Relationships between members of the Norwegian royal family.

[maria-olivia]

A very happy family .
I read Princess Martha L started a new Company ?

[JenLightly]

Good for her! I'm curious as to what that business is, I tried googling for a source but couldn't find anything.

[maria-olivia]

Her Company is PML capital 30.000 Nok . ML is CEO .
( from "Mes Royaux Norvegiens")

[Princess_Eleanor]

Originally Posted by DaughterofFrance

Does anyone know what kind of relationship Olav had with Martha and Haakon? I wonder if they had some resentment in their grandfather for not letting their father marry their mother for such a long time.

Olav was very strict with Haakon, as he had been with Harald. His idea of raising a boy and heir was a, shall we say archaic, one.

Märtha Louise has said that she often burst into tears when Olav was scolding Haakon. "Why are you crying?" Olav would respond. But I suppose it stopped him sometimes.

He was softer on Märtha Louise because she was a girl and not the heir but he also wasn't of the opinion that women could or should do great things in life...

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Princess_Eleanor

Olav was very strict with Haakon, as he had been with Harald. His idea of raising a boy and heir was a, shall we say archaic, one.

Märtha Louise has said that she often burst into tears when Olav was scolding Haakon. "Why are you crying?" Olav would respond. But I suppose it stopped him sometimes.

He was softer on Märtha Louise because she was a girl and not the heir but he also wasn't of the opinion that women could or should do great things in life...

I don't know about the last bit. Either Ragnhild or Astrid has been clearly mentioned as the favorite by different people. I don't think that comes from believing women aren't capable, but simply that they had no place in the sphere of Norwegian monarchy at the time, which they didn't, not the reigning bit. He was uncomfortable accommodating Sonja because there hadn't been a woman doing anything major (Astrid was First Lady for several years but that may have seemed less disruptive) for a long time.

As for Harald, Märtha died when he was 17 and she'd been ill for a while before that. Olav was so affected he decided he never wanted to marry again. I can't imagine that, compounded with not having seen Harald as a child for most of five years, made their relationship any easier.

By the time ML and Haakon came along he was clearly just a crotchety old guy, but they don't speak entirely badly of him, either. Not even Sonja does. And I don't think it's for his reputation as Folkekong but rather because there must have been some good times.

[Princess_Eleanor]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

I don't know about the last bit. Either Ragnhild or Astrid has been clearly mentioned as the favorite by different people. I don't think that comes from believing women aren't capable, but simply that they had no place in the sphere of Norwegian monarchy at the time, which they didn't, not the reigning bit. He was uncomfortable accommodating Sonja because there hadn't been a woman doing anything major (Astrid was First Lady for several years but that may have seemed less disruptive) for a long time.

As for Harald, Märtha died when he was 17 and she'd been ill for a while before that. Olav was so affected he decided he never wanted to marry again. I can't imagine that, compounded with not having seen Harald as a child for most of five years, made their relationship any easier.

By the time ML and Haakon came along he was clearly just a crotchety old guy, but they don't speak entirely badly of him, either. Not even Sonja does. And I don't think it's for his reputation as Folkekong but rather because there must have been some good times.

Astrid was the favorite! I do think he was a difficult character and she knew how to take him. In a documentary, Astrid said that Harald and she never talked about his relationship with Sonja. That struck the interviewer as odd - me too, I mean 9 years?! But maybe it's precisely because Astrid was so close to Olav that Harald didn't tell her anything?

In my opinion Olav was basically an old patriarch and if look at old patriarchs, their favorites are actually often the daughters or granddaughters but it's the boys that they expect great things of.

I don't think they'd ever do that, even if it was true. He was the King, he was a popular King and just how bad he was I do not know. But I do think that Sonja and Märtha talking about how difficult it was for Sonja at the male-dominated court, how she wasn't valued and had to fight for some kind of position is a polite & round-about way of saying that she had difficulties without having to mention Olav's role in them. It can't have all been the courtiers' & employees' fault, I mean who was in power? Olav.

[Prinsara]

Astrid, yes, but I've heard people like Trond Noren Isaksen say Ragnhild, too. Maybe it was Ragnhild first, and Astrid after she left Norway?

Olav himself, if you think about it, was a standard semi-spoiled only kid not just by his parents, but beloved by a whole country from the age of 2 — AND although very close to his dad, he was stuck behind him until nearly the age of 55. I think all of that contributes to the tyrant attitude. AND if you think about how he was so easygoing and friendly in public, he probably invariably needed people he could be cross and upset with — Harald, Sonja and the kids.

I wonder how he would have managed if the Storting had done a Sweden, and he'd ended up with an heiress?

[Princess_Eleanor]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

Astrid, yes, but I've heard people like Trond Noren Isaksen say Ragnhild, too. Maybe it was Ragnhild first, and Astrid after she left Norway?

Olav himself, if you think about it, was a standard semi-spoiled only kid not just by his parents, but beloved by a whole country from the age of 2 — AND although very close to his dad, he was stuck behind him until nearly the age of 55. I think all of that contributes to the tyrant attitude. AND if you think about how he was so easygoing and friendly in public, he probably invariably needed people he could be cross and upset with — Harald, Sonja and the kids.

I wonder how he would have managed if the Storting had done a Sweden, and he'd ended up with an heiress?

Oh interesting! Definitely Astrid afterwards but it could have been Ragnhild before she left, I don't know.

He would probably have disagreed but ultimately dealt with it, I suppose? But Olav trying to toughen up the sensitive & emotional Märtha Louise would have been a recipe for disaster.

[Prinsara]

I think it's possible to get a very good sense of Harald's character when he openly talks about having two outspoken big sisters who yelled at and scolded him since he was born and were not at all put off by the fact that eventually he was the king!

(Harald is a very funny, very loving guy. Who obviously respects women.)

[Princess_Eleanor]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

I think it's possible to get a very good sense of Harald's character when he openly talks about having two outspoken big sisters who yelled at and scolded him since he was born and were not at all put off by the fact that eventually he was the king!

(Harald is a very funny, very loving guy. Who obviously respects women.)

LOL that's very funny And yes, he definitely does