Märtha's first pregnancy

[Josefine]

............

The new addition to Norway's royal family is due around the end of April or early May next year, according to the palace.

[Suzanne]

That would make her three to four months at the most. I wonder if Royal twins are on the way? :P :grrr:

[Mandy]

The link below shows pics of Martha Louise getting ready to ski and skiing with Ari and some of their friends. She looks in pretty good shape and fairly steady on her skis for someone about to deliver in a couple of months. Good for her, I say. Do you think she's overdoing it? :)

Mandy

http://www.vg.no/bilderigg/index.hbs?rigg_id=1329

[Jacqueline]

Maybe she isn 't going to do any serious skiing, and it just trying to get a little excercise. I hope that she is very careful however. :)

[Mandy]

1. Picture from RexFeatures

2. Sorry... this is the right picture.

The quote below comes from an article in VG NETT. I believe "høygravid" means very pregnant. With the help of my dictionary, I think that Martha was out with friends in Oslo. In any case the link below shows the picture and the article.

"En høygravid prinsesse Märtha Louise lar ikke magen stoppe utferdstrangen. I går satt hun og Ari Behn flere timer på kafé."
http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=52659 Picture by Linda Naesfeldt

3. Picture from Rexfeatures

[Julia]

Wow, M-L's due date must be soon. May, isn't it? Something like that? Pregnancy seems to agree with her. She just seems to glow.

[Mandy]

1. Picture taken March 27, 2003. RexFeatures photo

2. ML looks very good pregnant! :) There's a VG Nett article at http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=54470 Linda Naesfeldt photo

3. March 30, 2003: They look happy! :flower: Martha looks great pregnant. RexFeatures photo

[Alexandria]

What is with the pants Ari is wearing? Last time I checked only 13-year-old girls wore jeans with applique flowers on them. :P

[Fireweaver]

I don't think it's common for the children of a princess to get a royal title, and I doubt it was a slight in any way towards M-L, Ari, or their unborn child/ren. It's tradition.

[Mandy]

I am aware that children of princesses do not receive titles. But if Harald does not change the "tradition" very shortly there will be very little royalty left in Norway other than a King and a Queen. So far, all the kings of Norway have managed to produce only one prince and one or two princesses each. The prince becomes king and the princess line "dies" out. If not for that, the royals would have a small dynasty today.

Rules can be changed. If Harald can bestow the title of Crown Princess upon a commoner, he could at least bestow a title upon a child of royalty.

It may not matter in the long run, because Norway is having a referendum on the monarchy in 2005. They may do away with it altogether! :(

[Jacqueline]

Hi Mandy and Fireweaver.

Yes, it is quite archaic how all of these children born to royal mothers cannot have titles bestowed upon them unless their father is granted a title or their father is royal. The male lineage is most important and the most significant factor in one's being considered royal. It is really becoming quite boring. It's not as if one's mother doesn't play a significant part in one's conception, development, and birth. But, I guess that is only biology and as usual in some instances men are given much more credit and consideration than they deserve. Unfortunately, this has and is the traditon in most or all royal houses. It is very archaic IMO, but I doubt that will change anytime soon unless monarchs take it upon themselves to bestow titles upon some or all of these children.

I agree that something had better be done about the shortage of royals in some countries, especially in Norway as there is a major shortage and the referendum as Mandy mentioned will be approaching soon enough. Good point Mandy-the fact that ML and Ari will be moving to NY with their child doesn't make this much better.

However, I do wonder when considering ML's move to New York and the fact that she requested her HRH be dropped if she really wanted her children to have titles at all? She and Ari may be doing as The Princess Royal of GB and her first husband, Mark Phillips did with their children in refusing all titles.

[thissal]

Oh No. Why a referendum on the monarchy? What caused that? There's not enough royal houses left as it is. :o

However, I could understand the royals themselves not being happy with all the pomp and circumstance and protocols. No doubt if it was me, I'd be a runaway princess pretending to be someone else. B)

[Mandy]

Hi everyone!

Martha dropped the HRH so that she could work to earn money, the same reason that Astrid and Ragnhild, Harald's sisters dropped their HRH. HRH cannot earn money.

I read several articles where Harald had been receiving the same allowance for the past several years. Martha, of course, was receiving her allowance from this bugdet. She was thirty years old and she had to ask her father for extra money. :(

Haakon, on the other hand, had a separate allowance almost equivalent to the kinq's allowance. After his marriage, their parliament "the storting" debated increasing it to cover the living expenses of Mette-Marit & Marius. I'll have to check back on the results of that debate.

So, Martha gives up her title to pay for her way in life and Mette-Marit goes on a shopping spree at the tax payers' expense. Go figure.

[Mandy]

Another pic from FexFeatures

[Julia]

Thanks for the pics, Mandy! I have to admit that Ari's jeans are a little

[Mandy]

Hi Alexandria & Julia!

By the look on ML's face, she feels the same way you do. You don't suppose he borrowed her jeans!?! Do you!?!

[Alexandria]

Martha Louise and Ari must be very anxious! It's sort of like wanting to peek at the end of a mystery novel to see who did it!

[Fireweaver]

We know who did it, Ari did!

[Mandy]

Hi Fireweaver!

You just made my day!