In the early hours of 9 April, Crown Princess Märtha and her husband Olav were awakened by a phone call from an aide, bringing the devastating news of an invasion by German military forces. With her mind in a whirl, Märtha immediately awakened her three children, instructing them to dress for a mountain hike. Ragnhild, the eldest, would later recall that ‘the clearest sign that something was wrong was that it was our parents themselves who woke us up.’ After eating a hasty breakfast, at around 6 a.m. Märtha , Olav and their three children (Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald) set out from their home, some twenty kilometres to the west of Oslo, for the Royal Palace in central Oslo, in a convoy of three cars. The Crown Prince was at the wheel of his own car, his wife and children beside him. Olav-who was driving at great speed-had already decided that if anyone tried to stop him, he would run them down.
On arrival at the Royal Palace, everything was in a state of flux. The royal family departed the royal residence at 7 a.m. travelling in the direction of the Østbane railway station in order to take a special train to Hamar to avoid capture. The members of the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, were also on board the train. The group was led and organised by the President, Carl Joachim Hambro. It had been at his suggestion that the royal family accompanied the parliamentary group. Just as the train passed through Lillestrøm, the town was bombed, although the focus was fortunately on the nearby airport at Kjeller. The entourage travelled onwards towards Hamar with German soldiers and aircraft in hot pursuit.
By the early evening, the royal party had settled at an estate at Sælid, a few kilometres outside of Hamar, where they were just sitting down to dinner when word was received from the local police chief of the impending arrival of several busloads of German paratroops. This was a group led by the German Air Attache in Oslo, Captain Spiller, who was intent on seizing the King and his ministers by force. They did not reckon on the efforts of the Norwegian Colonel Otto Ruge and his men, many of whom had only completed their basic training, who manned a roadblock. Their heaviest weapon was one machine gun. Fighting tenaciously, they succeeded in mortally wounding Hiller and the Germans withdrew. Meanwhile, the King and others of the royal group immediately set out by car towards Elverum, to rendezvous with members of the government who had fled there from Hamar. It was also at Elverum that the Storting gave the King and government the authority to govern the country for as long as the war lasted (“The Elverum Mandate”). However, with so much uncertainty prevailing, a decision was made to send Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children over the border into neutral Sweden, for reasons of safety. Among those accompanying them were Olav’s trusted aide, Major Nicolai Ramm Østgaard (who would almost immediately return to his duties with the Crown Prince), his wife Ragni and their ten-year-old son Einar. Also in the royal entourage was Signe Svendsen, Prince Harald’s nurse; as well as Ragnhild and Martha’s Swedish governess Maja Thorén. Another Swedish national, the Crown Princess’s maid, Edla Norberg completed the party. The royal convoy, consisting of three cars, crossed the border into Sweden from Trysil at 00:50 hours on 10 April.
German troops parade down Karl Johan’s Gate with the Royal Palace in the background.
The events surrounding the party’s crossing into Sweden are the subject of debate. There are two versions:. In Brita Rosenberg’s biography of Princess Astrid, the latter recounts that Swedish border guards did not want to raise the border barrier and only did so at the last minute when their Norwegian driver indicated that he would drive straight through unless they did so.
Einar Østgaard, in his 2005 book about Crown Princess Märtha, which makes use of his father’s notes and journals, takes issue with this account: ‘The claim that Crown Princess Märtha was denied access to Sweden was printed for the first time over forty years after crossing the border on the night of 10 April 1940.’ He is of the opinion that this version must be due to a misremembering. The author also cites his mother Ragni, who served as the Crown Princess’s Lady-in-Waiting, later describing an undramatic border crossing: ‘None of us had passports, but at the Swedish border station, Nikko (her husband, Nikolai Østgaard) was out explaining who it was, and there was no difficulty in getting past.’
Either way, the convoy continued to the winter resort of Sälen to stay at the well-known Högfjällshotellet, arriving at half past three in the morning. As it was a glorious sunny day and the royal children spent most of the time skiing on the nearby slopes, while their anxious mother remained at the hotel glued to the radio for news of events in neighbouring Norway. What she heard could hardly have lifted her spirits. On 10 April, the King had met with the German Minister Kurt Bräuer in the High School at Elverum. Bräuer set out the demands of his masters in Berlin: the legitimate Norwegian government must resign, and the King must appoint Vidkun Quisling of the right-wing Nasjonal Samling (National Unity) party as Norway’s Prime Minister and approve the formation of a pro-German government led by him. King Haakon subsequently presented these demands to officials of the legitimate Johan Nygaardsvold government during an extraordinary Council of State held in nearby Nybergsund (where they had relocated). The King made it clear that they must decide what course of action they wished to take, but added that he would not bow to these German demands and if the government decided to agree to them, he would abdicate. The government, in turn, fully backed the King. King Haakon’s “no” and the government’s approval thereof were formulated as a Royal Decree and signed by the King, the Prime Minister and Minister of State Bredo Rolsted. The Norwegian population were informed of the decision in a radio broadcast.
When the Germans learned of this decision (which was relayed by telephone to Bräuer at Eidsvoll by Foreign Minister Koht) , they were infuriated. The following day, Heinkel 111 bombers of the German Luftwaffe bombed both Elverum and Nybergsund, where the King and Crown Prince were sheltering, killing dozens of people. Crown Princess Märtha was subsequently relieved to learn from newly-arrived Norwegian guests at the hotel that, although shaken, both the King and Crown Prince Olav were uninjured. This news was corroborated by the hotel manager who had been in Nybergsund at the time of the attacks, in an attempt to obtain information on behalf of the Crown Princess. From first-hand reports carried in the Swedish press, it became clear that King Haakon was the key target. At one stage, he and his son Olav were forced to take shelter in a ditch to avoid being fired on by the low-flying Heinkel bombers.
Crown Prince Olav (to rear) and King Haakon literally run for their lives at Nybergsund 11 April 1940
An early visitor to Sälen was the Storting President Carl Joachim Hambro, who was en route to Stockholm. He recalls in his memoirs arriving in time for breakfast and apologising to the Crown Princess for ‘being so unkempt and not having had time to shave.’ Märtha, clearly having maintained her sense of humour merely laughed and replied, ‘Me neither.’ He brought with him a letter written by King Haakon at Nybergsund addressed to his sister (and Märtha’s mother) Princess Ingeborg. The latter arrived at the winter resort a few days later, visibly tired and looking somewhat older, according to Ragni Østgaard. Yet, Ingeborg was also ‘filled with a glowing hatred of the Germans’ for her homeland of Denmark had also recently been occupied. Märtha’s mother was also deeply concerned for the welfare of her brother, King Haakon (formerly Prince Carl of Denmark until his accession to the throne of Norway in 1905) and her son-in-law (and nephew) Olav.
Prince Harald photographed at Sälen
The Swedish authorities were by now growing increasingly nervous of the presence of Norwegian royalty in an area so close to the border. What if, they reasoned, the Germans accidentally bombed the hotel due to a “navigation error” or if a kidnapping attempt was made to seize the royal party? The Swedish county governor decided to act and asked the royal party leave the hotel. In order not to attract attention, on 18 April, the royals and their entourage departed in the middle of the night, and headed southwards by car (which almost upturned in a snow drift) towards Uppsala. Thanks to Princess Ingeborg making use of family connections, it was arranged that the royal party could take temporary residence at Count Carl Bernadotte of Wisborg’s home at Rasbo. They would remain there for ten days, before proceeding to Stockholm and Drottningholm Palace.
At Drottningholm, King Gustav proved to be welcoming host but made it clear, through an adjutant, that there would be no discussion of the war at the dinner table. This was interesting, as otherwise Gustav had taken a keen interest in developments throughout Europe, with maps spread out over a billiard table nearby. However, it was noticeable that there was none pertaining to Norway. This particular map had been removed, prior to the arrival of the Norwegian contingent, perhaps out of tact. The Crown Princess tried to distract herself with games of gin rummy and bridge. Meanwhile Norwegians in Sweden were told not to openly celebrate their National Day on 17 May.
So how did the Crown Princess now continue to obtain news of what was happening across the border? Märtha acquired a quality radio set and each evening she and Ragni Østgaard would listen to the late night news bulletin from London. Perhaps Märtha even managed to tune in to the National Day service broadcast from the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in London, as King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav managed to do in a holiday chalet in Northern Norway? She also had the services of the Norwegian diplomat Jen Bull, who acted as a liaison between Märtha and the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm. Bull had previously served (1925-1931) as a Counsellor in the Norwegian legation in Berlin, rising to the rank of Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office in Oslo in 1939.
In due course, the Crown Princess was informed that King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav had departed Norway (from Tromsø) on the evening of 7 June, following a cabinet meeting held in the Bishop’s Palace, in order to continue the fight from Norwegian democracy from London. The war in Norway aside, Crown Prince Olav’s chief concern was now for the safety of his children and wife in Sweden. He had written to President Franklin D Roosevelt from Trangen, Langvatnet, as early as 10 May, mentioning an offer which Roosevelt had made, in late April 1939, during the Crown Prince and Princess’ weekend stay at the President’s country home at Hyde Park, ‘to take care of the children’ if the war should reach Norwegian shores.
After observing the 82nd birthday celebrations for ‘Uncle Gustav’ the previous day at Drottningholm, on 17 June, the Crown Princess and her children moved to Ulriksdal Palace. This allowed for some more privacy, and the children were able to relax with games, picnics and boating on the inlet. Furthermore, young Harald took the opportunity to learn to swim under the instruction of Signe Svendsen. Nonetheless, there was always a watchful Swedish policeman in attendance. Interestingly, the move to Ulriksdal coincided with King Haakon learning that the Germans had informed the Administrative Council, an interim body appointed by the Norwegian Supreme Court to deal with matters of civil administration in Norway, that he should abdicate the throne. This move on the part of the German occupiers seems to have hit a raw nerve with King Gustav of Sweden who, most unusually, became involved, sending a telegram to Adolf Hitler stating that ‘I consider it my duty to personally emphasize to you, Herr Reich Chancellor, that such a measure would elicit serious disapproval among the broadest circles of the Swedish people and throughout the whole of Scandinavia. I wish therefore, before irrevocable decisions are made by you, to draw your attention through this telegram…to urge you, Mr. Chancellor, to proceed with all the moderation that can be considered possible in relation to Norway, its king and people.’ Did he now fear for his own throne?
The sitting room at Ulriksdal Palace much as it was in 1940.
In the interim, Berlin had appointed Josef Terboven as Reichskommissar in Norway. Despite the initial refusal of the Administrative Council to comply with the abdication request, negotiations were continuing with Terboven, who was currently focused on the formulation of a future political framework for use in Norway during the occupation. Furthermore, despite King Gustav’s aforementioned telegram, there was a genuine possibility that a powerful Germany, aided by sympathetic Norwegians, could, if necessary, use leverage against Sweden, both diplomatically, economically, and militarily, to arrange for Märtha to be returned to Norway with her son and a Regency formed until Harald came of age. A number of prominent Norwegians who visited Stockholm advocated for such a solution. This idea also had its supporters within Per Albin Hansson’s Swedish government. For instance, the Swedish Justice Minister (and one-time Foreign Minister), Karl Westman, wrote in his diary as early as 19 June, mentioning his attendance at a government meeting: ‘I reiterated my question about why the friends of the Norwegian dynasty do not put the Norwegian crown princess and [prince] Harald on a plane and send them… to Oslo.’ He was writing this at a time when many Swedes believed that Märtha’s presence threatened to undermine Sweden’s neutrality when Germany was on the ascendance: Only a few days earlier German forces had entered Paris unopposed and the French were on the point of signing the surrender at Compiègne. Time Magazine would subsequently report that Crown Princess Märtha had indeed been offered ‘a regency in the name of her son, Prince Harald.’ Meanwhile, some Norwegians even harboured the-not unrealistic-suspicion that Prince Harald could be kidnapped and taken to Oslo by force.
On 27 June, the Presidential Council of the Storting, under pressure from the occupiers and recognising the need to establish a provisional government, responded tentatively to Josef Terboven’s proposal to establish a Council of the Realm to act as a collaborative body with the occupiers. In order to progress matters, they now asked the King to abdicate, giving him until 12 July to ‘renounce his constitutional functions for himself and his house.’ However, King Haakon refused to comply and, on 8 July, announced his rejection of the abdication request via a BBC radio broadcast from London, as well as formally placing his response in writing. What would this mean for the future of Norway and the monarchy going forward?
In Stockholm, Märtha, under the impression that her Swedish family (i.e. King Gustav) and Hitler were conspiring to remove King Haakon and set up a Regency, was feeling the pressure and sent a telegram to London as early as 24 June warning her husband that attempts were being made to ‘induce her’ to return with her three children to Oslo. Indeed, rumours had been circulating of a cipher telegram having been sent on 21 June by King Gustav to King Haakon to advise him to abdicate in favour of his grandson as ‘a means of saving the Norwegian people from unnecessary difficulties’. It also appears that the contents of King Gustav’s earlier telegram to Hitler may have been misconstrued or misreported for, on 22 June the British Minister in Stockholm indicated that King Gustav had telegraphed Hitler directly personally recommending the Regency option to him. Thus, London (and the Crown Princess) now believed that Gustav was the principal protagonist in this matter. Indeed, such was the fury in London that it caused Britain’s King George VI to sit down and write a very stern letter to the Swedish King. Fortunately, this was not forwarded by the British Legation in Stockholm to King Gustav, when it became clear that the meddling Swedish king had instead urged Hitler to show the utmost possible moderation in his dealings over Norway. Some commentators have taken the view that Gustav intervened simply because he believed that if the matter was not resolved soon Germany would abolish the monarchy in Norway.
Despite the strong political pressure placed on her, according to Einar Østgaard’s book, Crown Princess Märtha did not particularly want to travel to the United States. However, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav, fearing for Märtha and the children’s safety, seemed keen that this should happen. In late June, the Crown Prince had written again to President Roosevelt from Buckingham Palace pressing him to make good on his offer of sanctuary to his children, but this time he also included a request on behalf of his wife. Olav also made an approach to the US Secretary of State via the US Ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy, entreating ‘if there is anything you can do in a hurry to get the [Crown] Princess out [of Sweden].’ On 12 July, the US Secretary of State sent a message to the US Minister in Stockholm saying that President Roosevelt was arranging for a naval transport vessel to be sent to Finland to evacuate the Crown Princess and her family, along with a group of ‘stranded’ US citizens.
On 17 July, the Norwegian Government-in-exile addressed a letter to the Storting Presidential Council, in which cautious appreciation of the work done by the Administrative Council was combined with a plain warning that ‘everything which is agreed or done at this time in respect of government in Norway must have the clear stamp of temporariness, if nothing is to be lost for the future of the country.’
On 18 July, Märtha received a telephone call from the Norwegian Minister in Washington, Wilhelm Thorleif von Munthe af Morgenstierne. He informed a somewhat nonplussed Crown Princess (who seems to have been in the dark about Crown Prince Olav’s recent correspondence with Roosevelt) that an American warship was being sent to Finland to transport her and her children to the United States. But would she go? On 20 July, Märtha received the US Minister to Norway, Mrs Florence Harriman, who was now ensconced temporarily at the United States Legation in Stockholm. Having had time to reflect on the efforts being made on her and her children’s behalf, both in London and Washington, the Crown Princess indicated to the American that she would be happy to accept President Roosevelt’s kind offer. Nevertheless, Märtha was keen to emphasise that she wanted to enter the United States ‘as quietly as possible’ and that she ‘would not be required to meet reporters or a reception committee’. Naively, the Crown Princess even expressed the hope that the date of her arrival should be kept confidential. King Gustav, on hearing of the “American plan”, telegraphed King Haakon, on 24 July, stating that he objected to the American trip as it might undermine the future of the Norwegian monarchy, a viewpoint Haakon, who deeply resented Gustav’s meddling, was quick to dismiss. Some sources also have Crown Princess Märtha and “Uncle Gustav” having a robust exchange of views on this matter in Stockholm.
However, events were already moving apace. On 22 July, Mrs Harriman had been informed by the US State Department that a naval transport, the USS American Legion, was about to leave for the Finnish port of Petsamo (now Petsjenga, Russia) and should reach there around 5 August. It was also made clear that there was ‘no possible way’ the Crown Princess’ arrival in the United States could be kept confidential. Indeed, just as Märtha was setting off from Ulriksdal Palace, on 12 August, the Norwegian Legation released a statement to the press, also broadcast over Radio Sweden, stating that the Crown Princess and her three children ‘will leave for the United States in the next few days to visit President Roosevelt’ who had issued ‘a personal invitation’ to the Norwegian royals.
That same day, the Norwegian party departed Stockholm’s Central Station. Both Märtha’s father, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg were distressed to take leave of their beloved daughter and grandchildren. Princess Ingeborg presented Märtha with a case of jewels, including the emerald tiara that had once belonged to Empress Joséphine, the wife of Napoléon Bonaparte. This was a form of financial insurance in difficult times. King Gustav also came to the station to see them off, despite his grave reservations. They were, after all, his relations too. The plan was for the Norwegian royal party to travel by train to Haparanda, on the Swedish/ Norwegian border, with the rest of the journey, through Finland, being undertaken by cars provided by the Finnish authorities. The local Haparanda newspaper Haparandabladet soon reported on the Crown Princess’s arrival there, prior to her setting off on the second stage of the journey northwards to Petsamo. This second stage was undertaken in a convoy of four vehicles and included stops and overnight stays in Rovaniemi and Inari (Enare). A Finnish military officer, Major Carl Gustaf Wahren, accompanied the royal entourage and was responsible for security. He very kindly allowed the amiable Swedish policeman Artur Pfeiffer, with whom the children had developed a good relationship since their arrival in Stockholm, to accompany the party on this Finnish leg of their journey. Petsamo was reached on 15 August.
The Crown Princess and her children in Finland en route to Petsamo, 13-15 August 1940
The Crown Princess and her children now joined the nine hundred passengers, mostly United States citizens, aboard the American Legion, bound for New York. Märtha appeared on the ship’s manifest as “Mrs Jones” and was given the use of the Captain’s cabin. Others in the royal party included the Crown Princess’s Chief of Staff, Peder Anker Wedel Jarlsberg; Lady-in-Waiting, Mrs Ragni Østgaard; the latter’s son Einar and Prince Harald’s nurse, Signe Svendsen. Touchingly, Harald was pictured clutching his beloved teddy bear. Yet, the Norwegian royal party were still very much in danger. Germany refused to guarantee the ship safe conduct and according to Time Magazine, in a ruthless last-minute display of audacity, had tried to delay the sailing with a dispute over the route. It was said that the Germans preferred a more northern passage where the American Legion could be waylaid by a submarine, and Martha and her son kidnapped.
Meanwhile, King Haakon broadcast to the Norwegian people on 26 August, informing them ‘to avoid everything which is inconsistent with our national dignity; remain Norwegian in mind and thought…’ A majority of the Storting members in Oslo eventually voted for the suspension of the monarchy rather than acceptance of the original German demand for the abdication or deposing of the Royal House and negotiations continued. However, Terboven, keen to stamp his authority, eventually abandoned plans for a Council of the Realm. On 25 September 1940, he proclaimed the abolition of the monarchy, the deposition of the Nygaardsvold government, and the dissolution of all political parties with the exception of the Nasjonal Samling. Furthermore, he also terminated the activities of the Administrative Council and set up a body of pro-German personalities and power rested, for the moment, with the Reichskommissariat.
Despite all the melodrama of the last few months, the Crown Princess and her entourage finally sailed into New York on 28 August. She and her three children would eventually settle in a largish brick house set in substantial grounds in Pook’s Hill, Maryland. Märtha would soon become part of President’s Roosevelt’s inner circle and was thus ideally placed to obtain first-hand knowledge of the comings and goings at the White House and in Washington’s political circles. She was also able to use her position to advance Norway’s cause in the United States.
The Crown Princess and her family arrive in New York 28 August 1940
In Mid-April 1945, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav remained in exile in England, where they had sought refuge following the German occupation of Norway in 1940. However, with the collapse of the Third Reich now imminent, Olav thought it expedient to inform his wife, Crown Princess Märtha who, with their three children, Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald, had taken refuge in the United States, that they must be prepared to travel from their wartime home in Washington D.C. to Europe at short notice.
Crown Princess Märtha and her children Harald, Astrid and Ragnhild at their wartime home Pooks Hill, near Washington D.C.
According to one source, the Crown Princess learned of the German surrender in May from the Norwegian Consul-General of Norway, Christensen, following her arrival by train in New York. However, Princess Astrid would recall it differently, stating that it was she who first heard the news of the German capitulation in Europe over the radio at the family’s residence, causing her to shout out, ‘We are free. We are free!’ Her mother, the Crown Princess, was nearby and asked if any specific mention had been made of Norway. Unfortunately, Astrid had been so caught up in the excitement of the moment, that she had rushed out of the room without hearing the final details of the broadcast! Fortunately, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Trygve Lie, who was also in Washington, called to confirm the good news. He was due to fly to Britain and asked the Crown Princess if she wanted to come too, so that she might have the chance to meet Crown Prince Olav, before he departed for Norway. Naturally she agreed. But of necessity, the reunion, which took place in Edinburgh, on 11 May, was short but sweet!
Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald set out for England on 20 May. In the United States, following the initial burst of publicity upon their arrival from Europe in August 1940, the children had not been subjected to the same intrusiveness as would have been the case in Norway. Princess Astrid recalls that ‘Over there we were just Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald. There wasn’t much talk about princes and princesses.’ Nonetheless, there was great excitement that the journey back to Europe would be by air, rather than by sea, quite a novel thing at the time. As a precaution, Ragnhild and Astrid flew in one plane accompanied by the Court Marshal, Baron Wedel Jarlsberg; while Harald travelled separately with the Crown Princess’s Lady-in-Waiting, Ragni Østgaard and her son Einer. The aeroplanes were of course far from luxurious, having mostly been used for the transport of military personnel.
While the princesses were keen to return to their homeland, Harald (who was aged only three when he arrived in the US) was confused, as he would recall some sixty years later: ‘Everyone was talking about how we were going home now. I was the only one who was going to do the opposite; I was going to leave my home. I didn’t remember anything from Norway; I didn’t know of any other home other than Pooks Hill.’
After a stopover at Gander in Newfoundland, the royal transports landed in Scotland the following afternoon. Before the day’s end, the royal children were travelling southwards by train for an emotional reunion with King Haakon (‘Farfar’), at his current home, Foliejon Park in Berkshire. They had not met for five years. Inevitably, as Harald had only been three when they parted company on 9 April 1940, he remembered little, if anything, of the venerable gentleman with the Danish accent. However, there was to be no meeting, for the moment, with Crown Prince Olav, who had arrived home in Oslo on 13 May, to a warm welcome from cheering crowds.
After a few weeks in England, the Norwegian Royal Family departed London’s King’s Cross Station, on the evening of 4 June, aboard the night sleeper train to Edinburgh. King Haakon (accompanied by the Crown Princess) had earlier lunched with his nephew, King George VI, and his wife Queen Elizabeth, at Buckingham Palace to thank them for their hospitality over the years. Haakon also recorded a message of thanks to the British people from the BBC headquarters, Broadcasting House.
King Haakon emaks HMS Norfolk near Edinburgh 5 June 1945
In the early afternoon of 5 June, amid considerable ceremony, the royal party boarded the British cruiser and flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, HMS Norfolk, at Rosyth Dockyard. The Norwegian Royal Standard-a rampant gold lion on a red background-was hoisted from the mainmast as soon as the King set foot on the gangplank; while the Royal Marine band played the Norwegian National Anthem. Vice-Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor was waiting to greet the King and the other members of the Royal Party. HMS Norfolk was escorted throughout the crossing by HMS Devonshire, the vessel which had transported King Haakon, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government over to exile in Britain almost five years earlier. Other ships in the convoy included the Royal Navy O-class destroyers HMS Offa, HMS Onslow and HMS Orwell, as well as the Royal Norwegian Navy S-Class destroyer, HNoMS Stord.
The following day, 6 June, the weather was bad, with a strong breeze and heavy rain. King Haakon spent the whole day on the command bridge and suddenly, at around six o’clock, land was sighted: Lista, the southern most tip of Norway. Prince Harald ran to where his mother and his sisters were sitting, and received a confirming answer when he shouted ‘Is it Norway, Mother?’ Princess Astrid remembers that ‘Grandfather was anxious and wondered what the homecoming would be like. How would the people receive him?’
King Haakon takes the salute with his son Crown Prince Olav. Behind are Crown Princess Märtha, Princess Ragnhild and Prince Harald. Princess Astrid is obscured behind her father.
King Haakon landed in Oslo, at 12 midday on 7 June, exactly five years to the day since he departed Tromsø for exile in Britain to carry on the fight against Germany. This was also the 40th anniversary of the famous vote in the Storting [Parliament] which dissolved the union between Norway and Sweden. Crown Prince Olav came aboard HMS Norfolk at Spro and must have been somewhat startled at the sight of his three children dressed in oversize duffle coats (borrowed from the crew) against the biting winds. Indeed, Princess Astrid remembered that the weather was so bad at times that those on board could not see the land. However, soon small craft were spotted, decorated with foliage and flags, coming almost alongside in greeting as the vessel progressed up the Oslofjord. The duffle coats were soon swapped for “Sunday Best” clothing for the welcome home festivities in Oslo. Three hundred thousand people (other sources state 500,000) were said to have lined the Oslofjord. Ships in the harbour blew their whistles and let-off star shells.
Once the ship had reached its destination, the sun broke through the clouds and the King and his family disembarked and were transported by launch to the Honnørbryggen quayside, near to Akerhus Fortress, to shake hands with the official welcoming party, which included Paal Berg, leader of the resistance movement, as well as General Thorne, who had formally held sovereignty of Norway following the German surrender. The latter is said to have greeted the King with the words, ‘Sir, I return to you your Kingdom.’ The King straightened his back and strode purposefully down the red carpet to a waiting pavilion decked out with flags bearing the royal insignia. His Majesty inspected a Guard of Honour formed from, among others, newly arrived British and American military contingents. The Oslo City Hall provided a fitting backdrop. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess and their children (who were noticeably mesmerised by the fuss) followed on close behind. Thousands shouted out ‘God Save the King.’ A band played the National Anthem. Later, all-night parties were held along the Oslofjord. King Haakon, was ‘deeply moved by the warm welcome of all the people.’ It was clear that years of oppression had given the Norwegians a desire to express themselves.
In a speech King Haakon explained to the assembled crowds, ‘The day we decided we had to leave the country was a grim and sombre day. We understood that if we remained here, we would be captured and, as prisoners, would no longer represent a free Norway. It was on that basis that we deemed it necessary to continue the struggle for Norway’s freedom abroad.’
‘The years were long. I do not deny that, and many times it may have looked very dark for many of you’
‘That we should return on the anniversary of the day when Norwegians regained their freedom and independence is for me a sign that we shall succeed in carrying out our future tasks to the benefit of our country.’ King Haakon added.
He concluded, ‘But in this time of rejoicing, we must not forget that we have a great and difficult task ahead of us to achieve what we wish to build here in our land: a free and benevolent society for the good people of Norway.’
Princess Astrid further recalls that ‘When we drove up to the Palace, it was heart-warming to see the Royal Court staff members, who had been there when we left, standing in the open windows of the Palace to welcome us home. All of our friends, whom we had not seen in five long years, were also standing there. They had been brought to the Palace to greet us, and that was very emotional.’
King Haakon and Crown Princess Märtha drive through the streets of Oslo on 7 June. Note the presence of bodyguards and outriders.
That evening, the royal family appeared on the Royal Palace balcony before a crowd estimated at 100,000. The royal family did not retire until 12.30am, following a wonderful firework display which featured a stylised monogram H7 (for Haakon VII). Prince Harald would also later recall running from room to room of the vast palace, even encountering a room full of chambermaids enjoying their repast.
The following night, a gala performance took place at the National Theatre, at the close of which a leading actor recited Nordahl Grieg’s poem ‘The King’- a patriotic tribute inspired by the experiences which the people and the monarch had shared during the campaign in 1940. This was clandestinely brought into circulation throughout Norway not long before the author lost his life in a bombing raid over Berlin with the R.A.A.F in December 1943.
The task of dismantling the German presence in Norway was now underway, as was the need to form of a new government and deal with the minority who had thrown in their lot with the Germans. On a more personal level, both the Royal Palace and Skaugum, the home of the Crown Princely couple, had suffered from the ravages of war. The former was described as ‘a shambles’, with the late Queen Maud’s sitting room having been used as an office by the traitor, Quisling. The Royal Chapel and Great Banqueting Hall had been turned into storage rooms. Meanwhile, the contents of Skaugum were either damaged or subsequently located at a storage facility. The house had, throughout the occupation, been the residence of the Nazi Reich Commissioner, Josef Terboven. He had recently committed suicide by blowing himself up in a bunker in the grounds. It would take several months to put these residences into a serviceable condition. Although originally the family had stayed the first couple of nights at the Palace, they soon relocated to the royal summer home on the Bygdøy peninsula (which had also been taken over by the Germans), where they would remain until the autumn.
Another trial initially, especially for Prince Harald, was adjusting to life at a Norwegian school, for he spoke and understood English far better than Norwegian at this time. Nonetheless, he would now become the first Hereditary Prince to attend a regular public school.
King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav would work side-by-side during the post-war years in their quest to help rebuild a country ravaged by war. The Crown Princess once again took up her charitable duties as the first lady of Norway. A strong foundation was thus formed for the future of the royal family.
Return to royal duties: The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway visit Trondheim in October 1945
On 13 May 1945, Crown Prince Olav arrived in Norway aboard the British cruiser ”Apollo”, the cheers of a crowd of several hundred thousand people ringing in his ears as he stepped ashore at Honnørbryggen in Oslo. Olav was anxious to speak to the general public assembled:
‘Five years ago, we left the country, but we knew that in the end, justice would prevail over evil. There was never any doubt that Norway would one day be free again.’
One biographer observed ‘Crown Prince Olav’s return and triumphal procession through the jubilant sea of people has been described as ‘a shining moment that no one who experienced it would ever forget. It is what the poets call “a starry moment in the life of the nation.”‘
The Crown Prince was then transported atop the back seat of the open-topped AI registration Buick royal limousine (so recently used by the Germans) through the streets of Oslo with the resistance fighter Max Manus acting as his bodyguard, rifle in hand-just in case! Manus looked particularly anxious as they progressed up the Karl Johan thoroughfare, and he had good reason to be, for not all of the Germans in the city had yet been disarmed. Indeed, word of Olav’s return had been kept secret until only a few hours earlier for security reasons.
Crown Prince Olav drives through Oslo with his armed bodyguard watching for German sharpshooters!
To add to the sense of uncertainty, only a few days earlier the Reichskommissar Josef Terboven, who had recently been relieved of his post by General Franz Böhme, had committed suicide at the Crown Prince’s Skaugum estate (which he had occupied during the occupation) by detonating 50 kilos of dynamite. He would not be alone.
For the Crown Prince personally, it was one of the strongest experiences of his life. He felt an intense boundless joy, a joy he got to share with an entire people. ‘That day I felt privileged and rich. I understood how lucky we had been and how much I had to be thankful for.’
Scenes in Karl Johan Gate on 8 May as the people of Oslo celebrate VE Day.
So much happened in these eventful May days. Indeed, the period was recently described by Aftenposten by historian Guri Hjeltnes ‘Lifting the lid off a pressure cooker.’ The local population were initially warned that ‘The enemy has now capitulated [in fact they had not yet formally surrendered], and soon we will be completely masters of the country. But remember: capitulation is not the same as peace. The enemy still has weapons.’
The traitor Quisling was arrested and imprisoned on his arrival at the main police station in Oslo. Norwegian police-who had been trained in Sweden during the war-had only arrived in the capital as recently as 10 May, armed with lists of potential traitors collated from information gathered from Norwegian refugees. Germany had forces in Norway during World War 2 estimated at between 300,000 and 350,000; while other sources state that at their peak, in the autumn of 1943, 380,000 had occupied the country.
On 11 May, Terje Rollem of Milorg [abbreviation of militær organisasjon], the Norwegian resistance movement, received the formal surrender of the German forces at Akershus Fortress. Norwegian home forces partly kept watch together with German soldiers in the first period after the capitulation, with German officers allowed to carry their pistols. These officers were now tasked with keeping order and discipline within their units. They were subsequently interred in camps.
As part of the Crown Prince’s party were the Norwegian Armed Forces High Command and a government delegation of five ministers led by Oscar Trop. Also arriving on that day was the British General, Andrew Thorne, who would be responsible for the Allied dismantling of the occupation rule, although he was answerable to General Eisenhower. British and American soldiers (initially only a few thousand but rising to thirty thousand) joined with Norwegian forces to achieve this. Storting President Hambro and Prime Minister Nygaardsvold accompanied by the rest of the Norwegian government-in-exile, who had been based in London, returned to Oslo on 31 May aboard the ship “Andes”.
British troops arrive in Oslo to be greeted by grateful locals. They were vastly outnumbered by the former occupying forces, many of whom remained armed.
On 14 May, Crown Prince Olav received the resignation of the Home Front government, which in had only been in place for around a week, at the Royal Palace; while on 17 May, Norway’s National Day was celebrated for the first time in six years, with huge crowds gathering throughout Oslo city centre (including the Royal Palace and the City Hall). Meanwhile, a week later, some 400 students who had been sent to camps in Germany arrived home.
Crown Prince Olav presides over the Children’s Parade at the Royal Palace on National Day 17 May 1945
One who never forgot the Crown Princes’s return had been a fisherman who was out in his boat at Sonsodden, when he suddenly discovered, much to his surprise that he was right in the path of three large warships which were advancing towards him. He put the engine in neutral and drifted up alongside the ships. One cruiser, the Apollo was displaying the royal flag on the stern mast. On the low aft deck the fisherman spotted someone he soon recognised as Crown Prince Olav. The man took off his hat and exclaimed, ‘Welcome home, Crown Prince!’ A smiling Olav replied, ‘Thank you very much.’
Sweden and Norway had been joined together in a union since 1814. From then, they had shared a common monarch, who was the pivotal link in this union of two nations, the last of whom would be King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, who had been crowned as King of Norway in Nidaros Cathedral on 18 July 1873 (and in Stockholm Cathedral as King of Sweden on 12 May 1873) . This Swedish-born King, who spoke fluent Norwegian, was largely based in Stockholm, although he did make regular visits to the Royal Palace in Christiana (now Oslo) as well as to other parts of Norway. The Norwegians had their own parliament (the Storting) and Constitution (formulated back in 1814 and signed in May of that year). Furthermore, matters relating to foreign affairs were dealt with in Stockholm, where the Foreign Minister was based. This was to be a source of increasing discontent in Norway, for the Norwegians were a proud people with a strong sense of national identity and a Norwegian royal line which stretched back to the 9th century and the reign of King Harald I.
King Oscar (seated centre) at the Villa Victoria on Bygdøy Royal Estate.
In the 1870’s and early 1880’s the King had repeatedly vetoed constitutional amendments passed by the Storting. Yet, royal visits from Stockholm continued regardless. In 1881 the King established-at the instigation of Christian Holst, who was manager of the Bygdøy royal estate-what was known initially as Oscar II’s Collection, a small group of historic buildings, taken from their original locations around Norway and rebuilt at Bygdøy. This collection was to be the forerunner of what would become known as the Norwegian Folk Museum. Another frequent visitor was Oscar’s eldest son, Crown Prince Gustav of Norway and Sweden. Gustav ventured to Norway in June 1877 during which he included a visit to Tromsø and the following year, he was accompanied on his trip by France’s Prince Imperial (the only son of Napoleon III) during which the royal duo enjoyed a stopover at Osebro.
In February 1882, a Welcome Arch was erected in Carl Johans Gate in Christiana to commemorate the visit of Crown Prince Gustav and his wife, Victoria of Baden. This was Victoria’s first visit as Crown Princess to Norway, the couple having married only five months previously. Several buildings were handsomely decorated with the letters of G and V and there was a huge torchlight parade as the royal couple made their way, in an open carriage, through the capital’s streets, which were thronged by well wishers, to the Royal Palace. On another occasion the Crown Princely couple ventured to the theatre during which they passed through a royal arch lit by electric bulbs-something of a rarity in those days.
Crown Prince Gustav and Crown Princess Victoria enter Christiana in 1882
The Liberal Party, elected in 1884, led by Johan Sverdrup, was focused on establishing a strong parliamentary system (and some would say a diminution of the royal prerogative powers). The government would also become increasingly concerned with strengthening Norway’s position on the international scene, particularly as the country’s overseas trade became vital to energising the economy. It was argued by those in the business and shipping sector that there were now too few consulates to support this increase in foreign trade. Following their re-election in 1891, the increasingly nationalistic Liberal Party government, now led by Johannes Steen, therefore took the view that Norway should have its own autonomous consular service. They made NOK 50,000 available for this purpose. But a rattled King Oscar (who had also got wind of the possible appointment of an autonomous Norwegian Foreign Minister) was intent on vetoing such attempts by the government and this led to a constitutional crisis. This was only (temporarily) resolved by putting aside the matter of the consular service for the present.
The royal family, who were keen to maintain the union between Norway and Sweden, continued to make their presence felt in Christiana. In October 1893, King Oscar and Crown Prince Gustav made a joint visit during which they opened the Bandak Canal which connects Skien and Dalen in western Telemark. Another attempt, in 1895, in the Storting, to terminate consular cooperation with Sweden and push through a unilateral resolution for the establishment of a Norwegian Consular Service was met by menacing threats and sabre rattling on the part of Sweden (who were militarily superior to Norway). However, despite ongoing political rumblings, events were sufficiently settled to permit King Oscar to travel by train to Christiana in 1897 to mark the 25th anniversary of his accession to the throne of Norway. A service of thanksgiving was held in St Saviour’s Church, while the Stock Exchange, the Military Academy and many other official buildings were festooned with flags, bunting and greenery.
The Crown Prince also continued to make visits. For instance, in May 1898, he paid a visit to Ullensvang. However, another visit, in the spring of 1899, was to prove more eventful and troublesome as Gustav explained in a letter to his father, King Oscar, from the Royal Palace in Christiana. Most unusually, the Crown Prince had been jeered at by a crowd of around two hundred on his return to the palace from a meeting of the Military Society. Gustav was somewhat shaken by this turn of events, but put it down to ‘half drunk’ students. After the Royal Guard had eventually intervened and arrested a couple of demonstrators, the others soon dispersed.
The Crown Prince then issued invitations to members of the Storting to dine with him at the Royal Palace. Around 70 members (whom Gustav would later describe to his father, as being of a left-wing persuasion) returned their invites. Nonetheless, the Crown Prince went ahead with the dinner although he decided not to make the customary toast to the Storting (whilst simultaneously declining Mr Viggo Ullman, the President of the Storting’s, request to toast Gustav’s health). Instead, the Crown Prince limited himself to toasting the health of the King. Yet Gustav also made clear his displeasure at this snub by the Norwegian politicians to those members who did attend the event at the Royal Palace. This protest by the Norwegian politicians had also garnered much criticism in Sweden.
Indeed, by October 1900, Crown Prince Gustav was growing increasingly exasperated by events in Norway. Writing to his tennis partner, Pontus Quarnström, he spoke of his longing to leave Christiana and bemoaned the behaviour of Norwegian politicians, three government ministers having recently resigned. Furthermore, Gustav (who had vice-regal authority) felt that the government were not observing the necessary constitutional niceties, by not consulting him about the appointment of new ministers, in particular a Minister of War. A meeting about the matter had proved ‘unpleasant and difficult’ but the Crown Prince seems to have been equal to the task, warning the offenders that if they stepped on his toes, he would most certainly step on theirs. Despite these feelings, the Crown Prince continued to reach out to the Norwegian people and, in 1901, he was present on the balcony of the Royal Palace during Norway’s National Day, 17 May (the first member of the royal family ever to do so, for the Bernadotte’s had customarily avoided being in Norway at this time) to greet flag-waving Norwegians who had gathered before the palace, as had been the tradition for the past thirty years.
However, at least a war between Norway and Sweden-the thought of which King Oscar had regarded as ‘abhorrent’-was averted and an agreement was made whereby the matter of a separate consular service was to be considered by a joint committee of members from both countries in 1902. In February 1903, Gustav was once again in Christiana and complained to King Oscar of a ‘terrible state of affairs’ with ‘hardly a single person who now wants to support the present Union, and most of them are openly crying out for its dissolution’ rather ‘than remain…as a vassal of Sweden.’ Although ‘calm’, the Crown Prince admitted that he was ‘prepared for anything.’ On this occasion, Gustav was accompanied by his son Prince Wilhelm.
To his younger brother Prince Carl, Gustav wrote about the consular crisis on 22 February, 1903 ‘I think that you know enough both of my opinion and the views and thoughts of [Swedish Prime Minister] Boström to know that neither he nor I want to make any further concessions. I consider the Norwegian proposals to be completely unacceptable, well written to be sure, but very insidious.’ In other words, the chance of an accord on the consular matter seemed slim.
Nevertheless, despite the Crown Prince’s scepticism, a form of agreement was eventually reached and a subsequent communiqué issued by the joint committee, dated 24 March 1903. This proposed that any relations between the consuls (of both Norway and Sweden) and the still unified Foreign Ministry in Stockholm, as well as with the joint diplomatic missions overseas, should be governed by separate but identical laws, which could not be altered or repealed without the consent of the governments of both Norway and Sweden. Meanwhile, in July, King Oscar ventured to Norway to open the Ofoten Railway- the Norwegian section of a railway which carried iron ore to the port of Narvik.
King Oscar II opens the Ofoten Railway in 1903.
In the spring of 1904, Crown Prince Gustav enjoyed a brief respite when he and his eldest son Prince Gustav Adolf participated in some cross-country skiing at Holmenkollen and watched some downhill ski action from the Royal Box. The political problems were not abating. Building upon the agreement reached the previous year, in May 1904, the Norwegian Government presented proposals for inclusion in the new ‘identical’ legislation. However, Swedish Prime Minister Boström’s government proved somewhat truculent and when the Swedes made their response in November of that year, one of their counter-proposals was that the Swedish foreign minister should have sufficient control over the ‘independent’ or ‘separate’ Norwegian consuls so as to prevent them from exceeding their authority. Norway interpreted this as placing their consuls in a subordinate position, effectively still under Swedish control.
It so happened that the Crown Prince was again in Christiana in the spring of 1905. One of his final vice-regal acts was the appointment, in March, of a coalition government led by Prime Minister Christian Michelsen. The latter announced in his inaugural address that his government would implement ‘Norway’s constitutional right to its own consular service and assert Norway’s sovereignty as a free, independent kingdom.’ On 29 April, Gustav informed his father that ‘The situation here [in Christiana] is utterly hopeless, and it is impossible to speak a reasonable word to a single person.’ Those politicians the Crown Prince encountered were acting like ‘wild dogs’; although to him personally, they were ‘polite, but ice-cold and there is a lot of hatred …in the air’. He now was firmly of the view that ‘I really cannot do any good here’.
Then, in keeping with Michelsen’s inaugural vow, in May 1905 both chambers of the Storting passed the Consular Act, to establish an independent Norwegian consular service, this to be effective from April 1 1906. On 27 May, King Oscar II refused to ratify the legislation during a cabinet meeting at the Swedish Royal Palace with Norway’s senior politician in Stockholm, Jørgen Løvlandat (also in attendance were Crown Prince Gustav, Norwegian ministers Harald Bothner and Edvard Hagerup Bull, as well as August Sibbern, a civil servant from the Norwegian Cabinet Department). Thereafter, the Norwegian government in Christiana duly resigned.
The crisis deepened when the King was unable to form a new government. In early June, the Prime Minister in Oslo, Christian Michelsen, prepared a statement which he would later make dealing with the current constitutional situation. He posited: It was the monarch’s responsibility to provide Norway with a constitutional government. Since King Oscar had failed to do this, the Norwegian monarchy had now ceased to function. And since it was the King who had bound the union together, these union ties were now broken. On 6 June, Paul Ivar Paulsen, a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice in Oslo, travelled to Stockholm on the night train. He had with him the Norwegian government’s final letter of resignation, addressed to the King and signed by Prime Minister Michelsen. The next day, 7 June, Paulsen handed this over to King Oscar II at the Royal Palace, around the same time as the Storting met in plenary session. After listening to the contents of Michelsen’s aforementioned statement, the Norwegian parliament proceeded to pass a resolution to dissolve the union with Sweden. It was then announced that the government ‘until further notice’ would now exercise ‘the authority [previously] granted to the King in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway and applicable laws’. In response, King Oscar sent a telegram to the government in Christiana protesting at this turn of events ‘in the most definite way.’
Meanwhile, the following evening, at Rosendal Castle, where he was currently in residence, Oscar II was joined by his wife and other royal family members to receive a touching tribute from his shocked Swedish subjects, thousands of whom gathered and sang the patriotic song, Ur svenska hjärtans djup [From the Depths of Swedish Hearts]. It was so moving that Queen Sophie and her daughter-in-law Princess Ingeborg (the wife of Prince Carl) could be seen wiping away tears.
King Oscar in Norwegian Military Uniform taken in 1905 in Stockholm
In Christiana, on 8 June, top-ranking men in the military were required to pledge their loyalty to an independent Norway. Then early on the morning of 9 June the Union Flag was ‘struck down’ at Akershus Fortress. At 10am a crowd (estimated at between twenty to thirty thousand) gathered at the Fortress to watch the flag of an independent Norway being raised.
It is fair to say that the Swedish royal family (as they now must be regarded) were taken aback by the Norwegian position. It was all something of a ‘bombshell’ according to Prince Carl. His younger brother Eugen would later observe that ‘My old father [King Oscar] felt the blow as an insult that he had a hard time digesting.’ On 14 June, King Oscar himself was quoted in the Swedish press talking of ‘this illegal conduct’ on the part of the Norwegians being as ‘an incurable wound’ and paid tribute to ‘my Swedish people.’ Despite the distress, Crown Prince Gustav, who had been in England attending the wedding of his eldest son, Gustaf Adolf to Princess Margaret of Connaught, a niece of Britain’s King Edward VII, now advocated that the dissolution of the union should take place in a peaceful manner.
Meanwhile, a request was sent on 19 June from the Storting to King Oscar asking that negotiations commence for a final settlement on the dissolved union. The following day, King Oscar attended the State Opening of the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) in Stockholm, the Swedish Prime Minister, Ramstedt (who would soon be replaced by Christian Lundeberg) indicated that diplomatic negotiations, the commencement of which required the approval of the Riksdag, should now go ahead with Norway. All the members of Sweden’s State Council agreed with this proposal and King Oscar (keen to avoid what he regarded as the ‘greater evil’ of war) spoke movingly of the many years he had concerned himself with the ‘welfare of the brotherly people’ [i.e. the Norwegians] and how ‘it is painful to me to contribute to the dissolution of a union, in which I thought I saw the independence, security and happiness of both united kingdoms. If I am nevertheless willing to do this, it is to avoid a greater evil and in the conviction that a union without mutual consent would not bring any real advantage to Sweden.’ It should be stated that in Sweden, as in some other nations, the Storting’s actions were regarded as tantamount to a coup or revolution.
However, the King decided to appoint Crown Prince Gustav as Regent throughout the period of negotiations. Oscar admitted in a message his people on 7 August that having consulted with his doctors ‘I must now….seek rest and refreshing air… in order to, with God’s help, regain health and strength after the tiring time for body and soul which has been a consequence of the worries which during have followed me for the past few months…’ Of course, the worries over the situation with Norway had actually dogged his reign for decades. Although he did not realise it, Oscar only had a short time to live and he would die in Stockholm in December 1907, at the age of 78.
Meanwhile, on 13 August, the decision of the Storting of 7 June was backed by a referendum in Norway (held at the insistence of Sweden’s Riksdag) which resulted in 368,392 votes in favour of dissolution of the Union, and only 184 against. Negotiations between the delegations from Norway and Sweden took place in the Masonic Lodge in Karlstad from 31 August and lasted till 23 September, when a conditional agreement was reached. The main sticking point was border fortifications between the two nations. In the end several forts were demolished and a neutral zone established which could not be used for military purposes. Any further disputes would be solved by international arbitration. The Karlstad agreement was ratified by the Storting on 9 October; as well as by an extraordinary sitting of the Riksdag on 13 October.
Oscar II now formally recognised Norway as an independent state and, on 26 October, he abdicated from the Norwegian throne on behalf of both himself and his successors. The latter words are particularly important, as when the Storting unilaterally dissolved the union with Sweden, it also made an offer (sometimes referred to as the “Bernadotte proposal”) to King Oscar to nominate a prince of the House of Bernadotte to be the new King of an independent Norway. King Oscar wisely demurred fearing that the independence and impartiality of a new monarch in Norway with such close links to him and the House of Bernadotte might be constantly called into question. However, another (Swedish) source quotes him as having been ‘insulted’ by this offer and raging, “Sooner will they carry me to the Riddarholmen Church [at that time the final resting place of Swedish monarchs] than I consent to one of my family going to Norway [as king].” Yet Oscar also sent a final and conciliatory message to his ‘brothers’ in Norway: ‘To those who faithfully served me in Norway during my 30-year reign and who still have some love for their former king, I send my heartfelt thanks and my sincere good wishes in farewell.’
Yet the Bernadotte’s were still involved in one last act regarding the future of Norway. On 14 November Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden arrived in Copenhagen. He had been sent as an emissary to make it clear that, despite the recent dissolution of union with Norway, Sweden had no objections to Prince Carl of Denmark’s (the second born son of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark) imminent elevation as King of Norway.
Gustav-now King Gustav V of Sweden-returned to Christiana by train from Stockholm for a three-day visit on 28 November 1917 to attend a meeting of the three Scandinavian monarchs. Not only was this Gustav’s first visit since becoming King of Sweden in 1907, it was also the first since the break-up of the Union in 1905. Gustav was now hosted by the Danish-born King Haakon VII in the city and at the Royal Palace he knew so well from his days as Crown Prince of Norway. Haakon’s older brother, King Christian X of Denmark, completed the trio. Gustav hoped that this current visit would demonstrate that the dissolution between Norway and Sweden did not stand in the way of any rapprochement between the two countries. The Swedish king was not disappointed by his reception, as crowds lined the streets to welcome the visiting monarch and his Danish counterpart. Two aeroplanes flew overhead briefly spooking the horses. Local hotels were filled by the curious, many of whom had travelled from western Norway. At the Royal Palace the press reported that the trio of kings feasted on lamb, chicken, ice cream and petit fours.
King Haakon VII , King Gustav V and King Christian X pictured in 1914 during an earlier meeting in Sweden.
And today relations between the Royal Houses of Norway and Sweden remain extremely close. Sweden’s King has just celebrated his Golden Jubilee and his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria is a popular monarch-in-waiting. Meanwhile, King Harald of Norway, the mother of whom was a Swedish Princess, has reigned for over thirty years. He is the first Norwegian-born monarch of Norway since the Union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905 and he is due to be succeeded, in due course, by his Norwegian-born son Crown Prince Haakon and his Norwegian-born granddaughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, both of whose mothers were commoners.
Princess Ragnhild of Norway was born on 9 June 1930 at the Royal Palace in Oslo, where her parents, Crown Prince Olav and his Swedish-born wife, Crown Princess Märtha had decamped some three weeks before, as a fire had almost destroyed their family home at Skaugum, in the village of Asker, west of Oslo. Ragnhild was the first Norwegian Princess born on Norwegian soil in over six hundred years. In her autobiography (published in 1995), Princess Ragnhild relates how her Swedish mother was anxious that her first-born child should come into the world on the 25th anniversary of the dissolution of Norway’s union with Sweden (7 June 1930), so that target was missed by two days! However, despite being the eldest child of the Crown Prince, Ragnhild was not destined to become queen, as at that time there was no right of succession to the throne of Norway for females. Had she been born under the constitutional rules of today, the Princess would eventually have succeeded her father Olav as Queen of Norway.
When a mere two and a half weeks old, Ragnhild was baptized by Bishop Johan Lunde in the Royal Palace Chapel in Oslo. The infant was carried throughout much of the ceremony in the arms of her paternal grandmother, Queen Maud of Norway (a daughter of Britain’s King Edward VII). To commemorate the occasion, 1,400 Norwegians bearing the name of Ragnhild collected sufficient money to provide a baptismal gift of a cross which was embellished with five natural pearls from different geographical areas of Norway.
The Princess was raised at Skaugum until the age of ten, receiving a private education at home. Joining her in the nursery, in February 1932, was a younger sister, Astrid. In February 1937, Crown Princess Märtha gave birth to a son, Harald. Being a male, he was second-in-line to the throne of Norway from the moment of his birth and the succession was secured for the future. Like all children, the royal trio enjoyed visits from their paternal grandfather, the recently-widowed King Haakon, who liked nothing better than to motor out to Skaugum to play with his grandchildren or watch them bicycling (or in Harald’s case tricycling) through the grounds. Haakon also enjoyed lunching with the family and was invariably full of jokes. Interestingly, Ragnhild was also old enough to remember attending the circus with her English-born paternal grandmother Queen Maud, who died in November 1938 in her native England. The children’s maternal grandparents, Danish-born Princess Ingeborg of Sweden and her husband Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, also relished entertaining their Norwegian grandchildren at their whitewashed Swedish summer home Fridhem, near Norrkoping. Fridhem was a children’s paradise, with a wonderful parkland to play in and a brick-built Wendy House filled with sturdy furniture and cooking utensils where the children could play ‘house.’ It was also at Fridhem that young Raghild spent time with her cousins who included the children of her mother’s younger sister Queen Astrid of the Belgians, Joséphine-Charlotte, Baudouin and Albert. Also often present were the much older Danish cousins, Georg and Flemming (the offspring of Crown Princess Märtha’s elder sister, Princess Margaretha, and her husband Prince Axel of Denmark).
Ragnhild and her siblings formed a close bond at Skaugum, which was fortunate as the Norwegian Royal family was soon to undergo a period of major change: A month after Nazi Germany flexed its muscles by occupying Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Crown Prince Olav and his wife commenced a ten-week, 15000-mile goodwill tour through thirty-four states of the United States, visiting many places with large Norwegian populations, particularly in the mid-west. They were invariably greeted by members of the fraternal Sons of Norway (Sønner av Norge) organisation. The royal duo returned in July with many gifts for their three children including native Indian outfits for the girls and a cowboy outfit for little Harald. However, as far as the future was concerned, the most important ‘gift’ was mentioned, at the beginning of the visit, during a stay with President Franklin D Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor at their private home, Springwood, close by the town of Hyde Park on the Hudson River. During a one-to-one meeting with the Crown Prince, the President made it clear to Olav that he would offer sanctuary to his three children in the event of any war in Europe reaching Norway. It would not be long before the Crown Prince would ask the President to make good on his promise for, on April 9, 1940, German forces invaded Norway. At Skaugum, the Crown Prince received news of the invasion in the early hours of the morning with deep concern. Almost immediately, the children were awakened from their slumbers, provided with a quick breakfast, and then bundled into a car alongside their parents, with Crown Prince Olav himself taking the wheel and driving at top speed to the Royal Palace in central Oslo.
In order to avoid capture by the occupying power, it was now decided that all the Royal Family, the Government and the Storting (Parliament) should leave Oslo immediately by a special train from Østbanen Station. Fru Ragni Østgaard, the Crown Princess’s Lady-in-Waiting, kept a diary and observed that it was only when the train arrived at Lillestrøm station, just as the nearby Kjeller aerodrome was being bombed, that the seriousness of the situation became apparent to the royal family, particularly where the children were concerned for they were growing anxious as wave after wave of enemy aircraft flew overhead. Although Astrid cried and appeared somewhat distraught, Ragnhild seemed to be a little less affected, asking Fru Østgaard if this was just a rehearsal.
By early evening, the royal group had reached Hamar, with accommodation and dinner hastily arranged at a manor house at the Sælid Estate. However, with the Germans still in hot pursuit, it was decided to travel eastwards to Elverum. At this juncture, the heart-breaking decision was made that while King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav should remain in Norway, the Crown Princess and her children should attempt to cross the border into Sweden, Märtha’s country of birth. Although the royal party had no passports, they managed to enter Sweden at a crossing near Trysil, just prior to 1am on the morning of 10 April. Later, the group found accommodation at the nearby Sälen Høyfjellshotell, a well-known hotel for winter sports enthusiasts. As it was a bright, sunny day, the children borrowed skis from the hotel and spent most of the day outdoors, doubtless recovering from the traumas of the previous day. A few days later, they were delighted to be joined, from Stockholm, by their grandmother, Princess Ingeborg. As the Swedish officials were keen for the Norwegian royals to relocate, as soon as possible, for fear of a German raid over the border to kidnap them, Princess Ingeborg arranged for them to stay with the Swedish King’s grandson, Count Carl Bernadotte of Wisborg, at his home at Rasbo, near Uppsala. The children thought it was exciting to sneak out of the hotel in the dead of night on yet another adventure. Indeed, so quick was the departure of the royal entourage that there had been insufficient time to pack food for the journey, so the royal party had to make do with pastries purchased en route.
A few weeks later Ragnhild and her siblings found themselves on the road again, when King Gustav of Sweden offered his niece the use of Ulriksdal Palace in Stockholm. However, neither King Haakon nor Crown Prince Olav were keen on Märtha and the children remaining there as neither particularly trusted King Gustav, who was thought to have pro-German leanings. Furthermore, this mistrust had been exacerbated by the Swedish King’s recent actions: When, on 11 April, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav had been in dire danger from occupying forces and requested to cross into Sweden at the Lillo customs crossing, the Swedish Foreign Minister, given the uniqueness of the situation, had contacted King Gustav for his input. Back came the reply, which was imparted to his brother sovereign, ‘Cross the border and you will be detained.’ Olav now become so concerned for the safety of his children and wife that he wrote to President Roosevelt from his then hiding place at Trangen, Langvatnet, on 10 May, reminding him of his offer made at Springwood a year before.
While Ragnhild and her siblings enjoyed themselves swimming and playing in the grounds of Ulriksdal, Crown Princess Märtha was being subjected to considerable political pressure from the Administrative Council in Oslo, who indicated that they wanted her to return (with Prince Harald) and assume the role of Regent until her son reached his majority. This, it was argued, would save the monarchy. However, it would also require King Haakon’s abdication. In a telegram to Hitler, on June 16, the Swedish King openly encouraged the Germans to adopt this ‘Norwegian Regency’ model. The Crown Princess was clearly aware of King Gustav’s ploy and sent a telegram to London warning her husband and father-in-law that her Swedish family (i.e., King Gustav) and Hitler were conspiring to remove King Haakon and set up a regency.
Since there was now a very real danger that the Crown Princess and Prince Harald might be kidnapped and taken to Oslo, on 22 June Crown Prince Olav wrote again to President Roosevelt (this time from Buckingham Palace in London, as he and King Haakon were required to leave Norway on 7 June to set up a government-in-exile and carry on the fight against the Nazi regime from England) asking him to make good on his offer of sanctuary to his children, but this time he also included a request on behalf of his wife. On 12 July, the US Secretary of State sent a message to the US Minister in Stockholm saying that President Roosevelt was arranging for a naval transport vessel to be sent to Finland to evacuate the Crown Princess and her family along with a group of ‘stranded’ US citizens.
On 18 July, Crown Princess Märtha received a telephone call from the Norwegian Minister in Washington, Wilhelm Thorleif von Munthe af Morgenstierne, to inform her that an American warship, the USS American Legion was being sent to Finland to transport her and her children to the United States. On 12 August, Ragnhild and her siblings were once again on the move when, along with their mother and a royal entourage, they travelled by rail to the Finnish port of Petsamo (now Petsjenga, Russia) where, on 15 August, they embarked the American Legion which transported them across the Atlantic to New York. Märtha appeared on the ship’s manifest as ‘Mrs Jones.’ Others in the party included the Crown Princess’ Chief of Staff, Peder Anker Wedel Jarlsberg, her Lady-in-Waiting, Mrs Ragni Østgaard, the latter’s son Einar and the royal children’s nurse, Signe Svendsen.
The Norwegian royal entourage arrived in New York on 28 August, after a stormy journey. They were taken to the Waldorf Astoria hotel where an eight-room apartment on the 32nd floor was put at their disposal. Ragnhild was photographed with a posy of flowers at the hotel entrance. Inside, she found a room full of dolls and toys awaiting her in the family’s luxurious suite. The children later joined their mother in the sitting room where the Crown Princess held a press conference. Märtha emphasised that her family’s presence in America was temporary which must have given some reassurance to Ragnhild.
The families next stop was to the private home of their host, President Roosevelt, at his country home at Hyde Park, which had a wonderful informal retreat, Top Cottage, where Ragnhild and her siblings played happily in the swimming pool; while Märtha took the chance to have a long chat with the President about her current situation. The duo also discussed where she might live. Within days, the Crown Princess and her children were heading to the White House in Washington D.C., from where the President took the Crown Princess for a drive in his official car to view a large twenty-four roomed property, set in 105 acres, at Pook’s Hill, Maryland. This was subsequently leased by the Norwegian government-in-exile for the royal family’s use.
America was a whole new way of life, both for the children and their mother. Although Crown Princess Märtha was already proficient in English (albeit with a strong Scandinavian accent) the three children were soon completely fluent in English. Nevertheless, their mother insisted that only Norwegian was spoken at home. The Crown Princess remained focused on providing her children with a secure upbringing and, in this respect, the US President proved a good friend: Roosevelt would often drive out to Pook’s Hill to take tea with the Norwegian royals; in turn they were often asked for lunch, tea, dinner or for a swim in the heated pool at the White House. Sometimes they joined the President and his family on a sailing trip on board the Presidential Yacht USS Potomac, perhaps on a short trip down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon, the home of the Founding Father of the United States, George Washington. President Roosevelt also helped Märtha to find schools for the children. The Norwegian royals also invariably celebrated Christmas with the Roosevelt family. Otherwise, the children lived a peaceful and normal life, with only occasional glimpses of the war from newsreels and the like.
In September 1941, King Haakon broadcast to the people of the United States thanking them for their unwavering support. Ragnhild and her siblings joined their mother to listen to their grandfather’s words over the radio at Pooks Hill. Yet many Americans remained determined isolationists and did not want to be drawn into any conflict. However, when the Japanese bombed the US naval facility at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941, the United States entered the war on the Allied side. This change would prove to be fortuitous for Norway.
During the summer of 1942, Ragnhild bid farewell to her mother as she flew to London for King Haakon’s 70th birthday on 3 August. The latter awarded his daughter-in-law with the Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav for her role in promoting the Norwegian cause in the United States. Then, in September, the Crown Princess was present at Washington’s Navy Yard, when President Roosevelt handed over the gift of a submarine chaser to the Norwegian Navy. This was named the HNoMS King Haakon VII. Indeed, Ragnhild’s mother would now be regarded as a key figure in the Norwegian war effort, particularly in the USA, as she patriotically toured hospitals, churches, and schools with links to Norway. Nor was she averse to enrolling Ragnhild and her younger children to further the cause, as is exampled by the royal family’s regular visits to “Little Norway” the Norwegian Air Force training camp at Muskoka Aerodrome in Ontario. The propaganda value of such a patriotic royal visit was immeasurable, even more so if these pictures somehow found their way into the hands of Norwegians in their occupied homeland. The Crown Princess also invited the press into the family’s Maryland home for charming photographic opportunities, featuring Ragnhild and her sister and brother riding their bicycles or posing with their mother in the drawing room. Furthermore, on Norway’s National Day, 17 May, the royal siblings were photographed parading along with other children, their Norwegian flags held proudly aloft. These images were widely circulated to the US and international press. On other occasions, snaps were taken of the children with President Roosevelt whom they now called ‘Godfather,’ although he was probably more of a grandfather figure to these youngsters. They were on particularly good terms with the President’s photogenic Scottish Terrier, Fala. It all made for good publicity, as did Ragnhild’s mother’s radio broadcasts at Christmas to the people of Norway, in which she stated with emotion, ‘We think of you with sadness in our heart but also with unspeakable pride.’ For Christmas 1942, it was the turn of Ragnhild and her siblings to gather around the radio microphone to send Christmas greetings over the airways to those at ‘home.’
While in the States, the Crown Princess and her children enjoyed visits from Crown Prince Olav. However, they were never quite sure as to when he would arrive, although there was always a warm welcome when he did. Olav tried to spend several months of the year in the US and if it could be arranged to coincide with Christmas, all the better. During one of his visits, in May 1944, he accompanied Ragnhild to Chester in Pennsylvania where she christened a 10,000-ton tanker ship, assigned to the Norwegian Merchant Navy, the Karsten Wang.
Following the capitulation of Nazi forces on 8 May 1945, Ragnhild returned to Oslo on 7 June aboard the British ship HMS Norfolk, having set sail from Rosyth in Scotland, on 5 June, in the company of King Haakon, Crown Princess Märtha and her siblings Astrid and Harald. Wearing ill-fitting duffle coats, the teenage Princess’ and their brother were up on deck as the vessel sailed up the Oslofjord, escorted by happy Norwegians who took to the waters in all manner of flag-bedecked sailing craft, from fishing boats to tugs, to welcome their beloved Sovereign home. Ragnhild’s father, Crown Prince Olav, had returned to Norway on 13 May and he joined his family aboard HMS Norfolk at Moss for what must have been a very emotional reunion. In Oslo, the greeting from the hundreds of thousands of Norwegians who lined the streets by the Honnørbrygga was overwhelming and described by Aftenposten, a respected Norwegian newspaper, as ‘The biggest and most beautiful day in the history of free Norway.’ On one street alone, a large sign the breadth of the road read ‘Velkommen Hjem.’ King Haakon, Crown Prince Olav, Crown Princess Märtha and the three royal children later all appeared together on the balcony of the Royal Palace which was bedecked for the occasion with a large flag of Norway.
Yet, this must have been a difficult period of adjustment for Princess Ragnhild who had become used to the American way of life and education, not to mention the freedom which five years of relative anonymity (and a group of American friends) had brought. Nevertheless, following the family’s return to Skaugum in November (the royal residence had been occupied by the Nazi Reichskommissar Josef Terboven during the war and it had taken time to make it habitable again) she commenced her studies at the Nissen Girls’ School, obtaining her school leaving certificate in 1948. She later spent four semesters, between 1948 and 1949, studying at a finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland. During this immediate post-war period, she met, and over time was to fall in love with, Erling Lorentzen, the son of a wealthy shipping owner and former member of the Norwegian resistance. He was seven years her senior. Post-war he joined King Haakon’s bodyguard with responsibility for his three grandchildren and he later taught Princess Ragnhild and her sister to sail aboard their sailing vessel Ukabrand. When Erling was attending Harvard Business School in the United States, around the same time Ragnhild was in Switzerland, the two continued to maintain a long-distance correspondence. In the meantime, a new batch of photographs was released to celebrate Ragnhild’s 18th birthday in June 1948. The Princess also began to undertake official engagements including a reception for US servicemen at the United States Embassy in Oslo in September 1949; while in May 1952 she attended events in connection with the visit of NATO supremo, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Again, in October, she and Astrid jointly opened an exhibition of items from the recently independent nation of India.
Ragnhild also travelled abroad to undertake duties on behalf of her homeland. In June 1951 she travelled to Paris to open the House of Norway. While in the French capital, she also attended the wedding of Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma to Yolande De Broglie. She was seen off at Fornebu Airport by her father, Crown Prince Olav. Also present was Erling Lorentzen which perhaps might indicate a measure of recognition of the situation that was developing on the part of Ragnhild’s father. There was no sign, however, of Crown Princess Märtha. Crown Prince Olav was also at his eldest child’s side when Ragnhild and Erling attended a cross-country ski event (known as the 50km Holmenkollen) in March 1952, only two weeks after the completion of the VI Winter Olympics in Oslo.
On August 3 1952, Ragnhild was part of large party (including her maternal grandmother Princess Ingeborg of Sweden) who gathered in the Bird Room of the Royal Palace for a group photograph to celebrate King Haakon’s 80th birthday. There was also a balcony appearance at an event at the City Hall. She had earlier been photographed (cigarette in hand) alongside her smiling grandfather in the more relaxed environment at Skaugum. However, behind the smiles both King Haakon and Crown Princess Märtha resisted the prospect of Ragnhild’s marriage with a commoner, a situation they knew might prove controversial with members of the public. At one stage the couple were not allowed to meet for a whole year, presumably as some sort of test as to their commitment to each other (or perhaps in the hope that Princess Ragnhild might change her mind and look for a more ‘suitable’ royal suitor.) Ragnhild was taken aback by her family’s attitude writing to Erling that, ‘If I do say so myself, they have been more than terrible to me in this difficult time of ours.’ In desperation, Crown Princess Märtha now tried to engage the services of the war hero and resistance fighter Gunnar “Kjakan” Sønsteby as an intermediary. He was a close friend of Erling Lorentzen, and the Crown Princess wanted Sønsteby to make use of his influence and persuade Erling to break up with Ragnhild. But Sønsteby refused. It is no wonder that Ragnhild would write that, ‘It is almost the worst thing for me, that they [also] say and act like that towards the one I am so incredibly fond of’. Lorentzen would later recall that, ‘It was undoubtedly a difficult decision for King Haakon… and it was certainly a difficult position for all parties.’ Indeed, after years of angst and little progress on the matter, Erling finally decided to speak to King Haakon directly. He recalled ‘We had an open conversation. He did not give me any blessing. I later understood that he had raised the matter with the Prime Minister and the President of the Storting.’ This was the case and, in January 1953, Crown Prince Olav wrote to his daughter to say that ‘Now Grandfather has received an answer from Torp [The Norwegian Prime Minister] regarding you and Erling, and I am happy to be able to tell you that Grandfather will give his permission for you to get married.’ Olav seemed keen to unburden himself further adding, ‘I know it has been a difficult time for you… but I hope you still understand that this has not been done out of ill will, but because …..above all, that we, your parents, could be completely sure that you fully understood what you were doing..’
The couple’s engagement was announced on 14 February 1953 with a press conference being held at the bride-to-be’s home at Skaugum. They married at Asker Church, on 15 May, in the presence of her parents, her grandparents King Haakon and Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, with the King and Queen of Denmark and Britain’s Princess Margaret (sister of Queen Elizabeth II) being among the better known foreign royal guests. Following her marriage, the bride became known as Her Highness Princess Ragnhild, Mrs Lorentzen. She was no longer entitled to be addressed as Her Royal Highness following her marriage to a non-royal personage. Furthermore, her birthday was removed as an official flag day in Norway.
Ragnhild and her husband now moved to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where Erling planned to work for a couple of years in the shipping and gas sectors. These interests would later be extended into wood pulp production and cellulose. But that did not mean that Ragnhild was cut-off from her Norwegian family. She returned to Norway to visit her ailing mother, Crown Princess Märtha, who died of liver failure on 5 April 1954. Sadly, she had become infected with the hepatitis virus during an operation undertaken shortly after the Second World War. The period following this surgical procedure was difficult for the family as the Crown Princess’s health continued to deteriorate, her family having eventually been made all too aware that ‘there was only one way’ this could end. For Ragnhild the anxiety must have been acute, for she was pregnant with her first child throughout the final months of her mother’s life. On 23 August, Ragnhild gave birth to a son, Haakon, at Oslo’s Rikshospitalet. The child was christened at Asker Church the following month in the presence of his great-grandfather, King Haakon, maternal great-grandmother Princess Ingeborg and grandfather Crown Prince Olav. (Ragnhild would also return to Oslo for the birth of her second child, Ingeborg, on 27 February 1957.)
Following Crown Princess Märtha’s death, Princess Astrid took on the role of First Lady of Norway, helping her father and grandfather to entertain foreign dignitaries and accompany them on official duties. However, this did not prevent Ragnhild from also being present in Oslo for official events, such as State Visits. Such was the case when her kinswoman, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II paid a State Visit in June 1955 (the first of four visits by Elizabeth to Norway for the family bonds were close.) A wonderful memento of the visit was when Ragnhild and Astrid posed with ‘cousin’ Elizabeth in summery dresses. Over the years the Princess would also be present, inter alia, during State Visits by President Nyerere of Tanzania (1976), Queen Margrethe of Denmark (1992) and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (2010).
Only a few weeks following Queen Elizabeth’s visit, while Ragnhild was still on a family vacation in Norway, King Haakon suffered a bad fall in his bathroom at Bygdøy, breaking a thigh bone. Ragnhild and her husband paid him a visit at Oslo’s Rikshospitalet in August. The King would now be confined to a wheel chair and Crown Prince Olav appeared in public on his father’s behalf. When, on 21 September 1957 King Haakon died at the grand old age of 85. Princess Ragnhild travelled from Brazil for the funeral which was held on 1 October. She was also present at her father, King Olav V’s Consecration at Trondheim on 22 June 1958, a date which was particularly historic as this was the 52nd anniversary of the Coronation of King Haakon and Queen Maud on 1906. Ragnhild was prominently seated at the front of the cathedral and had a clear view of her father as he knelt before the high altar, while Trondheim’s Bishop Arne Fjellbu recited the consecration prayer in which he asked for God’s blessing on the King and his royal office. The Princess later appeared on the balcony of the Royal residence in Trondheim, Stiftsgården, alongside her father and her siblings.
On a cold, snow-covered day at Asker, in January 1961, Ragnhild, wrapped up against the cold in a long fur coat, attended the wedding of her beloved sister, Astrid, to Mr Johan Martin Ferner. Mr Ferner, an Olympic Silver medal winner in sailing, was not only a commoner (the son of a prosperous Oslo department store owner) but he was also divorced. The latter fact fanned the flames of controversy and even although Astrid had waited patiently for many years for permission to marry Mr Ferner, when King Olav finally gave his consent (following the inevitable consultations with the Prime Minister and President of the Storting) there was an outcry from many members of the clergy. Since Ragnhild had already been through the matrimonial mill, she was ideally placed to offer an empathetic ear to her younger sister during this difficult period. Having married a commoner, Astrid -like Ragnhild-was no longer entitled to be called Her Royal Highness. Henceforth, she would be addressed as Her Highness, Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner.
Princess Ragnhild, meanwhile, lived a relatively quiet life in a large apartment in Rio de Janeiro, taking care of her children. She rarely gave interviews but when the veteran journalist Annemor Møst met the Princess in her adopted homeland, he found that the Ragnhild remained ‘absolutely Norwegian’ and continued to maintain Norwegian traditions, particularly at Christmas when she loved to light many candles in Brazilian heat (as it was the height of summer, temperatures there often reached over 40 degrees Celsius). Furthermore, her apartment near the beach at Leblon, became a gathering place for Norwegians to visit, and the Princess’s concern for them, as well as her care for the disadvantaged in Rio, won her many friends. Among other things, she established Princess Ragnhild’s Fund for Children in Brazil and in 1961 the Princess laid the foundation stone for the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Santos, and was, according to one clergyman, a ‘driving force’ in raising funds over many years. She also opened the church’s annual Christmas bazaar. Ragnhild’s friends found her to be caring, faithful and loyal, with an infectious sense of humour. However, in large gatherings, she could appear to be shy and reserved. Jens Stoltenberg, who visited her in Rio, would later describe her as ‘our best ambassador to Brazil.’
In September 1967, Ragnhild was briefly in the limelight in her adopted homeland when King Olav paid a State Visit to Brazil. The Princess accompanied her father to his meeting with President Artur da Cost e Silva at the latter’s office in Rio (Ragnhild, as was the custom, subsequently met with the President’s wife). She and King Olav later attended Brazil’s Independence Day celebrations in Rio, on 7 September, where they joined the President and his wife on the review stand throughout the military parade (which included a fly-past by aircraft of the Brazilian air force). Ragnhild and her father then flew to the nation’s capital, Brasilia, on 8 July, to attend a formal state reception at the Itamaraty Palace. The following day, Ragnhild acted as hostess for the King at a return reception given by the Norwegian delegation at the Hotel Nacional. She then joined King Olav for a two-day visit to São Paulo.
On 8 May 1968 the Princess gave birth to a second daughter, Ragnhild Alexandra, at the Amparo Feminino Hospital in Rio. Although not born in Norway, the infant was baptized at Asker Church the following September. In the meantime, the Princess attended the wedding, on 29 August, in Oslo Cathedral, of her brother Harald to Sonja Haraldsen, a commoner. As with the marriages of his sisters, Harald (who had first met Sonja at a party in the summer of 1959) had been forced to wait (in his case for nine long years) before being permitted to wed. It is said that Harald grew so frustrated with the situation that he informed his father and the Norwegian Prime Minister, Per Borton, that if he could not marry Sonja he would remain unmarried for the rest of his life, thus threatening the future of the monarchy. Finally, the necessary consents were granted and the couple’s engagement was announced by the Royal Palace on 19 March 1968. Over 850 guests attended the wedding, including the King of Sweden and the King and Queen of Denmark. The Princess would later record that her ‘first impression’ of her new sister-in-law ‘was very good. I thought that the couple would probably get along well, because Sonja seemed both sweet and sensible.’ Ragnhild and her brother continued to remain close and, in September 1973, she made sure to be in Oslo for the christening of his son Haakon, the second-in-line to the throne of Norway. She was also present at Harald’s 40th birthday celebrations in February 1977.
In April 1982 Ragnhild attended the wedding of her son Haakon to Martha Carvalho de Freitas. This was followed two months later by the nuptials of her elder daughter Ingeborg to Paulo Ribeiro Filho. Harald’s daughter Princess Märtha Louise was a bridesmaid and Crown Princess Sonja also attended the celebrations. In September, Ragnhild and her husband were in Oslo for the events to celebrate King Olav’s 25 years on the throne.
On 17 January, 1991 King Olav died of a heart attack, aged eighty-seven, at his winter residence Kongsseteren. Ragnhild was present at his bedside, as were her brother and sister. Indeed, since her father had suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1990, the Princess had spent much of her time in Norway, full of daughterly attentions. King Olav’s death must have been a major blow for the Princess for the two were close. Furthermore, where she had previously stayed with her father in his royal residences, following his passing, Ragnhild decided to buy a flat in Oslo’s fashionable Frogner district as a base during her visits to Norway. It was here, now that her family in Brazil was grown up, that she would escape from the summer heat of Rio during the months of January through to March. Her life in Oslo (as in Rio) was mostly spent quietly: solo official engagements were few, although she still served as a Patron of the National Society for the Deaf in Norway. The Lorentzen’s also often vacationed at their cabin, which they named Arnfinnstølen, in the Votndalsåsen area, where Erling enjoyed meeting up with friends from his time in the Norwegian resistance. Back in Brazil, Ragnhild was also glad to make use of a new country house, at Pedra Azul, in the Serrana Region of Espírito Santo, where the temperature was considerably cooler than in Rio de Janeiro. The couple raised horses here, and there was sufficient accommodation for up to six guests with a cook to take the strain from entertaining.
The Princess attended the consecration of her brother King Harald in Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral in June 1991. A few years later, the Ragnhild and her sister Astrid inaugurated an exhibition of their grandmother, Queen Maud of Norway’s wardrobe at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. As she was over eight years old at the time of her paternal grandmother’s death, Ragnhild retained happy memories of the elegant Queen Maud gardening at Skaugum (where the two were often photographed together.)
Although a private person, in 1995 Ragnhild decided to write her autobiography (this was penned with the help of author Lars O. Gulbrandsen) published under the title, “Mitt liv som kongsdatter” [My Life as a King’s Daughter]. She wrote lovingly of her brother Harald noting that ‘The big age difference between Harald and me (6.5 years) made us never argue like most siblings. I thought my little brother was sweet, kind, and cheerful-yes, just as he is today.’ Ragnhild also admitted to being glad she was not the monarch noting that, ‘It must be a terrible struggle and responsibility to be a monarch, but Harald is doing a fantastic job.’ She added that,’ I see a lot of my father’s traits in Harald who, with each passing year, becomes more and more like him.’ In 1999, she also talked of her relationship with her homeland, in an interview with VG magazine, ‘We feel at home in both places. Our roots are both here [Brazil] and in Norway’ but she added ‘Now I couldn’t imagine staying 365 days in Norway.’
As the new millennium dawned, Ragnhild celebrated her 70th birthday. This caused some interest and Norwegian journalist, Tante P, conducted a television interview with the Princess during which she mentioned that she and her father had kept a up a regular(weekly) correspondence throughout her years in Brazil. She also indicated that these letters were currently in a safety deposit box and she had left instructions that they should be burned following her death, given that they were private correspondence of ‘no historical significance.’ However, when it emerged, in August 2001, that she had subsequently burned the correspondence (estimated in the press to be between 1500 and 2000 letters), historians were aghast. Author Knut Olav Åmås of the Norwegian Biographical Society stated bluntly that the Princess was hardly qualified to assess the historical value of this primary source stating, ‘It’s extremely sad to hear. A very important source of the history of the Norwegian monarchy has been lost. It’s shocking. It is a particularly unwise act by Princess Ragnhild…’ Yet, apparently, she was greatly influenced by the wishes of her late father. Indeed, King Olav described the letters as “his little chat with his daughter once a week” and according to his wishes, the letters were not registered in the Royal Court archives, nor did he want the letters to be made available to the public at any time, according to a Royal Palace press release.
Controversy or no controversy, in January 2001, Ragnhild attended her maternal uncle, Prince Carl Bernadotte’s 90th birthday party at the Grand Hotel in Oslo. This gave her an ideal chance to catch up with her royal cousins, her late Aunt Astrid’s daughter Josephine-Charlotte (then Grand Duchess of Luxembourg) as well as her son, Albert (at that time the King of the Belgians). Also present was Count Flemming of Rosenberg, the son of Crown Princess Märtha’s eldest sister, Princess Margaretha of Denmark. In early 2003, Ragnhild helped host an 80th birthday party for her husband Erling at the Grand Hotel. King Harald, Queen Sonja and Queen Silvia of Sweden (who had close family links with Brazil) were among the guests. Then, in July, Princess Ragnhild and her husband attended a football match between Norway and Brazil at Ullevåll Stadium. The result was a rather diplomatic draw. In November, there was the joyous occasion of the wedding of her youngest child, Ragnhild Alexandra to an American, Aaron Matthew Long. Princess Astrid and her husband were guests at the nuptials in Sao Pedro de Alcantara Church. However, the King and Queen did not attend which was not surprising given that they had recently concluded a State Visit to Brazil.
Princess Ragnhild was also known for having strong opinions, or rather what the former Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg referred to as her ‘fresh remarks.’ The Princess let it be known, in an interview with Anne Fredrikstad of Norway’s TV2 channel for their documentary “Princess in Exile”, which was shown in early 2004 (but recorded at her home in Rio in the autumn of 2003) that she did not approve of her brother’s children’s choice of spouses (Crown Prince Haakon wed, in August 2001, Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, a single mother; while his sister, Princess Martha Louise married author Ari Behn in May 2002). Ragnhild observed that the royal family in Oslo must have had ‘bad advisers,’ adding that King Olav would never have approved of these matches. However, several Norwegian politicians, including Kjell Engebretsen, opined that the Princess should keep quiet about her private perceptions of the royal children, adding ‘I think that she should worry more about the President of Brazil.’ Ouch! Certainly, these remarks must have seemed surprising from the woman who, some fifty years earlier, had cleared the way for a member of the Norwegian royal family to marry a commoner for love. And after all, King Harald and Princess Astrid had both gone down a similar route. Furthermore, Ragnhild had been quite content to attend the nuptials of the couples whom she was now criticising. Meanwhile, Ragnhild and Erling celebrated their Golden Wedding with a trip aboard the car ferry MS Prinsesse Ragnhild which travelled the Oslo to Keil route.
Some commentators have indicated that Ragnhild’s remarks may have been prompted by her annoyance at her treatment by the Norwegian King and Queen during their recent State Visit to Brazil. Whereas in 1967, King Olav had chosen to place Ragnhild at his side throughout his State Visit, during the October 2003 visit King Harald’s sister received no official invitation to participate in any aspect of the visit. Indeed, when Ragnhild attended events, it was as the wife of her businessman husband, not in her role as a Norwegian Princess or the sister of the King. For this reason, she was unable to travel on the royal party’s chartered plane during a visit to Brasilia, the Norwegian Ambassador Jon Gerhard Lassen emphasising that this was because ‘Princess Ragnhild is not part of the official delegation;’ while the press spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Karsten Klepsvik, stated somewhat disingenuously that, ‘She would probably have been invited to some events during the state visit if she were not married to a member of the business delegation.’ The only private contact King Harald and Queen Sonja had with the Lorentzen family during their stay in Brazil was a lunch in Búzios on the day they flew into Brazil, but prior to the State Visit officially commencing on 7 October. The King and Queen also saw fit to cancel-at short notice-a family lunch at the end of the tour with Ragnhild and Erling at their Rio de Janeiro home. Nevertheless, in his official speech at a dinner given by the Governor of Rio at the Palace of Laranjeirast, the King did go out of his way to mention his sister and brother-in-law, stating ‘We also feel a special connection to the city since my sister, Princess Ragnhild, and Erling Lorentzen have been living here with their family for fifty years.’ And really this was the point. Indeed, Norwegian commentator Stig Tore Laugen expressed his surprise that Ragnhild (and her husband) should have been treated in this way given that ‘the Lorentzen couple “are” the symbol of Norway in Brazil.’
All seemed to be forgiven and/or forgotten, when in September 2005, Ragnhild joined her siblings and sister-in-law, Sonja, in Washington for the unveiling of a statue at the Norwegian Embassy (their wartime home at Pook’s Hill had long been demolished and the site redeveloped as a housing complex). The statue was a gift presented to the citizens of Norway from the Norwegian American Foundation on behalf of the Norwegian-American community in the United States to mark Norway’s centennial, as well as the Nordic nations one-hundred years of diplomatic relations with the United States. Ragnhild had clearly not forgotten the words of the “Stars and Stripes” and could be seen singing along to the US national anthem. In 2007, on King Harald’s 80th birthday, a replica of the statue was erected on the grounds of the Royal Palace in Oslo, a gift from the Storting, Norway’s Parliament.
On 9 June 2010 the King hosted an 80th birthday dinner for Ragnhild. Among those on the guest list are several long-time girlfriends from her post-war schooldays in Oslo, many of whom she had kept up with over the years. In an interview with the weekly publication Allers, the Princess admitted that even at this age, she did not find it easy to open-up to strangers. She also indicated that she spent a lot of time alone and thrived in her own company. As far as gifts were concerned, Ragnhild indicated that she would prefer it if contributions could be made to her charitable fund for the aid of street children in Brazil. She and Erling had previously attended a Norwegian National Day event in Rio de Janiero on 17 May which was attended by several hundred Norwegians.
In December 2011, Se og Hør interviewed the Princess and Erling in Brazil. Ragnhild indicated that after 59 years in Rio, ‘We will probably not move to Norway again.’ This was consistent with what she had stated to VG in 1999. But behind the scenes she and Erling’s commitment to their homeland remained strong and it was revealed that, in 2011 alone, they had donated one million kroner to help children with cancer. These funds enabled individual grants of 50,000 kroner to be made to a family with a child affected by the disease in order that they could go on holiday or realize a dream together. This donation followed hard on the heels of a larger donation (five million kroner) made three years previously to help with the building and maintenance of a holiday cabin, overseen by the Support Association for Children with Cancer. Ragnhild expressed the hope ‘that the researchers will one day manage to crack the cancer riddle.’
In the same interview, the Princess mentioned that she had now passed over the torch to the younger generation where the hosting of the annual family Christmas celebrations was concerned (before this, up to twenty family and friends had been royally entertained at Ragnhild and Erling’s Rio home.) The reason was simple, ‘It is a lot of work…’ Certainly the years were rolling on and the pace of life had to be adjusted accordingly. In February, 2012 the Princess was photographed with her two siblings at a dinner party given at the Royal Palace to celebrate the 80th birthday of Princess Astrid. The image was later released by the Royal House. Ragnhild looked frail and much thinner than in past times, but appeared tanned and beautifully turned out in a tasteful couture silk outfit. However, she was not present at the joint 75th birthdays celebrations for the King and Queen which were held in May as, at Easter, the Princess had fallen and fractured her hip. However, on further investigation, it was discovered that Ragnhild, who had never been one for bothering doctors, was suffering from lung cancer. Erling was told that his wife would have only six months to live. Initially, he did not share this news with the Princess for several months and she managed to make what would be her final visit to Norway in the summer. Thereafter, Ragnhild returned home to Rio de Janeiro where, as her health faded due to the cancer, she was constantly surrounded by her devoted family. She died in her own bed, in her own house at 9.45am local time on Sunday, 16th September.
Following her death, flags were flown at half-mast in Norway, including at the Royal Palace. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the government had offered to pay for Princess Ragnhild’s funeral, but her family had gracefully declined the offer. The mortal remains of Princess Ragnhild arrived in Oslo on 24 September. Both the King and Princess Astrid were at the airport to receive them along with a bearer party of the Royal Guard. Ragnhild’s funeral was held at noon on 28 September in the chapel at the Royal Palace, where she had been baptized in 1930 and confirmed in 1947. This was followed by a reception for family and close friends at the palace. In the afternoon, Princess Ragnhild was laid to rest, as she herself had requested, in the cemetery at Asker Church where, touchingly, she and Erling had married nearly 60 years earlier. The committal was attended by close family only, just as the rather ‘private’ Princess would have wished.
How was Ragnhild remembered? The then Prime Minister Jens Soltenberg described her as ‘a warm-hearted representative of Norway.’ Kjell Arne Totland, former court reporter with Se og Hør, defined Ragnhild as, ‘a royal of the old school.’ He added, ‘She did not seek the limelight and so probably had a lot in common with her grandmother, Queen Maud. Therefore, I think she was happy that she could live a quiet and relatively quiet life in Rio all these years.’ Odd Nelvik, a former editor with the same publication also recalled that she was renowned for her direct speaking but noted too that, ‘She always had a twinkle in her eye.’
Perhaps the last words should go the Princess herself. In 2010, during an interview with Allers magazine, she stated, ‘My motto in life is to keep the wheels turning as long as possible! And when I think back on life, I am filled with gratitude for all the good times I have had. I have always focused on the positive.’
Robert Prentice is the author of the biography Princess Olga of Yugoslavia Her Life and Times Hard Copy available from Amazon.
Although the German invasion of Norway had led to the flight of Norway’s Crown Princess Märtha and her three children (Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald) across the border into ‘neutral’ Sweden, to avoid capture, in the early hours of 10 April 1940, it was not a situation with which Crown Prince Olav was happy. From his current refuge at Trangen, Langvatnet, Olav wrote to his friend, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on 10 May, recalling a conversation between the two at Roosevelt’s Hyde Park country estate, in April 1939, during which the President offered sanctuary to Olav and Märtha’s children in the event of war reaching Norway. In his letter, the Crown Prince also questioned how safe his children actually were in Sweden. Certainly, even though the Crown Princess was Swedish, some in Sweden believed that her and her children’s presence compromised the country’s neutrality. Olav certainly had reason to be fearful for Märtha, who was now staying at Ulriksdal Palace in Stockholm, and was under constant political pressure from both the Administrative Council in Oslo and her Uncle, King Gustav V of Sweden, to embrace a ‘Norwegian Regency’ model whereby Harald would be proclaimed king, although his Swedish-born mother would act as regent until the Prince reached his majority. Those who held to this viewpoint, promoted it on the basis that it offered the only opportunity to save the Norwegian monarchy. The plotting had reached a crescendo following the departure of King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav from Norwegian soil on 7 June for exile in London and caused the Crown Princess to send a telegram to London warning her husband and father-in-law of the situation.
There was now the very real danger that Prince Harald might be kidnapped and taken to Oslo. This must have crossed the mind of Crown Prince Olav for, on 22 June, he wrote again to President Roosevelt, from Buckingham Palace, asking him to make good on his offer of sanctuary for his children, while also requesting that it be extended to include the Crown Princess. Roosevelt would be as good as his word and more, for on 13 August, the royal children and the Crown Princess left Ulriksdal and travelled northward through Finland to Petsamo (now Petsjenga, Russia) where, on 15 August, they embarked the USS American Legion which transported them and other refugees across the Atlantic Ocean to New York. The Crown Princess-who was given accommodation in the Captain’s cabin-appeared on the ship’s manifest as ‘Mrs Jones.’ Other members of the royal party included her Chief of Staff, Peder Anker Wedel Jarlsberg, Lady-in-Waiting, Mrs Ragni Østgaard and the children’s nurse, Signe Svendsen.
Märtha and the children arrived in New York on 28 August, after a stormy journey. From the quayside, the Crown Princess and her party went immediately to the Waldorf Astoria hotel where a room full of dolls and toys had been arranged to amuse the children. As the Crown Princess had not spoken to her husband in over four months, her first request was for an international call to be put through to Crown Prince Olav in London. Aside for the usual romantic endearments, Olav was able to give his wife some useful advice on ‘official lines to take’ with the US press.
The family’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria was luxurious and spacious and was being paid for by the Boomer family, who owned the hotel and had strong dynastic links with Norway. Märtha chose to give her press conference in the sitting room. She emphasised that her presence in America was temporary, stating that, ‘All we Norwegians look forward to the day when we shall return to a free and independent Norway.’ It was not an altogether pleasant experience and the Crown Princess would later confide to a friend that she ‘would rather submit to an operation’ than go through the ordeal again.
The Crown Princess’ next stop was to the private home of her host, President Roosevelt at Hyde Park. At the President’s informal retreat on his Springwood estate, Top Cottage, the children played happily in the swimming pool, while Märtha took the chance to have a long chat with the President about her situation. They also discussed where she might live. Within days, the Crown Princess was heading to the White House in Washington D.C., from where the President took her for a ride in his official car to view a large twenty-four roomed property, set in 105 acres, at Pook’s Hill, Maryland. This is subsequently leased by the Norwegian government-in-exile for the royal family’s use. While the house was being made ready, the Princess stayed at the White House in the Rose Guest Bedroom.
America was a whole new way of life, both for the children and their mother. Although Märtha was already proficient in English (albeit with a strong Scandinavian accent) the three children-who all attended local schools-were soon completely fluent in English. Nevertheless, their mother insisted that only Norwegian was spoken at home. The Crown Princess’ initial focus was on providing the children a secure upbringing. However, her charm and beauty, allied to her ability to listen, soon made Märtha a hit with the President and his family. Roosevelt would often drive out to Pook’s Hill to take tea with the Norwegian royals; in turn they were often asked for lunch, tea, dinner or a swim at the White House or even to take a sailing trip on board the Presidential Yacht USS Potomac. The friendship became so close that by August 1941, the Crown Princess was included in a party that sailed from New London on the Potomac to Martha’s Vineyard, before transferring to the heavy cruiser USS Augusta which then sailed to Newfoundland where a clandestine bi-lateral meeting took place between the President and Winston Churchill. Norwegian author Tor Bomann-Larsen recently stated that Roosevelt had became ‘infatuated’ with Märtha. If he was, it was to the ultimate benefit of the Princess’ adopted homeland as it helped to establish close relations between Norway and the US, as well as to boost Norway’s standing amongst the Allied powers. Roosevelt was certainly a willing participant in this regard and, in September 1942, during the handover ceremony, at Washington’s Navy Yard, of a submarine chaser to the Norwegian Navy, the HNoMS King Haakon VII, President Roosevelt, with the Crown Princess strategically seated by his side, implored Americans to ‘look to Norway’ and its resistance movement for inspiration to win the war. Märtha thanked the presence effusively for his ‘beautiful and generous words’ adding that ‘your words will bring hope and renewed faith and deliverance from the yoke of the barbarians.’
In fact, Roosevelt might also have added ‘look to Märtha’, for the Princess can now be regarded as a key figure in the Norwegian war effort, particularly in the USA, as she patriotically toured hospitals, churches and schools with links to Norway, dressed in her wide trademark hats with a jewelled Flag of Norway brooch on her lapel. Nor was she averse to enrolling her family to further the cause, as is exampled with the royal foursomes’ regular visits to ‘Little Norway’, the Norwegian Air Force training camp at Muskoka Aerodrome in Ontario. The propaganda value of five-year-old Prince Harald, pictured for the first time in military uniform, patriotically saluting the Norwegian flag or sitting in a flight simulator was immeasurable, all the more so if these pictures somehow found their way into the hands of Norwegians in their occupied homeland. The Crown Princess also regularly invited the press into her Maryland home for charming photographic opportunities, featuring the children on their bicycles or posing with their mother in the drawing room. These were subsequently released to the US and international press. Sometimes the children were also photographed with President Roosevelt and, in the case of Prince Harald, with the President’s photogenic Scottish Terrier, Fala. It all made for good publicity, as did Märtha’s radio broadcasts at Christmas to the people of Norway in which she stated with emotion, ‘We think of you with sadness in our heart but also with unspeakable pride.’
Were the Crown Princess and the President involved in a romantic relationship? The evidence is very much to the contrary. It is no secret that Roosevelt was involved in a long-term relationship with Lucy Rutherfurd, who had once served as Social Secretary to Eleanor Roosevelt. Furthermore, in the Crown Princess’ letters to the President, such as one thanking him for a ten-day family break at Hyde Park, Märtha uses the introduction, ‘My dear Godfather…’, hardly a term of romance. The Norwegian historian, Trond Norén Isaksen is of the opinion that the Crown Princess fulfilled a political role, during her US sojourn, in that she passed on a plethora of information to the President about the war in Europe sourced through the Norwegian Embassy in Washington. As she now had the President’s ear, Märtha was also perfectly placed to advance Norway’s cause. Yet, there is no doubt that the President was taken by the Princess’ teasing good humour and lively manner. There is also the sense that Märtha was captivated by this powerful elder statesman, from a completely different milieu and culture, serving out the final years of his political career. Indeed, she liked nothing better than taking colour 16mm ciné films of their encounters, whether it be during their regular afternoon drives in the President’s car or in the White House or at Hyde Park or even aboard the Potomac (where there is a charming frame of Roosevelt lifting his hat to the Princess in a friendly greeting) using her Bell, Duck and Howell ciné camera, a 40th birthday gift from the staff of the Norwegian Embassy. However, there is one common denominator that features in each of these images: The President was constantly surrounded by Secret Service men or secretaries or chauffeurs, while Märtha was invariably accompanied by a Lady-in-Waiting or her children to whom the President was particularly kind. Indeed, to Prince Harald he was almost a surrogate grandfather figure, sharing interests in common, such as collecting postage stamps. Nevertheless, despite her endeavours on behalf of Norway, Märtha was, at times, almost guilt-ridden that she and her children were enjoying such a good life in the States, ‘while my compatriots are suffering at home. I really feel rather miserable about it.’
Following President Roosevelt’s fourth inaugural in January 1945, Märtha and Crown Prince Olav were part of the ‘inner circle’ who joined him afterwards for a private lunch in the Red Room of the White House. Next day, the President toasted the Norwegian royal’s good health prior to setting out for the Yalta Conference in Russia, for he surely realised that the time was fast approaching when Märtha and her children would return home to Europe permanently. One of the Princess’ final engagements in Washington was to attend a Girl Scouts of America reception at the Norwegian Embassy on 11 March during which she received a selection of gifts for a Norwegian Girl Scout group currently located at Drumtochty Castle in Scotland. The 300-strong American contingent present that day also pledged to ‘adopt’ the first Norwegian Girl Scout troop to be re-established in Norway following the liberation from German occupation.
On 24 March, Märtha and Olav dined at the White House with President and Mrs Roosevelt. It was to be their final meeting with Roosevelt. Thereafter, the somewhat fatigued President left for a two-week period of rest at the Warm Springs Resort in Georgia. He died there suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage on 12 April, at his beloved ‘Little White House’. Lucy Rutherfurd was present at the time. Roosevelt’s death was a bitter blow to the Crown Princess. Crown Prince Olav-who always met up with the President during his wartime visits to Washington (indeed Roosevelt had once been personally responsible for arranging Olav’s visit to the capital, as a surprise Christmas present for the Crown Princess)-gave an indication of the depth of his family’s feelings for the late President during a radio broadcast the following day: ‘It is as though I have lost a near relative and dear friend whom it was always a great joy to meet and from whom one never took his leave without feeling enriched by his exuberant personality.’
Following Germany’s capitulation on 8 May 1945, the Crown Princess and her children crossed the Atlantic once again–this time by air–to land at Prestwick in Scotland. There they were briefly reunited with Crown Prince Olav, prior to his return to Oslo on 13 May, sailing from Rosyth aboard HMS Apollo. It had already been decided that Märtha and her children would also return to Oslo by sea from Rosyth, accompanied by King Haakon, as soon as the 300,000 German Prisoners-of War in Norway had been rounded-up and disarmed.
On 5 June the King, Crown Princess Märtha and the children received a wonderful send-off from the naval top brass at Admiralty House, North Queensferry. They then boarded HMS Norfolk for the two-day journey home to Oslo. On entering the Oslofjord, on 7 June, the royal party (which now included Crown Prince Olav who had embarked the Norfolk at Moss) went out on deck to wave to the well-wishers who congregated both on the shore and also aboard a varied selection of flag-bedecked sailing craft. The royal party were then piped off the Norfolk by pipers from the Scots Guards.
After greeting the members of the Honour Guard and standing to attention for the Norwegian National Anthem, the King and Crown Princess drove together in the King’s limousine (which had survived the occupation intact), right up the city’s main boulevard, Karl Johan Gate, to the Royal Palace. After a while, all of the royal family appeared together on the palace balcony. Flying from the flag post was the very same Royal Standard which had been hidden from the Germans on the King’s instruction when he departed the Palace early on the morning of 9 April, 1940. Aftenposten, a respected Norwegian newspaper, headlined the occasion as ‘The biggest and most beautiful day in the history of free Norway’.
In sum, the role of the Crown Princess during World War II should not be underestimated. She was tireless in her promotion of Norway both in the United States and throughout the Allied nations. Furthermore, she deftly gained the confidence of the most powerful man in the world in a way that many-including the world leaders of the time-could only have dreamed off. She may have been born Swedish but she was ultimately Norway’s greatest wartime asset.
Robert Prentice has a keen interest in the fate of the various royal families during World War 2. He is the author of the recently-published Princess Olga of Yugoslavia Her Life and Times which is available to buy through Amazon and other on-line and local bookshops.
In the early hours of 9 April, Crown Princess Märtha and her husband Olav were awakened by a phone call from an aide, bringing the devastating news of an invasion by German military forces. With her mind in a whirl, Mårtha immediately awakened her three children, instructing them to dress for a mountain hike. Ragnhild, the eldest, would later recall that ‘the clearest sign that something was wrong was that it was our parents themselves who woke us up.’ After eating a hasty breakfast, at around 6 a.m. Märtha , Olav and their three children (Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald) set out from their home, some twenty kilometres to the west of Oslo, for the Royal Palace in central Oslo, in a convoy of three cars. The Crown Prince was at the wheel of his own car, his wife and children beside him. Olav-who was driving at great speed-had already decided that if anyone tried to stop him, he would run them down.
German troops march down Karl Johan Gate, the Royal Palace clearly visible behind.
On arrival at the Royal Palace, everything was in a state of flux. The royal family departed the royal residence at 7 a.m. travelling in the direction of the Østbane railway station in order to take a special train to Hamar to avoid capture. The members of the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, were also on board the train. The group was led and organised by the Storting President, Carl Joachim Hambro. It had been at his suggestion that the royal family accompanied the parliamentary group. Just as the train passed through Lillestrøm, the town was bombed, although the focus was fortunately on the nearby airport at Kjeller. The entourage travelled onwards towards Hamar with German soldiers and aircraft in hot pursuit.
By the early evening, the royal party had settled at an estate at Sælid, a few kilometres outside of Hamar, where they were just sitting down to dinner when word was received from the local police chief of the impending arrival of several busloads of German troops. The little group immediately set out by car towards Elverum, to rendezvous with members of the government who had fled there from Hamar. It was also at Elverum that the Storting gave the King and government the authority to govern the country for as long as the war lasted (“The Elverum Mandate”). However, with so much uncertainty prevailing, a decision was made to send Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children over the border into neutral Sweden, for reasons of safety. Among those accompanying them were Olav’s trusted aide, Major Nicolai Ramm Østgaard (who would almost immediately return to his duties with the Crown Prince), his wife Ragni and their ten-year-old son Einar. Also in the royal entourage was Signe Svendsen, Prince Harald’s nurse; as well as Ragnhild and Martha’s Swedish governess Maja Thorén. Another Swedish national, the Crown Princess’s maid, Edla Norberg completed the party. The royal convoy, consisting of three cars, crossed the border into Sweden from Trysil at 00:50 hours on 10 April.
The events surrounding the party’s crossing into Sweden are the subject of debate. There are two versions:. In Brita Rosenberg’s biography of Princess Astrid, the latter recounts that Swedish border guards did not want to raise the border barrier and only did so at the last minute when their Norwegian driver indicated that he would drive straight through unless they did so.
Einar Østgaard, in his 2005 book about Crown Princess Mårtha, which makes use of his father’s notes and journals, takes issue with this account: ‘The claim that Crown Princess Märtha was denied access to Sweden was printed for the first time over forty years after crossing the border on the night of 10 April 1940.’ He is of the opinion that this version must be due to a misremembering. The author also cites his mother Ragni, who served as the Crown Princess’s Lady-in-Waiting, later describing an undramatic border crossing: ‘None of us had passports, but at the Swedish border station, Nikko (her husband, Nikolai Østgaard) was out explaining who it was, and there was no difficulty in getting past.’
Either way, the convoy continued to the winter resort of Sälen to stay at the well-known Högfjällshotellet, arriving at half past three in the morning. As it was a glorious sunny day and the royal children spent most of the time skiing on the nearby slopes, while their anxious mother remained at the hotel glued to the radio for news of events in neighbouring Norway. What she heard could hardly have lifted her spirits. On 10 April, the King had met with the German Minister Kurt Bräuer in the High School at Elverum. Bräuer set out the demands of his masters in Berlin: the legitimate Norwegian government must resign, and the King must appoint Vidkun Quisling of the right-wing Nasjonal Samling (National Unity) party as Norway’s Prime Minister and approve the formation of a pro-German government led by him. King Haakon subsequently presented these demands to officials of the legitimate Johan Nygaardsvold government during an extraordinary Council of State held in nearby Nybergsund (where they had relocated). The King made it clear that they must decide what course of action they wished to take, but added that he would not bow to these German demands and if the government decided to agree to them, he would abdicate. The government, in turn, fully backed the King. King Haakon’s “no” and the government’s approval thereof were formulated as a Royal Decree and signed by the King, the Prime Minister and Minister of State Bredo Rolsted.
When the Germans learned of this decision, they were infuriated. The following day, Heinkel 111 bombers of the German Luftwaffe bombed both Elverum and Nybergsund, where the King and Crown Prince were sheltering, killing dozens of people. Crown Princess Märtha was subsequently relieved to learn from newly-arrived Norwegian guests at the hotel that, although shaken, both the King and Crown Prince Olav were uninjured. This news was corroborated by the hotel manager who had been in Nybergsund at the time of the attacks, in an attempt to obtain information on behalf of the Crown Princess. From first-hand reports carried in the Swedish press, it became clear that King Haakon was the key target. At one stage, he and his son Olav were forced to take shelter in a ditch to avoid being fired on by the low-flying Heinkel bombers.
King Haakon (2nd left) and son Crown Prince Olav (extreme left) literally run for their lives at Eleverum on 11 April 1940
An early visitor to Sälen was the Storting President Carl Joachim Hambro, who was en route to Stockholm. He recalls in his memoirs arriving in time for breakfast and apologising to the Crown Princess for ‘being so unkempt and not having had time to shave.’ Märtha, clearly having maintained her sense of humour merely laughed and replied, ‘Me neither.’ He brought with him a letter written by King Haakon at Nybergsund addressed to his sister (and Märtha’s mother) Princess Ingeborg. The latter arrived at the winter resort a few days later, visibly tired and looking somewhat older, according to Ragni Østgaard. Yet, Ingeborg was also ‘filled with a glowing hatred of the Germans’ for her homeland of Denmark had also recently been occupied. Märtha’s mother was also deeply concerned for the welfare of her brother, King Haakon (formerly Prince Carl of Denmark until his accession to the throne of Norway in 1905) and her son-in-law (and nephew) Olav.
The Swedish authorities were by now growing increasingly nervous of the presence of Norwegian royalty in an area so close to the border. What if, they reasoned, the Germans accidentally bombed the hotel due to a “navigation error” or if a kidnapping attempt was made to seize the royal party? The Swedish county governor decided to act and asked the royal party leave the hotel. In order not to attract attention, on 18 April, the royals and their entourage departed in the middle of the night, and headed southwards by car (which almost upturned in a snow drift) towards Uppsala. Thanks to Princess Ingeborg making use of family connections, it was arranged that the royal party could take temporary residence at Count Carl Bernadotte of Wisborg’s home at Rasbo. They would remain there for ten days, before proceeding to Stockholm and Drottningholm Palace.
At Drottningholm, King Gustav proved to be welcoming host but made it clear, through an adjutant, that there would be no discussion of the war at the dinner table. This was interesting, as otherwise Gustav had taken a keen interest in developments throughout Europe, with maps spread out over a billiard table nearby. However, it was noticeable that there was none pertaining to Norway. This particular map had been removed, prior to the arrival of the Norwegian contingent, perhaps out of tact. The Crown Princess tried to distract herself with games of gin rummy and bridge. Meanwhile Norwegians in Sweden were told not to openly celebrate their National Day on 17 May.
So how did the Crown Princess now continue to obtain news of what was happening across the border? Märtha acquired a quality radio set and each evening she and Ragni Østgaard would listen to the late night news bulletin from London. Perhaps Märtha even managed to tune in to the National Day service broadcast from the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in London, as King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav managed to do in a holiday chalet in Northern Norway? She also had the services of the Norwegian diplomat Jen Bull, who acted as a liaison between Märtha and the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm. Bull had previously served (1925-1931) as a Counsellor in the Norwegian legation in Berlin, rising to the rank of Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office in Oslo in 1939.
In due course, the Crown Princess was informed that King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav had departed Norway (from Tromsø) on the evening of 7 June, following a cabinet meeting held in the Bishop’s Palace, in order to continue the fight from Norwegian democracy from London. The war in Norway aside, Crown Prince Olav’s chief concern was now for the safety of his children and wife in Sweden. He had written to President Franklin D Roosevelt from Trangen, Langvatnet, as early as 10 May, mentioning an offer which Roosevelt had made, in late April 1939, during the Crown Prince and Princess’ weekend stay at the President’s country home at Hyde Park, ‘to take care of the children’ if the war should reach Norwegian shores.
After observing the 82nd birthday celebrations for ‘Uncle Gustav’ the previous day at Drottningholm, on 17 June, the Crown Princess and her children moved to Ulriksdal Palace. This allowed for some more privacy, and the children were able to relax with games, picnics and boating on the inlet. Furthermore, young Harald took the opportunity to learn to swim under the instruction of Signe Svendsen. Nonetheless, there was always a watchful Swedish policeman in attendance. Interestingly, the move to Ulriksdal coincided with King Haakon learning that the Germans had informed the Administrative Council, an interim body appointed by the Norwegian Supreme Court to deal with matters of civil administration in Norway, that he should abdicate the throne. This move on the part of the German occupiers seems to have hit a raw nerve with King Gustav of Sweden who, most unusually, became involved, sending a telegram to Adolf Hitler stating that ‘I consider it my duty to personally emphasize to you, Herr Reich Chancellor, that such a measure would elicit serious disapproval among the broadest circles of the Swedish people and throughout the whole of Scandinavia. I wish therefore, before irrevocable decisions are made by you, to draw your attention through this telegram…to urge you, Mr. Chancellor, to proceed with all the moderation that can be considered possible in relation to Norway, its king and people.’ Did he now fear for his own throne?
Prince Harald of Norway in April 1940. This picture was used for his passport.
In the interim, Berlin had appointed Josef Terboven as Reichskommissar in Norway. Despite the initial refusal of the Administrative Council to comply with the abdication request, negotiations were continuing with Terboven, who was currently focused on the formulation of a future political framework for use in Norway during the occupation. Furthermore, despite King Gustav’s aforementioned telegram, there was a genuine possibility that a powerful Germany, aided by sympathetic Norwegians, could, if necessary, use leverage against Sweden, both diplomatically, economically, and militarily, to arrange for Märtha to be returned to Norway with her son and a Regency formed until Harald came of age. A number of prominent Norwegians who visited Stockholm advocated for such a solution. This idea also had its supporters within Per Albin Hansson’s Swedish government. For instance, the Swedish Justice Minister (and one-time Foreign Minister), Karl Westman, wrote in his diary as early as 19 June, mentioning his attendance at a government meeting: ‘I reiterated my question about why the friends of the Norwegian dynasty do not put the Norwegian crown princess and [prince] Harald on a plane and send them… to Oslo.’ He was writing this at a time when many Swedes believed that Märtha’s presence threatened to undermine Sweden’s neutrality when Germany was on the ascendance: Only a few days earlier German forces had entered Paris unopposed and the French were on the point of signing the surrender at Compiègne. Time Magazine would subsequently report that Crown Princess Märtha had indeed been offered ‘a regency in the name of her son, Prince Harald.’ Meanwhile, some Norwegians even harboured the-not unrealistic-suspicion that Prince Harald could be kidnapped and taken to Oslo by force.
On 27 June, the Presidential Council of the Storting, under pressure from the occupiers and recognising the need to establish a provisional government, responded tentatively to Josef Terboven’s proposal to establish a Council of the Realm to act as a collaborative body with the occupiers. In order to progress matters, they now asked the King to abdicate, giving him until 12 July to ‘renounce his constitutional functions for himself and his house.’ However, King Haakon refused to comply and, on 8 July, announced his rejection of the abdication request via a BBC radio broadcast from London, as well as formally placing his response in writing. What would this mean for the future of Norway and the monarchy going forward?
In Stockholm, Märtha, under the impression that her Swedish family (i.e. King Gustav) and Hitler were conspiring to remove King Haakon and set up a Regency, was feeling the pressure and sent a telegram to London as early as 24 June warning her husband that attempts were being made to ‘induce her’ to return with her three children to Oslo. Indeed, rumours had been circulating of a cipher telegram having been sent on 21 June by King Gustav to King Haakon to advise him to abdicate in favour of his grandson as ‘a means of saving the Norwegian people from unnecessary difficulties’. It also appears that the contents of King Gustav’s earlier telegram to Hitler may have been misconstrued or misreported for, on 22 June the British Minister in Stockholm indicated that King Gustav had telegraphed Hitler directly personally recommending the Regency option to him. Thus, London (and the Crown Princess) now believed that Gustav was the principal protagonist in this matter. Indeed, such was the fury in London that it caused Britain’s King George VI to sit down and write a very stern letter to the Swedish King. Fortunately, this was not forwarded by the British Legation in Stockholm to King Gustav, when it became clear that the meddling Swedish king had instead urged Hitler to show the utmost possible moderation in his dealings over Norway. Some commentators have taken the view that Gustav intervened simply because he believed that if the matter was not resolved soon Germany would abolish the monarchy in Norway.
Despite the strong political pressure placed on her, according to Einar Østgaard’s book, Crown Princess Märtha did not particularly want to travel to the United States. However, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav, fearing for Märtha and the children’s safety, seemed keen that this should happen. In late June, the Crown Prince had written again to President Roosevelt from Buckingham Palace pressing him to make good on his offer of sanctuary to his children, but this time he also included a request on behalf of his wife. Olav also made an approach to the US Secretary of State via the US Ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy, entreating ‘if there is anything you can do in a hurry to get the [Crown] Princess out [of Sweden].’ On 12 July, the US Secretary of State sent a message to the US Minister in Stockholm saying that President Roosevelt was arranging for a naval transport vessel to be sent to Finland to evacuate the Crown Princess and her family, along with a group of ‘stranded’ US citizens.
On 17 July, the Norwegian Government-in-exile addressed a letter to the Storting Presidential Council, in which cautious appreciation of the work done by the Administrative Council was combined with a plain warning that ‘everything which is agreed or done at this time in respect of government in Norway must have the clear stamp of temporariness, if nothing is to be lost for the future of the country.’
On 18 July, Märtha received a telephone call from the Norwegian Minister in Washington, Wilhelm Thorleif von Munthe af Morgenstierne. He informed a somewhat nonplussed Crown Princess (who seems to have been in the dark about Crown Prince Olav’s recent correspondence with Roosevelt) that an American warship was being sent to Finland to transport her and her children to the United States. But would she go? On 20 July, Märtha received the US Minister to Norway, Mrs Florence Harriman, who was now ensconced temporarily at the United States Legation in Stockholm. Having had time to reflect on the efforts being made on her and her children’s behalf, both in London and Washington, the Crown Princess indicated to the American that she would be happy to accept President Roosevelt’s kind offer. Nevertheless, Märtha was keen to emphasise that she wanted to enter the United States ‘as quietly as possible’ and that she ‘would not be required to meet reporters or a reception committee’. Naively, the Crown Princess even expressed the hope that the date of her arrival should be kept confidential. King Gustav, on hearing of the “American plan”, telegraphed King Haakon, on 24 July, stating that he objected to the American trip as it might undermine the future of the Norwegian monarchy, a viewpoint Haakon, who deeply resented Gustav’s meddling, was quick to dismiss. Some sources also have Crown Princess Märtha and “Uncle Gustav” having a robust exchange of views on this matter in Stockholm.
However, events were already moving apace. On 22 July, Mrs Harriman had been informed by the US State Department that a naval transport, the USS American Legion, was about to leave for the Finnish port of Petsamo (now Petsjenga, Russia) and should reach there around 5 August. It was also made clear that there was ‘no possible way’ the Crown Princess’ arrival in the United States could be kept confidential. Indeed, just as Märtha was setting off from Ulriksdal Palace, on 12 August, the Norwegian Legation released a statement to the press, also broadcast over Radio Sweden, stating that the Crown Princess and her three children ‘will leave for the United States in the next few days to visit President Roosevelt’ who had issued ‘a personal invitation’ to the Norwegian royals.
The Crown Princess and her children on their long drive through Finland, August 1940
That same day, the Norwegian party departed Stockholm’s Central Station. Both Märtha’s father, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg were distressed to take leave of their beloved daughter and grandchildren. Princess Ingeborg presented Märtha with a case of jewels, including the emerald tiara that had once belonged to Empress Joséphine, the wife of Napoléon Bonaparte. This was a form of financial insurance in difficult times. King Gustav also came to the station to see them off, despite his grave reservations. They were, after all, his relations too. The plan was for the Norwegian royal party to travel by train to Haparanda, on the Swedish/ Norwegian border, with the rest of the journey, through Finland, being undertaken by cars provided by the Finnish authorities. The local Haparanda newspaper Haparandabladet soon reported on the Crown Princess’s arrival there, prior to her setting off on the second stage of the journey northwards to Petsamo. This second stage was undertaken in a convoy of four vehicles and included stops and overnight stays in Rovaniemi and Inari (Enare). A Finnish military officer, Major Carl Gustaf Wahren, accompanied the royal entourage and was responsible for security. He very kindly allowed the amiable Swedish policeman Artur Pfeiffer, with whom the children had developed a good relationship since their arrival in Stockholm, to accompany the party on this Finnish leg of their journey. Petsamo was reached on 15 August.
The Crown Princess and her children now joined the nine hundred passengers, mostly United States citizens, aboard the American Legion, bound for New York. Märtha appeared on the ship’s manifest as “Mrs Jones” and was given the use of the Captain’s cabin. Others in the royal party included the Crown Princess’s Chief of Staff, Peder Anker Wedel Jarlsberg; Lady-in-Waiting, Mrs Ragni Østgaard; the latter’s son Einar and Prince Harald’s nurse, Signe Svendsen. Touchingly, Harald was pictured clutching his beloved teddy bear. Yet, the Norwegian royal party were still very much in danger. Germany refused to guarantee the ship safe conduct and according to Time magazine, in a ruthless last-minute display of audacity, had tried to delay the sailing with a dispute over the route. It was said that the Germans preferred a more northern passage where the American Legion could be waylaid by a submarine, and Martha and her son kidnapped.
Meanwhile, King Haakon broadcast to the Norwegian people on 26 August, informing them ‘to avoid everything which is inconsistent with our national dignity; remain Norwegian in mind and thought…’ A majority of the Storting members in Oslo eventually voted for the suspension of the monarchy rather than acceptance of the original German demand for the abdication or deposing of the Royal House and negotiations continued. However, Terboven, keen to stamp his authority, eventually abandoned plans for a Council of the Realm and power rested, for the moment, with the Reichskommissariat.
Despite all the melodrama of the last few months, the Crown Princess and her entourage finally sailed into New York on 28 August. She and her three children would eventually settle in a largish brick house set in substantial grounds in Pook’s Hill, Maryland. Märtha would soon become part of President’s Roosevelt’s inner circle and was thus ideally placed to obtain first-hand knowledge of the comings and goings at the White House and in Washington’s political circles. She was also able to use her position to advance Norway’s cause in the United States.
The Crown Princess and her family on their arrival in New York.
The author of this blog takes a keen interest on the fate of royalty during World War II. He examines the wartime adventures of Princess Olga (the onetime Consort of the Prince Regent of Yugoslavia) in Africa (and much else besides) in the biography Princess Olga of Yugoslavia: Her Life and Times published on 1 April 2021 by Grosvenor House Publishing.
With the outbreak of war in western Europe in September 1939, the Scandinavian Kingdom of Norway decided to adopt a neutral stance. Nevertheless, the country’s monarch, King Haakon VII, had strong links to the British Royal Family: his late wife (and first cousin) Queen Maud was the youngest daughter of Britain’s King Edward VII; while Haakon and Maud’s son Crown Prince Olav had been born and spent much of his childhood at Appleton House on King Edward’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Despite Norway’s neutrality, both the Allies and the Germans were quick to grasp the strategic importance of King Haakon’s northern kingdom. The port of Narvik, in particular, possessed both useful rail transport links to Sweden and all-year-round access to the sea. Whoever controlled this harbour would be well-placed to control the flow of high-grade iron ore (so necessary to Germany, specifically, for the success of the war effort) from northern Sweden to the western coast of Norway. Furthermore, whichever power controlled the ports of Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger would effectively control access to the North Sea and have a distinct advantage where the vital supply lanes of the Atlantic were concerned.
Germany had long feared that the British would seize the initiative and launch a pre-emptive invasion of Norway. Contemporaneous diplomatic ‘traffic’ as well as the recent boarding by the British, in Norwegian waters, of a German ship, the Altmark (to rescue 299 Allied prisoners-of war), only served to galvanize this view. Thus, on 1 April, Hitler made the decision to invade Norway and, by 3 April an advance group of German supply vessels was heading northwards. This was followed, on 7 April, by a main force which included the heavy cruisers Lützow and Blücher. The latter would reach the Oslofjord on the evening of 8 April.
Britain, meanwhile, was indeed eyeing this Nordic country with interest. Neville Chamberlain’s government had decided to mine several areas of the West coast in advance of landing troops at Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger. However, due to the combination of a disagreement with the French and bad weather, this operation was postponed from 5 April until 8 April. Only Vestfjord, the channel of water that leads to Narvik, was actually mined. By this time, word had already reached the British Admiralty of a concerted movement of German military shipping traffic travelling northwards. Almost immediately, several dozen battleships and a group of destroyers belonging to the British Home Fleet set sail from Scapa Flow and Rosyth towards western Scandanavia.
In Oslo, Crown Prince Olav informed his father, King Haakon, on 8 April, that a transport ship sunk off Lillesand that morning had been transporting German soldiers. In the interim, the German envoy to Norway, Curt Bräuer, now received instructions from Berlin to persuade the Norwegian government of Johann Nygaardsvold to allow German troops into the country, under the pretext of defending Norway from a British invasion. The German request was subsequently rejected on the basis that Norway was a sovereign nation responsible for its own defence.
Nonetheless, during the night of 8-9 April, German troops invaded Norway by air, land and sea, targeting Moss, Oslo, Horten, Arendal, Kristiansand, Egersund, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. At around 4am at Oscarsborg Fortress, near the coastal town of Drøbak (some twenty-eight miles from Oslo), Colonel Birger Eriksen spotted the German heavy cruiser Blücher entering Drøbak Sound. Despite having received no official instructions from Oslo to engage, Eriksen gave the order to fire, and the fortress’s guns and torpedo battery succeeded in sinking the cruiser.
The King was informed of the impending invasion around 1.30am by his Prime Minister over the telephone. Nygaardsvold advised Haakon and his family to flee Oslo or risk capture. Norway’s Foreign Minister Halvdan Koht, who had first heard of the German military operations around the same time as the King, held a meeting with Curt Braüer at the Foreign Ministry (Victoria Terrasse) but firmly rejected a German ultimatum to surrender and cooperate with the occupation forces. This was hardly surprising since Koht was a firm believer in maintaining Norway’s neutrality.
As soon as Crown Prince Olav received news of the invasion at his official abode at Skaugum, twelve miles south-west of Oslo, he quickly roused his wife and children. After partaking of a makeshift breakfast, Olav drove his family in his American Buick straight to King Haakon’s residence at the Royal Palace. The Crown Prince later recalled, “I had decided to run down anyone who tried to stop or hinder the car”. Nor did he trust anyone else to drive.
Meanwhile, at 7am (just as Luftwaffe planes were landing at Oslo’s main Fornabu Airport), the Royal Family boarded a special train (swiftly organised by the President of the Storting, Carl Hambro) at Østbanen Station and headed eighty miles northwards to Hamar. On board, they were joined by around 100 government officials and members of the Storting (Parliament). However, the royal train had only made it as far as Lillestrøm, just northeast of Oslo, when Luftwaffe aircraft began bombing the local airport at Kjeller. The train was evacuated and everyone on board temporarily sought refuge in a railway tunnel. The official party eventually arrived at Hamar just after 11am. The Prime Minister, who had travelled north by car, was waiting at the station to greet them.
Thereafter, the elected officials convened at the nearby Festival Hall to discuss what course to take, while the King and his son travelled to a farm at Sælid. Later that day, Nygaardsvold sought an audience with his Sovereign and offered his resignation ‘in order to make way for a government of national unity’. However, during a subsequent meeting of the Council of State, the Prime Minister was persuaded to remain in post as it was felt that to do otherwise might precipitate an unwanted political crisis. Back in Oslo, Curt Braüer held a meeting with the capital’s police chief, Kristian Welhaven, who now agreed to act as an intermediary between the occupying forces, the government and the local authorities. Welhaven would also subsequently help to arrange a meeting-at Bräuer’s request-between the German envoy and King Haakon.
At 7.30pm, the Nazi sympathiser and leader of the right-wing Nasjonal Samling, Vidkun Quisling, taking advantage of the power vacuum created by the departure from Oslo of the legitimate government, entered the studio of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and proclaimed himself Prime Minister. He also called upon the Norwegian people to cease all resistance against the occupying forces and accused the British of violating Norwegian neutrality. It was around this time that Bräuer received instructions from Hitler to meet with King Haakon and convince him to recognise the Quisling government.
Meanwhile, enemy forces (including a crack force of German commandos under the command of a Captain Eberhard Spiller) were already closing in on Hamar with the aim of capturing the King and Storting members. When the alarm was raised, the politicians (who were still ‘in session’ at the Festival Hall and had just been updated on the fall of four of Norway’s largest cities) immediately boarded a train to travel eastwards to Elverum. The Royal Family, meantime, were just sitting down to dinner at Sælid, when word was received from the local police chief of the impending arrival of German troops. The little group immediately set out by car towards Elverum, arriving at 10.30pm. It was at this juncture that a decision was made to send Crown Princess Martha and the three royal children over the border to Sweden. This made sense as Martha was Swedish and her parents, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg, were more than happy to come to their daughter’s aid. In August, the four Norwegian royals would relocate to Washington at the invitation of President Roosevelt.
Despite Crown Prince Olav’s objections and fears over his father’s safety, King Haakon agreed to a brief meeting with Bräuer at Elverum on 10 April. The German emissary urged Haakon to follow the example of his elder brother, King Christian of Denmark, and call a halt to any further resistance. The King should also recognise the new government headed by Quisling. Haakon relayed the German demands to his ‘legal government’ in an extraordinary meeting of the Council of State at Nybergsund. His Majesty also made it clear that although he would not attempt to influence the Government in this matter, he could never accept Quisling as Prime Minister. Indeed, Haakon indicated that he was prepared to abdicate both for himself and for his family if the Cabinet decided otherwise. Inspired by the King’s strength of feeling, the Cabinet backed their monarch. Bräuer was later informed of their decision over the telephone by Foreign Minister Koht at 8pm. The German representative then asked Koht pointedly if Norwegian resistance would still continue and was told that it would ‘as long as possible’. The German response was quick and deadly: Luftwaffe aircraft dropped lethal incendiary bombs on both Elverum and Nybergsund and, at one stage, the Heinkel bombers dived to a mere 50 feet to strafe the ground with machine-gun fire, thus forcing Haakon, Olav and government officials to take cover in mud-filled ditches. Forty people were killed in the attack on Elverum alone.
In a ‘proclamation’ to his people in mid-April, Haakon would refer to this incident as a deliberate attempt by the Germans to ‘annihilate all of us assembled for deciding the question for the best future of Norway’. The King also railed against his people being ‘subjected to death and inhuman suffering’ by the Nazis and urged Norwegians ‘to save the freedom and independence of the Fatherland.’
Around this time, a Press Alliance reporter, Elinar Hansen, interviewed the King and Crown Prince over coffee as they took shelter in a farmhouse. Haakon-who was dressed in a mud-spattered uniform- admitted to having only slept fitfully for an hour at a time since the invasion. He was keen to emphasise that the German military action had been launched against himself and his people, ‘at places where no sign of military movement [was] to be found.’
After much confusion at the town of Rena (which resulted in the Prime Minister and half of his government ministers taking a separate route from the others) the King and his depleted party reached the border station with Sweden, at Lillebo, on 12 April. Foreign Minister Koht, who remained with the King, was now very keen for Haakon to seek temporary refuge with Norway’s neutral neighbour. However, this idea proved to be impractical as the Swedish authorities indicated that both the King and the Crown Prince-who both held military rank-would be interned should they attempt to cross the border. Haakon and Olav then travelled on to Koppang and Lake Storsjøen, though this time without the remaining retinue of government ministers. Yet, it was pre-arranged that everyone would reunite, a few days later, in the large valley of Gudbrandsdalen, where Norway’s army chief, General Otto Ruge, had lately established his headquarters. Sadly, Ruge’s plan to block a German land advance northwards out of Oslo was already in tatters as columns of enemy motorized infantry, supported by tanks and air cover easily overcame the Norwegian military’s hastily-constructed barriers.
After another few days trying to keep ahead of the occupying forces, the King and Crown Prince Olav were forced to abandon their cars at Hjerkinn (where the road became impassable due to the wintry weather) and ride in a freight train southward to the town of Otta. The duo then travelled to nearby Heggelund where they spent the night of 14 April at a local inn. This was the first occasion, since leaving Oslo, that the King and Crown Prince were actually able to undress and obtain a decent night’s sleep in a bed. During this stay, the King had an unscheduled visit from his Prime Minister (now taking refuge at Lesjaverk).
However, German troops remained in hot pursuit and General Ruge sent a message to the royal party to seek sanctuary at an isolated mountain farm, Sandbu, near Vågåmo, which belonged to a shipowner, Thomas Olsen. The royals, by now reunited with the party of government ministers, remained there for a period of four days from 17 to 21 April. On 19 April, the Crown Prince briefly journeyed southwards to Øyer to receive a military briefing from General Ruge, for by this time British forces had landed in Harstad and Namsos with the idea of recapturing Narvik and Trondheim from the Germans. From Sandbu the royal party then travelled on to another inn at Stuguflåten, during which the government held several meetings and agreed to the nationalisation of Norway’s merchant fleet. However, with little food available locally, the party was forced to motor on to the town of Molde on the Romsdal Peninsula, which they reach in the early hours of 23 April. This coastal location proved to be far from secure, as Luftwaffe planes were continually bombing the town in anticipation of landings by British forces. Indeed, the King and Crown Prince were forced to abandon their accommodation at dawn each morning and spend much of the day hiding out in the surrounding birch woods.
Towards the end of April, with German forces on the ascendency, the British Minister, Sir Cecil Dormer, invited the King, Crown Prince and government to join a group of British troops who were retreating to Tromsø from their current positions in southern and central Norway aboard the British light cruiser HMS Glasgow. This offer was accepted and, on the evening of 29 April, the Norwegian VIP party gathered at Molde’s key side to embark the ship for the 800-mile journey northwards. Tromsø would now become the seat of the provisional government. An article in the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen states that if King Haakon had not accepted the British invitation, he would most likely have been captured and taken to England. However, His Majesty certainly remained full of spirit and pithily declared that the occupiers, ‘are not practising war but murder and arson.’
Thereafter, the appointment of Winston Churchill as Britain’s new Prime Minister, on 10 May, combined with the simultaneous German invasion of the Low Countries, would lead to a change of strategy on the part of the Allies. Subsequent to this, British forces suffered heavy casualties when several British Royal Navy ships were sunk off Norway by the Luftwaffe. Then, on 25 May, (ironically three days before the recapture of Narvik by Norwegian and French forces), Allied commanders received orders to commence a comprehensive evacuation from Norway. This left the King with a difficult decision. Should he remain in Norway (which would mean capture by the Germans) or leave with the Allies? On balance, he decided it would be best to depart Norway and continue the fight for his country’s liberation from Britain.
On 7 June 1940, the Norwegian government held its last meeting on Norwegian soil at Tromsø. A few hours later the King, Crown Prince, members of the government, and the diplomatic corps—a total of 400 passengers—boarded the British heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire for England. Haakon and Olav arrived in London on 10 June and were greeted at Euston Station by King George VI. That same day, German and Norwegian forces signed a ceasefire. However, it is important to emphasise that this ceasefire did not prevent Norway’s legitimate government—now operating out of London—from continuing the struggle against the German invaders.
Subsequently, in Oslo, the German Reich Commissioner Josef Terboven, attempted to establish a ‘legal’, compliant occupation government. However, this would require the King’s abdication. In a speech, delivered over the airways from London on 8 July, King Haakon refused this request and stated that, ‘such action would prevent Norway regaining her freedom and independence.’ The Norwegian monarch also later put up a spirited riposte to those who had criticised his departure from his Nordic Kingdom: ‘If we had stayed in Norway the present rulers of the country would have been able to force us to accept what they wished. It was in order to avoid this that we left the country. From the place where we are now, we can still represent a free Norway.’ Indeed, King Haakon would now become the living symbol of Norwegian patriotism and freedom through his regular broadcasts from London which provided untold comfort to his fellow countrymen.
Certainly, the majority of Norwegians remained loyal to the Crown and did not hesitate to mock Vidkun Quisling and his collaborationist government. Furthermore, the Milorg group (formed in May 1941) which began life as a small sabotage unit, would gradually grow into Norway’s main resistance movement with 40,000 active members. The organisation would go on to play a crucial role in bringing about a German surrender in Norway in May 1945.
The author of this blog takes a keen interest in the fate of royalty during World War II. He examines the wartime adventures of Princess Olga (the sometime Consort of the Prince Regent of Yugoslavia) in Africa (and much else besides) in the new biography Princess Olga of Yugoslavia: Her Life and Times published on 1 April 2021 by Grosvenor House Publishing. This is now available to purchase on Amazon in hardback or e-book.
RoyaltyRobert Blogger and Writer 