The daughter of Crown Prince Haakon was set to undergo Norwegian teenagers’ rite of passage this weekend, known as konfirmasjon. While record few now choose a church confirmation, opting instead for a civil ceremony or none at all, Princess Ingrid Alexandra has no choice, and some commentators think that’s a problem. The Royal Palace announced […]
Princess to stop exploiting royal title
August 7, 2019
The daughter of Norway’s King Harald V has been criticized for years for using her “princess” title in connection with her various business ventures. Now she’s finally admitted that she made “a mistake,” and she’ll only use “Martha Louise” in a commercial context. The criticism began nearly 20 years ago, when Martha Louise (spelled “Märtha” […]
Royal wealth defies the ‘folksy’ image
August 5, 2019
The Norwegian royal family has long cultivated an informal image aimed at retaining public support in a country that was by no means wealthy when the country’s monarchy was reinstated. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported over the weekend how the image defies the reality of the royals’ sizeable wealth, much of which stemmed from the […]
Royal heir returns to public school
May 27, 2019
Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s parents caught lots of criticism when they pulled her out of the local public school and enrolled her in the expensive and exclusive Oslo International School in Bærum. Now the Royal Palace has announced that the heir to Norway’s throne wants to spend her last year of junior high school at a […]
Crown Prince backs climate strikes
May 24, 2019
Thousands of Norwegian school students were mounting demonstrations around the country again on Friday, to demand that politicians do more to stop climate change. Now they’ve won the support of Crown Prince Haakon, who told a German magazine this week that he thinks the school climate strikes taking place around the world are “enormously important.” […]
Palace to confront princess over title
May 17, 2019
As King Harald and Queen Sonja got ready to wave from the balcony of the Royal Palace on Norway’s Constitution Day Friday, a confrontation seems to be looming inside palace chambers. Palace officials have finally broken their silence on the uproar around Princess Martha Louise’s commercial use of her royal title. “We’re following the debate […]
Princess refuses to give up her title
May 16, 2019
Norway’s Princess Martha Louise is creating credibility problems and even “a catastrophe” for the reputation of the Norwegian royal family, editorialized newspaper Dagsavisen this week. Fædrelandsvennen, the major daily in the hometown of the princess’ own sister-in-law Crown Princess Mette-Marit, urged Martha Louise to give up her title, but Martha Louise refuses to do so as criticism […]
Princess stirs up more controversy
May 13, 2019
It had been unusually quiet around Norway’s Princess Martha Louise, whose own father, King Harald, warned her new then-husband back in 2001 to always expect the unexpected. Now the since-divorced member of the royal family is embarking on a tour called “The Princess and the Shaman,” offering advice on “how to get in touch with your […]
Royals headed for the hills
April 18, 2019
King Harald and Queen Sonja are among the hundreds of thousands of Norwegians who’ve traveled to higher elevations to spend the Easter holidays in the mountains. The royals have their own family cabin known as Prinsehytta in Sikkilsdalen, in the mountains just west of Gudbrandsdalen. “Sikkilsdalen is very important for us,” King Harald said during […]
Royals confronted again, now over oil
April 12, 2019
For the second time in as many weeks, members of Norway’s royal family have been confronted while abroad with what’s seen as the hypocrisy of Norwegian climate and environmental policy. Crown Prince Haakon was the latest to receive a plea for help, this time in a South Pacific island nation that’s threatened by the carbon […]
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