Princess Märtha Louise of Norway
Encyclopedia
Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (born 22 September 1971 in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

) is the only daughter of King Harald V
Harald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...

 and Queen Sonja
Queen Sonja of Norway
Queen Sonja of Norway is the wife of King Harald V of Norway.-Prior to marriage:Sonja was born in Oslo on 4 July 1937 as the daughter of clothing merchant Karl August Haraldsen and Dagny Ulrichsen .Queen Sonja grew up in the district of Vinderen in Oslo and completed her lower secondary schooling...

. She is fourth in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, after her brother and his two children.

Early life

Princess Märtha Louise was born on 22 September 1971 to the then Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja. At birth, she was not in line to the throne, because until 1990, only males could inherit the Norwegian throne (Salic law). She was christened a few months after her birth. Her godparents are King Olav V of Norway
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...

, Princess Margaretha of Sweden
Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler
Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler , was born at Haga Palace outside Stockholm. She is the first child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught .-Life and...

, Count Flemming of Rosenborg, Princess Ragnhild of Norway
Princess Ragnhild of Norway
Princess Ragnhild of Norway, Mrs. Lorentzen, is the eldest daughter of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. She is the older sister of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway and of Princess Astrid of Norway.Princess Ragnhild married Erling S...

, Dagny Haraldsen, Haakon Haraldsen, Nils Jørgen Astrup and Ilmi Riddervold.

In 1973, Märtha Louise was joined by a younger brother Haakon Magnus
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway is the heir apparent to the throne of Norway. On birth he was named Prince Haakon Magnus but it was stressed in the announcement that he would go by the name Haakon. He became Crown Prince Haakon when his father ascended to the crown as Harald V in 1991...

. In 1990 the Norwegian constitution
Constitution of Norway
The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...

 was altered, granting full cognatic primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...

 to the Norwegian throne, meaning that the eldest child, regardless of gender, takes precedence in the line of succession. This change only affects those born in 1990 or later. Females born between 1971 and 1990 (i.e. only Märtha Louise), were given succession rights, but their brothers would be before them in the line of succession, meaning that Prince Haakon still took precedence over Märtha Louise in the line of succession.

After the births of her brother's two children, Ingrid Alexandra
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is the daughter of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and second in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne.-Biography:...

 and Sverre Magnus
Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway
Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway is the second child of Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway and his wife Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway. Prince Sverre Magnus is a grandchild of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway...

, Märtha Louise was relegated to fourth in line. The princess is also 71st in the line of succession
Line of succession to the British Throne
The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession is limited to the descendants of the Electress Sophia of...

 to the throne of each of the sixteen Commonwealth Realm
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...

s, as a great-great-granddaughter of King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

.

Marriage and family

On 24 May 2002 Princess Märtha Louise married in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 author Ari Behn
Ari Behn
Ari Mikael Behn is a Norwegian author, and is best known as the husband of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway. He has written two novels, a collection of short stories and a book about his wedding...

 (born 1972 as Ari Bjørshol; he later took his grandmother's name). Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn have three daughters.

Issue

Name Birth
Maud Angelica Behn
Maud Angelica Behn
Maud Angelica Behn is the first-born child of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and husband Ari Behn , and the eldest grandchild of King Harald V of Norway and Queen Sonja of Norway...

 
29 April 2003
Leah Isadora Behn
Leah Isadora Behn
Leah Isadora Behn is the second daughter of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and husband Ari Behn. She was born at the princess's summer residence Bloksbjerg at Hankø island, in the municipality of Fredrikstad....

 
8 April 2005
Emma Tallulah Behn
Emma Tallulah Behn
Emma Tallulah Behn is the third daughter of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and husband Ari Behn. She was born in their home in Lommedalen outside of the capital of Oslo at 12.53, weighing 3700 grams and measuring 53 cm...

 
29 September 2008


Liv Mildrid Gjernes
Liv Mildrid Gjernes
Liv Mildrid Gjernes is a Norwegian artist and has given name to the contemporary style of decoration, sculpture, and furniture design known as Gjernes style. She lives and has her atelier in Eidsfoss, in Vestfold in Norway...

 designed the Norwegian government's gift for the couple, two cupboards entitled "Ikons for the Hearts". In each cupboard there were seven exclusive pieces of handicraft, from different regions of Norway, produced by other Norwegian artisans.

Change in style

In 2002, the King (with Princess Märtha Louise's consent) removed Princess Märtha Louise's style of Her Royal Highness and instead styled her as Her Highness (this title is not used in Norway). This was meant to loosen connections with the Royal Family and her business life. However, she retains her title as a Norwegian princess and her place in the line of succession and still carries out royal duties on behalf of the King (though they are reduced).

Education and career

Princess Märtha Louise is a certified physiotherapist, following education in Oslo and internship in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. She has not practised her profession, however, choosing instead, from her fascination in traditional Norwegian folk tales as well as a love of music, to establish her own commercial entertainment business based on giving public and televised performances reciting folk tales and singing with well-known Norwegian choirs. In December 2003, she took part in Oslo Gospel Choir
Oslo Gospel Choir
Oslo Gospel Choir is a Norwegian gospel choir residing in Oslo, Norway conducted by Tore W. Aas. The choir started up in 1988 and has since then become one of the most successful in Europe with success both in Europe and America. They have released around 20 releases...

's Christmas concert with a solo performance, included on the companion CD album.

On 1 January 2002, after Princess Märtha Louise started her own business, in order to work with more freedom from her constitutional role as a princess, she began paying income tax, and the King, after consulting her, issued a royal edict
Edict
An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...

 which removed Princess Märtha Louise's style of Royal Highness (she is entitled to the style Highness when abroad). However, she retains her place in the line of succession, and, though her activities were reduced, she still carries out some public duties on behalf of the King.

After several postponements due to family births and her father's illness, during which the princess took on some representation duties, Princess Märtha Louise and her husband moved to New York City in October 2004. In 2004, her first book, a children's story about the first royal family of Norway was released – Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns
Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns
Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns is a fairytale written by Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and released as a children's book in the US in 2005. The original version was released as a picture book in Norway in 2004....

. Accompanying the book is a CD version of the Princess reading her story aloud.

Princess Märtha Louise has studied physiotherapy, trained as a Rosen therapist
Rosen Method Bodywork
Rosen Method Bodywork is a type of Complementary and alternative medicine. The psycho-somatic approach of this bodywork is intended to help to integrate one's bodily and the emotional/mental experience, helping to identify unconscious patters of muscular holding, feeling, and behavior...

 and studied at an academy for holistic medicine. She claims she can communicate with animals and angels and has started her own alternative medical school named Astarte Education, after one of the oldest goddesses in the Middle East.

On 2 October 2007, Princess Märtha Louise became the first member of the Norwegian Royal Family
Norwegian Royal Family
The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...

 to ever appear in a court of law as she wanted to halt sales of a book entitled Martha's angels.

In 2007 the Princess was editor of the book "Prinsesse Märtha Louises eventyrlige verden, Eventyr fra jordens hjerte, Rodinia" containing 67 fairy tales from 50 countries.

Princess Märtha Louise's Fund

Her Royal Highness Princess Märtha Louise's Fund was founded on 15 September 1972 and awards funds to projects carried out by non-governmental organisations in order to provide assistance to disabled children under the age of 16 in Norway. Princess Märtha Louise is the fund's chairperson. In 2005 the fund had assets of approximately NOK
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...

 13,285,000, and total annual allocations came to about NOK 500,000.

Patronages

On 18 January 2006 Princess Martha Louise (along with the rest of the Norwegian Royal Family) revised her patronage list, and will no longer be a royal patron of any cultural groups including the annual Bjørnson literary festival
Bjørnson Festival
The Bjørnson Festival of international literature is held in Molde and Nesset, Norway, every August since 1992, and is named in honour of the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson ....

; her brother Crown Prince Haakon
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway is the heir apparent to the throne of Norway. On birth he was named Prince Haakon Magnus but it was stressed in the announcement that he would go by the name Haakon. He became Crown Prince Haakon when his father ascended to the crown as Harald V in 1991...

 will take over that position. She will only retain six patronage roles, all of them health related. They include the country's foundations for the blind, deaf and those with epilepsy. "With these changes, we want to eliminate possible doubt about role conflicts for the princess." palace spokesman Astrid Versto
Terje Svabø
Terje Svabø is a Norwegian journalist living in Vienna. Svabø has worked at Aftenposten, VG and NRK evening news, where he hosted the debate programs Debatt 21 and Til debatt . In 2000 he left NRK and joined the public relations agency Dinamo...

 told newspaper VG
Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...

.
  • The Norwegian Sports Organisation for the Disabled
  • The Norwegian Association of the Deaf
  • Norway Muscular Dystrophy Association
  • The Norwegian Epilepsy Association
  • The Norwegian Rheumatism Association
  • The Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted


Honours

She has been awarded :
:
    • Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
    • The Royal House Centenary Medal
    • Haakon VIIs Centenary Medal
    • Olav Vs Commemorative Medal of 30. January 1991
    • Olav Vs Jubilee Medal 1957-1982
    • Olav Vs Centenary Medal
    • Royal Family Order
      Royal Family Order
      The Royal Family Order is an order awarded by the sovereign of the United Kingdom to female members of the royal family . The order is a personal memento rather than a state decoration...

       of King Olav V of Norway
      Olav V of Norway
      Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...

    • Royal Family Order
      Royal Family Order
      The Royal Family Order is an order awarded by the sovereign of the United Kingdom to female members of the royal family . The order is a personal memento rather than a state decoration...

       of King Harald V of Norway
      Harald V of Norway
      Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...

       : Knight of the Elephant
      Order of the Elephant
      The Order of the Elephant is the highest order of Denmark. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in 1849, is now almost exclusively bestowed on royalty and heads of state.- History :A Danish religious...

       : Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose
      Order of the White Rose
      The Order of the White Rose of Finland is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The orders are administered by boards consisting of a chancellor,...

       : Grand cross of the Order of the Falcon
      Order of the Falcon
      The Order of the Falcon or Hin íslenska fálkaorða is a national Order of Iceland, established on July 3, 1921 by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland.-History and appointments:...

       : Grand Cross of the Order of Al-Kawkab Al Urdoni (Order of the Star of Jordan) Grand Cross of the Order of Adolph of Nassau
      Order of Adolph of Nassau
      The Civil and Military Order of Merit of Adolphe of Nassau was a chivalric order of the Duchy of Nassau and now of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which was created in the year 1858 by the Duke of Nassau, and future Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Adolphe...

       : Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique : Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit
      Order of Civil Merit
      The Order of Civil Merit was established by HM. King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes “the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and foreign citizens for the benefit of Spain”....

       : Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star
      Order of the Polar Star
      The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....

       : King Carl XVI Gustaf's 50th Anniversary Medal

Titles from birth

Here is a list of titles Princess Märtha Louise held from birth in chronological order :
  • Her Royal Highness Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (1971–2002)
  • Her Highness Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (Since 2002)

Spirituality school controversy

On 22 June 2007, Märtha Louise and business partner, former ship mechanic Elisabeth Samnøy, announced the planned opening of a new private school, Astarte Education, in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. According to the information on the company's official webpage, the school will offer a three year program, at the cost of 12,000 Norwegian kroner (about $2100 US) per semester, in which students will be introduced to the techniques of healing
Healing
Physiological healing is the restoration of damaged living tissue, organs and biological system to normal function. It is the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area....

 and reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...

. Märtha Louise also promised that the school will teach students to communicate with angels. The slogan of the school is "Use angels and your own power to create miracles in your life". The course began on 22 August 2007 and the classes filled up immediately. The address listed on the website is the princess' own home address at her home in Lommedalen
Lommedalen
Lommedalen is a picturesque, rural community in a small valley in Bærum municipality, in the county of Akershus, Norway. The population is about 3000 people. Its name is derived from the river Lomma, which, after joining with Isielva, forms Sandvikselva. Another explantion of the name, is by the...

, west of Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, and the phone number listed on the official website is the Royal Palace phone number.

The princess has come under media scrutiny in Norway after the announcement, with some, such as the newspaper Bergens Tidende
Bergens Tidende
Bergens Tidende is Norway's fourth largest newspaper and largest newspaper outside Oslo, with a circulation of about 87,000 copies . Founded in 1868, it is a Norwegian-language newspaper published daily in Bergen. It reaches approximately 260,000 readers every day , mainly in the counties of...

, calling for her to give up her royal titles. Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 author and columnist Jan Guillou
Jan Guillou
Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou is a Swedish author and journalist. Among his books are a series of spy fiction novels about a spy named Carl Hamilton, and a trilogy of historical fiction novels about a Knight Templar, Arn Magnusson...

 urged Märtha Louise to "seek treatment". Norwegian state director of Health Lars E. Hanssen, prominent Norwegian alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....

 advocate Dr. Bernt Rognlien, Norwegian technical university NTNU
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology , commonly known as NTNU, is located in Trondheim. NTNU is the second largest of the eight universities in Norway, and, as its name suggests, has the main national responsibility for higher education in engineering and technology...

 religious historian Asbjørn Dyrendal and University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 theology professor Inge Lønning all expressed misgivings about the princess' plans. Norwegian televangelist Jan Hanvold
Jan Hanvold
Jan Hanvold is a Norwegian fundamentalist televangelist pastor. Hanvold is also owner of television station "TV-Visjon Norge" that is carried throughout Scandinavia and much of Europe...

 accused the princess of "blasphemy" and said she was "an emissary from hell."

On 11 August 2007, Märtha Louise defended the school on NRK, the Norwegian public service television network.

Ancestry



External links


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