in place for them. If that safeguard spend their time promoting art and charity that's just a big bonus.)

[charlotte-of-wales]

Happy 55th wedding anniversary to King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway!

The couple tied the knot on 29 August 1968 at Oslo Cathedral, after nine years of dating. Harald and Sonja met in June 1959 at a party hosted by Johan H. Stenersen. They kept their relationship a secret because she was a commoner. The then Crown Prince Harald made it clear to his father, King Olav V, that he would remain unmarried for life unless he could marry her, thus putting an end to the rule of his family, and likely to the monarchy in Norway, as Harald was the sole heir to the throne.

The couple became engaged on on 19 March 1968. They have two children together - Princess Martha Louise (51) and Crown Prince Haakon (50) and 5 grandchildren.

[royally-obsessed]

on this day in 1956

European Royalty in Stockholm

Royal figures of Europe sit together in the front row of the audience of a festival performance; Princess Margaret, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Consort Louise Mountbatten, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Queen Elizabeth II, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Princess Josephine Charlotte of Belgium, Crown Prince Olav of Norway and Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Norway, at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, June 15th 1956.

[tiaramania]

Princess Ingrid Alexandra's Inheritance

In anticipation of Trond Norén Isaksen's new book, Ingrid Alexandras Arv, I thought it would be fun to make a list of all of the Norwegian royal tiaras that will one day belong to Princess Ingrid Alexandra.

The number of working members of the Norwegian Royal Family is pretty small and is in the process of becoming even smaller. Princess Märtha Louise no longer carries out royal duties, Princess Astrid in 91 years old, and it’s unclear how much of an official role, if any, Prince Sverre Magnus will have. This means that most of the jewelry that is currently spread between several people will someday come to Princess Ingrid Alexandra.

The collection starts with Queen Maud, the first queen of a modern, independent Norway and also a British princess. She only had one child so all of her jewelry (after a little detour in the UK) went to her daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Märtha, who was a Swedish princess herself and brought a good amount of jewelry with her. Crown Princess Märtha passed away in 1954 and her three children decided to wait until the then Prince Harald was married in 1968 to divide it all up. When they split the jewelry up it was with the understanding that some of it would stay with Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid's descendants and some of it would go back to the mainline when they passed sort of like a lifetime loan.

I really hope that Princess Ingrid Alexandra decides to put the jewelry into a trust or foundation similar to the Swedish and Dutch royal families. Their system worked out well for the three siblings but you can't assume that it will always go this smoothly. Creating a foundation would not only keep the jewelry together for future generations but hopefully facilitate more jewelry sharing.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra

Princess Ingeborg's Pearl Circle Tiara - This tiara was meant to be one of the pieces that stay with Princess Ragnhild's descendants but she asked her children to give it to Princess Ingrid Alexandra for her 18th birthday which was very generous.

The Inheritance

Duchess of Leuchtenberg's Emerald Tiara - now with Queen Sonja

Queen Josephine's Diamond Tiara - now with Queen Sonja

Queen Alexandra's Maltese Cross Tiara - now with Queen Sonja

Queen Alexandra's Turquoise Tiara - now with Princess Astrid

Queen Maud's Diamond Tiara - was with Princess Ragnhild

Queen Maud's Pearl Tiara (replica) - now with Queen Sonja

Queen Maud's Vifte Tiara - now with Crown Princess Mette Marit

Crown Princess Märtha's Vasa Tiara - now with Princess Astrid

Crown Princess Märtha's Emerald & Pearl Bracelet Tiara (replica) - now with Queen Sonja

Queen Sonja's Modern Gold Tiara - now with Queen Sonja

Queen Sonja's Amethyst Necklace Tiara - now with Crown Princess Mette Marit

Crown Princess Mette Marit's Diamond Daisy Tiara - now with Crown Princess Mette Marit

There are also some tiaras that will not be inherited by Princess Ingrid Alexandra. Three of Princess Astrid's tiaras will stay with her children and Princess Märtha Louise's tiara will stay with hers. I have long wondered if Queen Sonja will leave her Modern Gold Tiara to Princess Märtha Louise because the style suits her and I expect her to leave some jewelry to her daughter. Now I'm less sure because Princess Märtha Louise and her daughters will have little need for a second tiara.

There's also the possibility that one of these tiaras will be left to Prince Sverre Magnus but I think it's more likely that they will buy his future wife a tiara that is convertible to other jewelry so that it is more useful for someone who will rarely wear one. She could also borrow tiaras from her sister-in-law whenever needed.

Princess Astrid

Queen Sophia's Diamond Bracelet Tiara - This is the only one I wish would be left to the mainline.

Duchess Pauline of Nassau's Gold Bandeau Tiara

Queen Maud's Aigrette Tiara

Princess Märtha Louise

Princess Märtha Louise's King Olav Gift Tiara

Lost

Queen Maud's Pearl Necklace Tiara

Queen Sophia's Pink Topaz Tiara - stolen in 1995

All of this means that when she is queen, Princess Ingrid Alexandra will have thirteen tiaras to choose from. I didn't expect the number to be that high but the Norwegian royals don't do much jewelry sharing which always makes a collection appear smaller than it is. I hope that in the future they become more flexible about sharing jewels and I also want them to be more open to sharing them with the public. The Norwegian royal family does not generally participate in books, documentaries, or exhibitions about their jewelry but they did share a photo and information about Princess Ingeborg's Pearl Circle Tiara when it was given to Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Princess Astrid has spoken to Isaksen about her jewelry when he wrote her biography so I am hopeful that that is changing.

[dinner-at-charlies]

Founded in 1687, by King James VII of Scotland (James II of England and Ireland), The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland.

Appointments are made at the Sovereign’s sole discretion, and membership of the Order is limited to the Sovereign and no more than sixteen Knights and Ladies; though so-termed Extra Knights (who do not count towards the total of sixteen), may also be admitted according to status. Prince Albert was the first such Extra Knight. His Majesty King Olav V of Norway, being a further example.

The Order’s primary emblem is the thistle (the national flower of Scotland). The motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (No one provokes me with impunity). Its patron saint. St Andrew.

The mantle is a green robe lined with white taffeta. It’s tied with green and gold tassels; the left shoulder, bearing the star of the Order.

The hat is made of black velvet, and is plumed with white feathers with a black egret or heron’s top in the middle.

The collar is worn over the mantle. It’s made of gold, and depicts thistles and sprigs of rue.

The St Andrew (also called the badge-appendant), is worn suspended from the collar. It comprises a gold enamelled depiction of St Andrew wearing a green gown and purple coat and holding a white saltire; gold rays of glory, being depicted as emanating from his head.

The star of the Order is worn at the left breast. It consists of a silver St Andrew’s saltire with clusters of rays between the arms. In the centre is depicted a green circle bearing the motto of the Order in gold majuscules; within the circle, a thistle on a gold field. Since the Order of the Thistle is the second-most senior chivalric order in the UK, a member will wear its star above that of other orders to which he or she belongs, except that of the Order of the Garter.

The broad riband is a dark green sash worn across the body from shoulder to hip, where the badge of the Order is attached depicting St Andrew in the same form as the badge-appendant surrounded by the Order’s motto.

[pokadandelion]

The Norwegian Royal Family:

King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Maud, Crown Prince Olav and their whippet.

[scotianostra]

On July 22nd 1913, Edinburgh Zoo opened for the first time.

The Royal Zoological Society was founded in 1909, and the estate of Corstorphine Hill House bought for £17,000 in 1913 with help from Edinburgh City Council. The first animal to be acquired for the Zoo was a gannet. On 12 July 1913, a stock of animals arrived by train to Corstorphine. The travelling boxes were loaded onto lorries which formed a procession to the Zoo, two camels bringing up the rear.

Whaling company Christian Salvesen brought many gifts of penguins to Edinburgh Zoo from 1914. In 1919 the first successful hatching of a king penguin in captivity occurred. In 1951 the world famous Penguin Parade began when a gate was left open and a gentoo penguin escaped. The keeper decided to see what would happen and it was followed by other penguins to the front of the Zoo. The parade has continued to this day.

The most famous inhabitants of the Zoo nowadays are Tian Tian (Sweetie) and the male is Yang Guang (Sunshine) the two giant Pandas on loan from China. Both pandas have identical, but separate enclosures as giant pandas are entirely solitary animals that only meet during breeding season once a year. There have also been unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination.

You don’t have to go to the Zoo to see the Pandas, check Yang Guang out on webcam below, at the time of posting this, 9.44 am, Yang Guang is currently enjoying his breakfast 

Of course the people of Norway will disagree with me about t he Pandas, as the zoo plays host to the world’s highest-ranking penguin Brigadier Sir Nils Olav of His Majesty the King’s Guard of Norway. The King’s Guard adopted the penguin as their mascot in 1972 during a visit to Edinburgh for the annual Military Tattoo. The tradition has stuck and each time the Guards visit the city, Nils Olav is promoted and invited to inspect the troops once more.

And then the Poles will tell you the most famous resident was Wojtek, who  was adopted as a cub by the 22nd Company Polish Army Service and Corps (Artillery) troops in 1943, after an Iranian boy swapped the bear for cans of food.

He quickly became a firm favourite of the troops and in 1944 was enlisted as an honorary soldier and mascot for the soldiers, complete with name, rank and number.

Wojtek didn’t stop at being a mascot. When the Company was assigned to help supply food and ammunition to the Allied Forces in the battle of Monte Cassino, the Soldier Bear wasn’t left behind. He travelled to the battle with the troops and, without prompting, helped to carry boxes of 25lb artillery shells for his comrades under heavy gunfire without dropping a single one.

After the war ended, the 22nd Company was billeted in Winfield Camp, near Hutton in Berwickshire. Wojtek was one of around three thousand troops in the camp and became a very popular figure with locals in the Borders.

Like all the other soldiers he was mustered out of the Polish Army, he was billeted and lived out the rest of his life at the Zoo where he died in December 1963 aged around 21. Edinburgh has since erected a statue of the bear in Princes Street Gardens.

Back in the 50’s some of the animals were let out the zoo and taken a walk around town, as seen in the pics. https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/panda-cam/

[duchessofvastergotland]

Prince Daniel wore the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav for the first time during Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s birthday celebration. I believe this was given to him by King Harald during the trip as he did not wear it when in Norway for the King’s birthday in 2017 and it has not been previously listed on the royal website. 

[romanovsonelastdance]

I've been trying to plan out a historical fiction story about OTMA in England for ages (George V didn't withdraw the offer of asylum but changed it to just the children and Alexandra didn't want to let go of Alexei, tweaking the timeline of the girls getting measles, typical historical au fiction stuff), and I've been trying to figure out marriages that would make sense for them post revolution. What, if any, royal marriages would make sense for them, and would it be plausible for any of them to marry into the British royal family (like, say, if we're gonna be really crazy...Olga and Bertie?)? Love your blog, by the way!

I think it would be plausible for them to marry into the British Royal Family. After all, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna married one of Queen Victoria's sons, so there is precedent. It might get a little dicey with Nicky having been deposed and they're not technically Grand Duchesses anymore, but I think it could still work. When the Crown Prince of Sweden wanted to marry Louise Mountbatten there was a whole thing about whether it would be considered an equal marriage or not because she had been demoted from Princess Louise to Lady Louise but in the end it was decided she was royal enough and the marriage went forward. OTMA has a more impressive pedigree than Louise, so I think it would be easy to sell them as still “royal enough.” 

I think either Olga or Tatiana with Bertie could be a good fit. Especially if you're still planning for David to do the whole Wallis Simpson abdication thing. I could imagine that KGV and May might not be super enthused about a future Russian queen given, you know, the revolution and all that, but they might be willing to go for a second son and then WHOOPS we get Queen Olga/Tatiana/whoever anyway when David abdicates. If we want to avoid a Russian queen, Anastasia could marry Henry or George. Anastasia might find Henry kind of boring, though, and George might be TOO exciting for sheltered OTMA given some of his escapades in the 1920s. 

I know I said I didn't think Dickie/Mashka would happen, but in THIS scenario, with them in England, I'd say the chances are somewhat improved. Especially if--and I don't know what your plans are here--Nicholas and Alexandra have been killed in the revolution. I'd imagine in that scenario Aunt Victoria and Uncle Louis would be their guardians and they aren’t Orthodox and wouldn’t have the first cousin hang up. Whether Maria herself would have a problem with the first cousin rule I don't know, but if Dickie could really sweep her off her feet, her romantic streak might overrule it. And obviously the unequal marriage thing is no longer really a concern, either.

Otherwise I’d browse wikipedia for Dukes and Earls. It wouldn’t have the potential political messiness of a Romanov marrying into the British Royal Family, but these other aristocratic families would probably love to brag about having a grand duchess (former or otherwise) as a daughter-in-law. Or you could use England as a base to introduce them to other royals. Olav of Norway is a little young (born 1903), but his mother Maud was a British princess. The Danish princes Frederik (1899) and Knud (1900) are also options. Also George II (1890), Paul (1901) and Christopher (1888) of Greece. 

Also maybe look up Russian nobles living in exile in England? Xenia’s sons all married Russian nobles in exile, I could imagine OTMA ending up with something like that too. For example, Nina Georgievna married Prince Paul Chavchavadze (1899) in London; OTMA could have met him or someone similar in England, too. 

[beautifulrelaxingplace]

A gift from Crown Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway, this gold and enamel Art Deco tea set, circa 1930, was sent to Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[charlotte-of-wales]

Happy 87th birthday to King Harald V of Norway!

Born on February 21st 1937, Harald ascended to the Norwegian throne on January 17th 1991, following the death of hos father King Olav V. He is the first Norwegian-born monarch in 604 years.

Harald is married to Queen Sonia and they have two children - Crown Prince Haakon (50) and Princess Martha-Louise (52) - and 5 grandchildren.

[royally-obsessed]

on this day in 1959

King Olav V: Knight Companion

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh talk with King Olav V of Norway following the King's investiture as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter at Windsor Castle, England, May 29th 1959.