Norwegian Royal Family

Norwegian Royal Family

HM The King * HM The Queen * HRH The Crown Prince * HRH The Crown Princess * HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra * HH Prince Sverre Magnus Marius Borg Høiby HH Princess Märtha Louise Ari Behn Maud Angelica Behn Leah Isadora Behn Emma Tallulah Behn Extended royal family HH Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen Erling S. Lorentzen HH Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner Johan Ferner * Member of the Norwegian Royal House

v · d · e

The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the eldest child of the Crown Prince, being Princess Ingrid Alexandra. The remaining Royal Family includes also all other children, grandchildren, siblings of the King, and their spouses, not being part of the more restricted Royal House.

Members of the Royal House hold the style of either Majesty (HM) or Royal Highness (HRH) and their birthday is an official flag flying day. The princes and princesses of the Royal Family hold the style of Highness (HH).

History of the monarchy

Harald I was the son of one of Norway's regional rulers, descended from Sweden's Yngling royal family. He defeated the other rulers to unite the country and become its first King. The Hereditary Kingdom of Norway, established by at least three separate genealogical lines of monarchs each allegedly descending from Harald I the Fairhair, was the only realm of medieval Scandinavia which was officially hereditary, not elective.

After the death of Haakon V of Norway, the crown passed to his grandson Magnus IV of Sweden. In 1397, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden formed the Kalmar Union under Queen Margaret I of Denmark who was married to Haakon VI of Norway and Sweden. She unofficially ruled all three countries until her death.

Sweden seceded from the Kalmar Union ultimately in 1523. In 1469, the Norwegian King pledged Orkney and Shetland to the crown of Scotland as mortgage for a dowry debt. In 1814, Denmark ceded Norway (but not its dependencies Iceland, Greenland and the Faroese) to Sweden; in 1905, Norway became independent. Its new government offered the crown to Prince Carl, second son of Frederick VIII of Denmark. After being approved in a popular vote, Carl was crowned Haakon VII of Norway.

Norway is a constitutional monarchy.

The current King's ancestry is displayed at Ahnentafel of Harald V of Norway.

List of members

Royal House

• HM King Harald V, born on 21 February 1937 (1937-02-21) (age 74)
  HM Queen Sonja, born on 4 July 1937 (1937-07-04) (age 74)
  • HRH Crown Prince Haakon, born on 20 July 1973 (1973-07-20) (age 38) (The King's eldest and only son)
    HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit, born on 19 August 1973 (1973-08-19) (age 38)
    • HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra, born on 21 January 2004 (2004-01-21) (age 7) (The Crown Prince's eldest child and daughter)

Royal Family

Besides the Royal House, the Royal Family also includes:

• The son and step-son of the Crown Prince:
  • HH Prince Sverre Magnus, born on 3 December 2005 (2005-12-03) (age 5) (The Crown Prince's son)
  • Marius Borg Høiby, born on 13 January 1997 (1997-01-13) (age 14) (The Crown Prince's step-son)

• The King's daughter, her spouse and children:
  • HH Princess Märtha Louise¹, born on 22 September 1971 (1971-09-22) (age 40)
    Ari Behn, born on 30 September 1972 (1972-09-30) (age 39)
    • Maud Angelica Behn, born on 29 April 2003 (2003-04-29) (age 8) (Märtha Louise's elder daughter)
    • Leah Isadora Behn, born on 8 April 2005 (2005-04-08) (age 6) (Märtha Louise's middle daughter)
    • Emma Tallulah Behn, born on 29 September 2008 (2008-09-29) (age 3) (Martha Louise's youngest daughter)
• The King's sisters and their spouses:²
  • HH Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen, born on 9 June 1930 (1930-06-09) (age 81)
    Erling S. Lorentzen, born on 28 January 1923 (1923-01-28) (age 88)
  • HH Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner, born on 12 February 1932 (1932-02-12) (age 79)
    Johan Martin Ferner, born on 22 July 1927 (1927-07-22) (age 84)

Line of succession

Main article: Line of succession to the Norwegian Throne

Until 1990, only males could inherit the Norwegian throne (Salic law). In 1990, the succession law was changed so that the eldest child would succeed to the throne, regardless of gender (equal primogeniture). This change only affects those born in 1990 or later. For those born between 1971 and 1990, females were given succession rights, but their brothers would be before them in the line of succession (primogeniture). Females born before 1971 would still be excluded from the succession.

In practice this means that Princess Märtha Louise, despite being older than the Crown Prince, is placed after him and his children in the line. Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid are not in the line of succession: they were born before 1971, so Salic Law applies to them. However, Princess Ingrid Alexandra will be placed before her brother, because she was born after 1990.

The current line of succession includes:

1. HRH The Crown Prince
2. HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra
3. HH Prince Sverre Magnus
4. HH Princess Märtha Louise
5. Maud Angelica Behn
6. Leah Isadora Behn
7. Emma Tallulah Behn

Notes

¹In 2002, the King (with Princess Märtha Louise's consent) removed Princess Märtha Louise's style of Her Royal Highness. This was meant to loosen connections with the Royal Family and her business life. However, she retains her title as a Norwegian princess and her place in the line of succession and still carries out royal duties on behalf of the King (although they are reduced).

²The children of Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid are not members of the Norwegian Royal Family (see Kongehuset: The Royal Family).

External links

• The Royal Family and the Royal House of Norway - Official Site of the Norwegian Royal Family (in English)
• Aftenposten News: The Royals