Princess Ingrid Alexandra finished up 15 months of military service this spring and has been taking on more royals duties, but not for long. In August she’ll start studying at the University of Sydney in Australia.
The Royal Palace announced on Monday that the 21-year-old princess has been accepted into a three-year bachelor’s degree program in Sydney, concentrating on international affairs and political economics. She intends to live in student housing on campus and will be a full-time student.
Bachelor’s degrees usually require four years of study, but in Norway, the last year of high school is often equivalent to the first year of college abroad. Most of those attending what’s called videregåendeskole graduate when they’re 19, a year later than in many other countries including the US.
The princess finished her years of high-school equivalent in 2023 and joined the army in January 2024. She was initially expected to carry out the standard one year of basic training but she opted to remain in the service for an additional three months because she claimed to like it. She was most recently based in Northern Norway, where she was a shooter on armoured vehicles.
Right after leaving military service in April, she took part in her first state visit when the president of Iceland Halla Tomasdottir and her husband arrived in Oslo. There’s been pressure on the princess to take on more royal duties since her grandparents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, are now 88 years old and have suffered health problems.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, is also often out on sick leave because of a chronic lung disease, leaving her father Crown Prince Haakon responsible for much of Norway’s royal representation. The princess’ younger brother, 19-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus, is third in line to the throne and finished with high school but hasn’t yet taken on any official role, military service or college studies. Their older half-brother Marius Høiby, Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship before she met Crown Prince Haakon, has no royal title and has recently been in trouble with the law.
Now Princess Ingrid Alexandra will soon be a college student far from Norway and perhaps enjoy time out of the public eye, after what’s been a difficult year for the entire family. Her mother was once a high school exchange student in Australia and still has a bit of an Australian accent when she speaks English. Her father, the crown prince, studied at both the University of California at Berkeley and at the London School of Economics.
“We’re very glad that Her Royal Highness Princess Ingrid Alexandra has chosen to study at the University of Sydney,” wrote the vice president of the university, Kirsten Andrews, in an email to state broadcaster NRK. She added that university officials looked forward to welcome her and help her get acquainted with life at the university and her studies. Norwegian media quickly pointed out that since the princess is an avid surfer, she’ll have lots of opportunities to pursue the sport from Sydney’s beaches.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
