norwegianne
Majesty
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2003
- Messages
- 6,041
- City
- Rogaland
- Country
- Norway
On February 12, 1932, a little Norwegian princess was born in villa Solbakken, at Skøyen in Oslo to Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha. The newborn was named Astrid Maud Ingeborg, after her two grandmothers. Astrid is a traditional Norwegian name, but also the name of one of her aunts, Astrid of Belgium.
When Astrid was six months old, the family moved back into a rebuilt Skaugum. There, she and her sister, Ragnhild, grew up in relative peace, unaccustomed to any pomp associated with a Princess title. The only thing that separated them from the other Norwegian girls of the same age was their appearance on the Palace balcony every May 17th.
The Easter holidays were spent in the mountains of Norway and the summer holidays were spent in Sweden, at Fridheim with their Danish and Belgian cousins.
The worst thing Astrid knew was the yearly photograph session. It meant that she was forced to get dressed up and stand absolutely still.
The best thing Astrid knew were animals which was a good thing since she was living on a farm in the country. Princess Astrid was, and is, very fond of dogs.
In 1937, when Astrid was five years old, the new heir to the throne arrived. The princesses had been well informed of what would happen, and when they came in from playing in the snow, they asked if he could come out and play with them. The two big sisters helped to take care of their younger brother, and still think of him as their little brother...
1937 was also the year that the two princesses got their very own life-size doll house at Skaugum, similar to the doll house Crown Princess Märtha and her sisters played with during their youth at Fridheim.
Astrid started school earlier than was the custom, as Crown Princess Märtha set up a “Princess School” at Skaugum when Ragnhild reached school age. It was reasoned that the 20 months separating the princesses were few enough to allow Astrid to start at the same time.
But all that changed when the German invasion came in 1940. Princess Astrid remembers that they were told to pack a small suitcase, with the toys they wanted to bring along. The thing that hurt most about leaving home, was leaving the dogs behind.
They left Norway with King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav to escape the Germans. They stayed for a while with their maternal grandparents in Sweden, but after a long trans-Atlantic crossing, they arrived in the United States where they remained for the duration of the war. They lived just outside of Washington, D.C..
Astrid and her sister went to a private school in Bethesda, Maryland. It was at this school that Astrid was diagnosed with dyslexia. One of the teachers who had some experience in this field helped to figure out why Astrid couldn’t spell properly like the other children.
One important point during their stay in America was that Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald shouldn’t forget their roots. In the house they rented, Pook’s Hill, Crown Princess Märtha instituted a “Talk Norwegian” rule for the children. They also had Norwegian schooling twice a week.
The children skated, they learned to ride, they joined the scouting movement, and they joined a dancing school. The dancing lessons were intended to prepare the Norwegian princesses for the life ahead of them: “Mum was always considering the things we needed to know when we got back to Norway. Never if we got back, always when,” Princess Astrid told Brita Rosenberg in the book “Astrid, Prinsesse av Norge”.
In 1945, the five years in exile were over, as was the relative freedom of the Royal children. The pictures of the return to Norway on June 7th, 1945, show the three children who look a bit lost from all the attention they’re getting.
But one thing changed, the Princesses did not want to go back to the home-schooling they had before the war. They started at Nissen School for Girls, with the other Norwegian girls. Astrid’s biggest problem in the beginning was the language subject German. Everybody else in the class, who had remained in Norway during the war, knew it. She didn’t, and therefore had to start from scratch.
It was also during the years at Nissen School that Astrid and her friends started the group called Nieren (The Nine), which exists to this very day.
In 1947, the Princesses got their first sailboat, named ASTRA, and a new era began. Their first sailing instructor was Erling Lorentzen, and one of the later ones was Johan Martin Ferner.
During the last year of school, Norwegian youths have a special time that is called Russetid. Astrid had hers, and someone came up with the brilliant idea of calling her by one of her other names, Ingeborg, to provide a bit more anonymity for her during this period.
After completing the basic years of her education, Princess Astrid began her studies at Oxford. Her father decided that she would study Political History, Philosophy and Economy for two years. She started in 1950 when the rationing was still going on. Unfortunately, Princess Astrid had a diplomatic passport, which didn’t qualify her for ration stamps. As Princess Astrid tried to point out: even princesses need to eat. She got them eventually.
When she returned from Oxford, she took up working with clay and making ceramics. But the big shadow in the years to follow was Crown Princess Märtha’s disease. Astrid accompanied her mother on trips to the United States, and she also got a chance to visit her sister and her brother-in-law in their new home in Brazil. After the visit to Brazil, she had to draw a picture of the apartment, and how the furniture was standing, for her mother, who was too weak to make such a long journey.
Crown Princess Märtha died in 1954, and Norway suddenly had a 22-year-old princess as their first lady. The woman in question was not very experienced performing in the public spotlight, nor was she experienced in playing hostess to foreign dignitaries. Regardless, the role would be hers until her brother married in 1968.
When Astrid was six months old, the family moved back into a rebuilt Skaugum. There, she and her sister, Ragnhild, grew up in relative peace, unaccustomed to any pomp associated with a Princess title. The only thing that separated them from the other Norwegian girls of the same age was their appearance on the Palace balcony every May 17th.
The Easter holidays were spent in the mountains of Norway and the summer holidays were spent in Sweden, at Fridheim with their Danish and Belgian cousins.
The worst thing Astrid knew was the yearly photograph session. It meant that she was forced to get dressed up and stand absolutely still.
The best thing Astrid knew were animals which was a good thing since she was living on a farm in the country. Princess Astrid was, and is, very fond of dogs.
In 1937, when Astrid was five years old, the new heir to the throne arrived. The princesses had been well informed of what would happen, and when they came in from playing in the snow, they asked if he could come out and play with them. The two big sisters helped to take care of their younger brother, and still think of him as their little brother...
1937 was also the year that the two princesses got their very own life-size doll house at Skaugum, similar to the doll house Crown Princess Märtha and her sisters played with during their youth at Fridheim.
Astrid started school earlier than was the custom, as Crown Princess Märtha set up a “Princess School” at Skaugum when Ragnhild reached school age. It was reasoned that the 20 months separating the princesses were few enough to allow Astrid to start at the same time.
But all that changed when the German invasion came in 1940. Princess Astrid remembers that they were told to pack a small suitcase, with the toys they wanted to bring along. The thing that hurt most about leaving home, was leaving the dogs behind.
They left Norway with King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav to escape the Germans. They stayed for a while with their maternal grandparents in Sweden, but after a long trans-Atlantic crossing, they arrived in the United States where they remained for the duration of the war. They lived just outside of Washington, D.C..
Astrid and her sister went to a private school in Bethesda, Maryland. It was at this school that Astrid was diagnosed with dyslexia. One of the teachers who had some experience in this field helped to figure out why Astrid couldn’t spell properly like the other children.
One important point during their stay in America was that Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald shouldn’t forget their roots. In the house they rented, Pook’s Hill, Crown Princess Märtha instituted a “Talk Norwegian” rule for the children. They also had Norwegian schooling twice a week.
The children skated, they learned to ride, they joined the scouting movement, and they joined a dancing school. The dancing lessons were intended to prepare the Norwegian princesses for the life ahead of them: “Mum was always considering the things we needed to know when we got back to Norway. Never if we got back, always when,” Princess Astrid told Brita Rosenberg in the book “Astrid, Prinsesse av Norge”.
In 1945, the five years in exile were over, as was the relative freedom of the Royal children. The pictures of the return to Norway on June 7th, 1945, show the three children who look a bit lost from all the attention they’re getting.
But one thing changed, the Princesses did not want to go back to the home-schooling they had before the war. They started at Nissen School for Girls, with the other Norwegian girls. Astrid’s biggest problem in the beginning was the language subject German. Everybody else in the class, who had remained in Norway during the war, knew it. She didn’t, and therefore had to start from scratch.
It was also during the years at Nissen School that Astrid and her friends started the group called Nieren (The Nine), which exists to this very day.
In 1947, the Princesses got their first sailboat, named ASTRA, and a new era began. Their first sailing instructor was Erling Lorentzen, and one of the later ones was Johan Martin Ferner.
During the last year of school, Norwegian youths have a special time that is called Russetid. Astrid had hers, and someone came up with the brilliant idea of calling her by one of her other names, Ingeborg, to provide a bit more anonymity for her during this period.
After completing the basic years of her education, Princess Astrid began her studies at Oxford. Her father decided that she would study Political History, Philosophy and Economy for two years. She started in 1950 when the rationing was still going on. Unfortunately, Princess Astrid had a diplomatic passport, which didn’t qualify her for ration stamps. As Princess Astrid tried to point out: even princesses need to eat. She got them eventually.
When she returned from Oxford, she took up working with clay and making ceramics. But the big shadow in the years to follow was Crown Princess Märtha’s disease. Astrid accompanied her mother on trips to the United States, and she also got a chance to visit her sister and her brother-in-law in their new home in Brazil. After the visit to Brazil, she had to draw a picture of the apartment, and how the furniture was standing, for her mother, who was too weak to make such a long journey.
Crown Princess Märtha died in 1954, and Norway suddenly had a 22-year-old princess as their first lady. The woman in question was not very experienced performing in the public spotlight, nor was she experienced in playing hostess to foreign dignitaries. Regardless, the role would be hers until her brother married in 1968.
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