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Norwegian royal family

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Members of the Norwegian royal family are people related to King Harald V of Norway or former Norwegian monarchs who are royals and who hold royal titles. The term does not include non-royal relatives. The current family who holds the throne are members of the House of Glücksburg[1] who ascended to the Norwegian throne after the election of Prince Carl of Denmark as King of Norway (regnal name Haakon VII) during the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union in 1905.

The Norwegian royal family—King Haakon VII, Queen Maud and Crown Prince Olav in 1913

The Norwegian monarch holds the title King of Norway while his Royal consort is Queen of Norway with the style Majesty. The heir apparent to the Norwegian throne holds the title Crown Prince of Norway while his wife is Crown Princess of Norway with the style Royal Highness. The children of the reigning Monarch and the children of the heir apparent are granted the title Prince of Norway or Princess of Norway. Only the eldest child is a Royal Highness, while the others do not have any styles in Norwegian, although the style of Highnesses may be used informally in foreign languages.

In Norway there is traditionally no distinction between the royal house (kongehuset) and the royal family (kongelige familie). Both are informal terms. The Constitution specifically recognizes only those who hold royal titles such as prince or princess, or those who are in the line of succession. Since the 2000s, the term royal house has been used on the website of the royal family to refer only to the monarch and his spouse, the heir apparent and his spouse, and the heir apparent's eldest child. The royal family was from the same time used to refer to other princes or princesses, but did not include untitled relatives of the royal family.[2] In the 2020s, the royal family's association with American conspiracy theorist Durek Verrett has been cited as contributing to a deterioration in its reputation and popularity.[3]

History

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The Norwegian monarchy traces its history and origin back to the unification and founding of Norway, as well as Norway's first king, Harald I of the Fairhair dynasty. With the introduction of the Norwegian Law of Succession in 1163, the legal framework established that only one monarch and one royal family was, through succession, allowed to rule.[4]

Norway, Sweden and Denmark had joint monarchs during the Kalmar Union in the late Middle Ages, and Norway remained in union with Denmark after Sweden left the union in 1523. Following the reformation a joint Danish-Norwegian state was established 1536–37, which was ruled from Copenhagen by the House of Oldenburg until Norway was ceded to Sweden at the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 following Denmark-Norway's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. Norway was briefly independent with its own king in 1814, but forced into a new union with Sweden under the rule of the House of Bernadotte.

Upon becoming independent in 1905, Norway decided through a referendum to remain as a monarchy, with its first monarch being the Danish-born King Haakon VII, whose family consisted of the British Princess Maud and their son Olav. It is King Haakon's descendants that today make up the current royal family of Norway.

Through marriages and historical alliances, the Norwegian royal family is closely related to the Swedish and Danish royal families as well as being more distantly related to royal families of Greece and the United Kingdom.[5]

The current king Harald V descends from all of the four kings belonging to the House of Bernadotte (1818–1905) that preceded the House of Glücksburg on the throne and is the first Norwegian monarch to be a descendant of all previous Norwegian monarchs since 1818.

The royal family's association with American conspiracy theorist Durek Verrett has been cited as contributing to a deterioration in its reputation.[3] Norwegian media criticized King Harald V for legitimizing and endorsing the exploitation of national values and symbols for Märtha Louise's and Verrett's personal financial gain.[6]

The royal family is defined as those who hold a royal title. As of 2006, the website of the royal family stated that the royal house consisted of King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and that the extended royal family consists Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Märtha Louise, Princess Ragnhild and Astrid. The website mentioned that Märtha Louise has the children Maud Angelica Behn and Leah Isadora Behn, but did not describe them as royal or part of the royal house or royal family, as they are commoners and do not hold any title. The website did not describe Ari Behn as part of the royal family, only as the father of Märtha Louise's children, in line with traditional practice. The website made no mention at all of Marius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship.[2]

In September 2024, three days after Märtha Louise married conspiracy theorist Durek Verrett, the royal court removed the term "royal family" from the website (of the royal court) and clarified that Marius Borg Høiby is not royal.[7]

Members

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Members of the Royal House are:

Other royals are:

Non-royal grandchildren of Norwegian kings

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The following are grandchildren of Norwegian kings who are not royal themselves and who hold no title. In each case they are children of "other royals", that is other people than the king or the crown prince.

Deceased royals

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Family tree of members

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See also: Kings of Norway family tree
 
The royal family with King Haakon VII, Crown Princess Martha, Crown Prince Olav, Princess Astrid, Princess Ragnhild and Prince Harald on the Royal Palace balcony in 1946
 
Members of the Royal House at 2007 Constitution Day celebrations with Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja and King Harald V
King Olav VCrown Princess Märtha
Erling Sven LorentzenPrincess Ragnhild, Mrs. LorentzenJohan Martin FernerPrincess Astrid, Mrs. FernerThe King*The Queen*
Ari BehnPrincess Märtha LouiseDurek VerrettThe Crown Prince*The Crown Princess*
Maud Angelica BehnLeah Isadora BehnEmma Tallulah BehnPrincess Ingrid Alexandra*Prince Sverre Magnus
Notes

* Member of the Royal House

Royal coat of arms

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The coat of arms of Norway is one of the oldest in Europe and serves both as the coat of arms of the nation and of the Royal House. This is in keeping with its origin as the coat of arms of the kings of Norway during the Middle Ages.[9]

Håkon the Old (1217–1263) used a shield with a lion. The earliest preserved reference to the colour of the arms is the King's Saga written down in 1220.[9]

In 1280 King Eirik Magnusson added the crown and silver axe to the lion.[9] The axe is the martyr axe of St. Olav, the weapon used to kill him in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030.

The specific rendering of the Norwegian arms has changed through the years, following changing heraldic fashions. In the late Middle Ages, the axe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble a halberd. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of shield preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by royal decree in 1844, when an authorized rendering was instituted for the first time. In 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular shield and a more upright lion.[9]

The coat of arms of the royal house as well as the Royal Standard uses the lion design from 1905. The earliest preserved depiction of the Royal Standard is on the seal of Duchess Ingebjørg from 1318.[10] The rendering used as the official coat of arms of Norway is slightly different and was last approved by the king 20 May 1992.[11]

When used as the royal coat of arms the shield features the insignias of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav around it and is framed by a royal ermine robe, surmounted by the crown of Norway.

The royal coat of arms is not used frequently. Instead, the king's monogram is extensively used, for instance in military insignia and on coins.

  •  
    Arms of Norway
  •  
    Royal Coat of Arms of Norway
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    Coat of Arms of the Crown Prince of Norway
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    Royal Monogram of King Haakon VII of Norway
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    Royal Monogram of Queen Maud of Norway
  •  
    Royal Monogram of King Olav V of Norway
  •  
    Royal Monogram of Princess Märtha of Norway
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    Royal Monogram of King Harald V of Norway
  •  
    Royal Monogram of Queen Sonja of Norway
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    Royal Monogram of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
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    Royal Monogram of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
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    Royal Monogram of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
  •  
    Royal Monogram of Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "History". www.royalcourt.no. Norwegian Royal Court. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25.
  2. ^ a b "Kongefamilien – dagens familie". Royal Court. Archived from the original on 2006-10-09. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Am Wochenende heiratet die Prinzessin Märtha Louise einen Hollywood-Schamanen – wie die norwegische Königsfamilie ihren guten Ruf verlor" [On the weekend, Princess Märtha Louise is marrying a Hollywood shaman – how the Norwegian royal family lost its good reputation]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved 2 September 2024. [Her future husband, the 49-year-old Verrett, is a [...] conspiracy theorist. [...] Verrett believes in the reptilian conspiracy theory and claims to be half human, half reptile. His book "Spirit Hacking" was boycotted by Norwegian publishers due to its baseless claims. In the book, Verrett argues that cancer in children is caused by dissatisfaction, that chemotherapy is ineffective, that sex outside a romantic relationship attracts spirits that harm the female reproductive organs, and that during the pandemic, he sold a medallion that supposedly repelled viruses.]
  4. ^ "Rikssamling". www.kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  5. ^ "The Family tree". www.royalcourt.no. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  6. ^ "Kongefamilien bør ikke akseptere Märtha Louises salg av Kongehuset". Nettavisen. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  7. ^ Helljesen, Vilde (2024-09-03). "Kong Harald rydder opp – fjerner «kongefamilien»". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  8. ^ "The princess and the shaman: how a royal wedding is dividing Norway". The Times. 24 August 2024. Archived from the original on 24 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024. Durek Verrett, 49, is a Californian conspiracy theorist and self-declared shaman, or "spiritual guide", who claims not to be human and professes that he can reverse ageing by "turning atoms".
  9. ^ a b c d A web page featuring the history of the coat of arms of Norway Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 November 2006
  10. ^ An article from the Norwegian National Archives depicting the seal of Duchess Ingebjørg Archived 2006-02-14 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian) Retrieved 5 November 2007
  11. ^ Web page on rules for the use of the coat of arms (Norwegian) Archived 2013-11-18 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 November 2006
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