NordenBladet – Sweden’s Princess Sofia is to continue working in healthcare through the autumn, the Royal Court has confirmed. The 35-year-old Princess began helping at Sophiahemmet hospital in Stockholm after undergoing training at Sophiahemmet University in an effort to help out during the ongoing pandemic. She helps with cleaning and does shifts in the kitchen.
The Royal Court’s Head of Information, Margareta Thorgren, confirmed to Expressen that Sofia would continue this work in the autumn. She said: “Princess Sofia continues her work at Sophiahemmet and will start her part-time job again in September. She is very much looking forward to it.”
Prince Carl Philip will be undertaking royal duties.
Princess Sofia is the Honorary Chair of Sophiahemmet and has called her work there during the pandemic “extremely rewarding.”
This summer, she gave an online speech about her work and said: “The last few months have been tough for very many, not least in healthcare. All efforts have been needed, and I know that several of you have gone in and supported in different parts of healthcare. I, myself, got an opportunity to come in and work at Sophiahemmet and still do. In fact, with some of you.”
Sofia added: “But to see healthcare from the inside in this way, to meet patients myself, and to see safe, well-trained nurses ‘in action,’ it is rare that I have been so impressed.”
Featured image: Princess Sofia (Linda Broström, The Royal Court of Sweden)
NordenBladet – Young people making a difference for the environment were honoured by “a very proud patron” when Crown Princess Victoria delivered a special video message for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2020 on Tuesday (25.08.2020).
Participants from about 30 countries took part in the competition, an international science prize for young people aged 15 through 20. The digital award ceremony was held in conjunction with World Water Week.
“This past half-year during the Covid-19 pandemic, I have spent a lot of time reminding my children to wash their hands,” Crown Princess Victoria said in her speech. “At the same time around the world, 785 million people do not have access to clean water. Nor are three billion people able to wash their hands with soap and water.”
“This is just one example of how access to water is brutally unequal,” Victoria continued. “Indeed, when it comes to water, we as a world face some major challenges. There may be too little water, too dirty, or too much – all causes of disease, poverty and conflict.”
This year’s winners of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize were announced by the Crown Princess as Hiroki Matsuhashi and Takuma Miyaki from Japan. The duo “came up with a creative solution to combat soil erosion,” according to the Swedish Royal Court.
Crown Princess Victoria praised the drive of the winners as well as all the finalists she’s met during her time working with the Prize, saying she was “not at all surprised that many ideas that started as Stockholm Junior Water Prize projects have proved to be important innovations, changing many lives for the better.”
“Over the years, as patron of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, I have had the privilege of meeting many young finalists and winners from all over the world,” Victoria, who has served as patron of the Prize since 1994, said. “I always cherish those meetings because they fill me with hope. Hope that when bright young minds come together, even the most complicated problems can be solved.”
World Water Week 2020 is being held digitally this week from 24-28 August with the title “WWWeek At Home.” Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute, the event welcomes experts, decision-makers, and innovators from across the globe to discuss water-related issues.
Featured image: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (Screenshot/YouTube/Kungahuset)
NordenBladet – Princess Märtha Louise of Norway has revealed that she’s gone through some difficult days as of late in a post on her Instagram account.
The Princess shared a photo on Monday, 24 August from her summer holiday in Lofoten, Norway, with her parents, children, brother and his family.
“Some days are better than others – and I have to admit I have had some really bad days lately. Some times it all just feels too much and overwhelming, and I tend to go into a pit of despair, self pity and feeling like a victim in all areas of life. No energy – literally – depression creeping in,” she revealed.
In the photo on her post, she is standing and smiling on a cliff. She continued in her post: “But then suddenly, after climbing this loooong [sic] hill, there is a shift. A friend comes over and turns everything around, and you suddenly see the beauty around you again and recognise that you are actually standing on a mountain top in front of this spectacular view. The grit and grind has been the trip up to the top, and suddenly you acknowledge the transformation.”
Princess Märtha Louise then offered advice to others who may be going through similar struggles: “We can all make this shift like the butterfly coming out of its cocoon. The great thing is to have friends with the spiritual powers to really see you and move the energy so you may make the shift… Let’s create some magic together. Earth magic.”
She concluded her post with hashtags about women supporting other women.
Featured image: Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (Instagram/@iam_marthalouise)
NordenBladet – An upcoming documentary will look at Project Playground, a charitable organisation founded by Princess Sofia of Sweden.
“We followed Princess Sofia’s work on-site in both South Africa and Sweden where we got to meet some of the children who visit Project Playground and got to take part in their everyday life,” said documentary host Renée Nyberg to Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Project Playground was founded by Princess Sofia—then Sofia Hellqvist—and her friend Frida Vesterberg in 2010. According to the charity’s official website, the two created Project Playground because they “felt there was a need to focus on the individual’s development in combination with a holistic perspective about the child and his or her unique personal needs, in order to create a sustainable and long-term change at both individual and system level.”
Project Playground works in “established in areas that are systematically socially and economically deprived and in a society with an absent support system,” the website continues, noting that the children who are served by the charity have grown up under the legacy of Apartheid. “Many of our children come from broken and abusive families, where they are victims of neglect, various types of abuse, malnutrition and lack positive role models,” the website adds.
“What struck me most about this trip is Sofia and Frida’s personal commitment to the children, that they know every single kid and follow them until they are adults,” Nyberg said.
Princess Sofia continues to be involved in Project Playground while continuing with her royal duties. In addition to her work with the charity, Nyberg notes that she also discussed her life for the programme.
“The Princess and I talked about, among other things, the great contrasts in her life and about prejudices about her background,” Nyberg continued.
The documentary, ‘Princess Sofia – Project Playground,’ will air on TV4 on 4 September.
Featured image: Princess Sofia of Sweden (Project Playground)
NordenBladet – Crown Princess Mary participated in a nature event with the WWF World Wide Fund for Denmark on Wednesday, helping to release stingrays at the Kattegat Centre in Grenaa to help foster knowledge of the marine creatures.
According to the Royal House, Crown Princess Mary aided in the release of five stingrays, the first time any have been released into Danish waters. The species has been listed as threatened with extinction.
The WWF wrote on their Facebook page: “The Danish marine environment is under pressure. That’s why we put this project in the lake, so that we can help protect life and at the same time make the Danes more aware of the amazing natural wealth that the Danish seas have.
“We are fighting for a clean, wild and sustainable sea, where there will be room for both wild sea animals and for the fish we will live on in the future.”
This project is the result of a collaboration between the WWF World Wide Fund for Nature and H&M, two partners who work together on projects related to climate and responsible water consumption.
Crown Princess Mary also provided an update about Prince Joachim, who is recovering in France following surgery for a brain stroke in July. Her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, was in France last week to visit his brother.
“Obviously we have been in constant contact with them,” she told reporters. “My husband, as you all know, has been down to visit his brother, and he came home very happy and relieved,” that Prince Joachim was well and like his normal self and “as talkative as he always has been.”
Crown Princess Mary’s engagement on Wednesday marked her first official engagement as President of the World Wide Fund for Nature, a position formerly held by her late father-in-law, Prince Henrik.
Featured image: Frankie Fouganthin (Own work) Via Wikimedia Commons
NordenBladet – As Crown Princess Mette-Marit celebrates her 47th birthday, let’s look at the life of Norway’s future queen.
Early Life
Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby was born on 19 August 1973 in Kristiansand, an area in the southern part of Norway. Her parents are Sven Høiby and Marit Tjessem, and she has three siblings: sister Kristin Høiby Bjørnøy and brothers Per Høiby and Espen Høiby. Her father once worked as a journalist though he went through a period of unemployment, and her mother was a former bank teller.
Her parents divorced, and her mother later remarried in 1994. Mette-Marit gained a stepbrother from this marriage, Trond Bernsten, a police officer and security guard who died in the domestic terrorist attack on 22 July 2011. Mette-Marit grew up in Kristiansand but spent most weekends in Setesdal on the lake, where she learned to sail and became an avid outdoorswoman.
Education
Mette-Marit began her schooling at the Oddernes upper secondary school. In 1994, Mette-Marit attended the Kristiansand Katedralskole where she had spent a year abroad in Australia during her time there, studying at the Wangaratta High School, through the Youth for Understanding Programme.
Mette-Marit also attended the Bjørknes Private School, and in 1997 took preliminary university examinations and the examinations for chemistry and information technology at Agder University College. At the University of Oslo, she studied ethics from 2000-2002 at the Faculty of Social Science and Faculty of Humanities.
Her education continued in 2003 when the now-Crown Princess took courses at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (sitting for examinations in HIV/AIDS and Development, The Global Refugee Crisis, Theories of Development and Development Experience). In 2008, she started taking classes at the BI Norwegian School of Management and graduated with a Masters of Management in 2012.
Mette-Marit has since revealed in interviews that she was rebellious in her early years, and it took her six years as a part-time student to complete her secondary education. During that time, she worked at the Cafè Engebret in Oslo as a waitress.
Controversy and Romance with a Prince
Mette-Marit first met Crown Prince Haakon of Norway at the Quart Festival, a large music festival held in her hometown, in the late ‘90s, though they did not begin dating until a few years later when they met again in 1999 at a party for a later edition of the Quart Festival.
By this time, Mette-Marit was a single mother to Marius Borg Høiby, who was born on 13 January 1997, from a relationship with a man named Morten Borg.
After her engagement to Crown Prince Haakon was announced in December 2000, she became a very controversial public figure in Norway, with a reputation for partying, attending raves and drug abuse, though she did not admit to personal drug use. Support for the monarchy at the time reached a serious low, although a majority of Norwegians still considered themselves in support of the institution.
The couple were also criticised for living together in an apartment before marriage, along with Marius, by the Church of Norway.
Their wedding was set for 25 August 2011, and a week prior, Mette-Marit participated in a tearful press conference to discuss her controversial past. “My youth rebellion was much stronger than many others. That resulted in me living quite a wild life.”
Mette-Marit also said, “I would like to take this opportunity to say that I condemn drugs… I hope that I can now avoid talking more about my past and that the press will respect this wish.” Following the press conference, 40% of those polled said they had a better opinion of her, and 84% believed that she was truthful about her past. She is now a much-beloved member of the Norwegian Royal Family.
A Royal Wedding
On 25 August 2001, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were married at the Oslo Cathedral. Her engagement ring was the same ring used by King Harald and King Olav to propose to their respective wives.
Her wedding dress evoked similar design elements to Queen Maud’s style and was designed by Ove Harder Finseth. The dress was made of white silk crepe and the skirt transitioned into a two-foot train. She carried a cascading bouquet and wore the Daisy Tiara in her hair, anchoring the 20-foot veil.
In a break from tradition, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit walked up the aisle together, with Marius acting as a page boy and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark acting as Haakon’s best man. Mette-Marit’s bridesmaids included Betina Swanstrøm, Emilie Swanstrøm, Kamilla Bjørnøy, Anniken Bjørnøy, and Tuva Høiby.
The presiding bishop, Gunnar Stålsett, said about the couple, “You have not chosen the easiest path, but love has triumphed.”
Crown Princess Mette-Marit
As the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit has focused her platform on literacy, health, HIV/AIDS awareness, youth, climate change, oceans and the environment.
On 21 January 2004, Mette-Marit gave birth to a daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who will one day be the first queen regnant of Norway. On 3 December 2005, she gave birth to son Prince Sverre Magnus. Her older son, Marius, lived with the Crown Prince Couple throughout his youth but made the decision to live as a private individual in 2017 and does not undertake any public role outside of joining the family at special occasions.
In 2018, Mette-Marit was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that affects the lungs over time. After the Royal House announced her diagnosis, it was revealed that Mette-Marit’s official engagements would be dependent on her health and medical treatment and that she would be treated at the Oslo University Hospital.
Mette-Marit’s patronages include the Norwegian Red Cross, the Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters, The Oslo International Church Music Festival, the Full-rigged Ship Sørlandet, the Amandus Film Festival, the Førde International Folk Music Festival, FOKUS – Forum for Women and Development, The Norwegian Council for Mental Health, The Norwegian Library Association, The Shameless Award, the Kristiansand International Children’s Film Festival, the Risør Festival of Chamber Music, The Norwegian Guide and Scout Association, The Hamsun Days and The Norwegian Girl’s Choir.
Mette-Marit is also a patron of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s Foundation, and her projects under the umbrella of their foundation support youth at risk. The foundation’s aim, as outlined by the Royal House website, is as follows: “We want a Norway consisting of people who are confident that they are good enough as they are – people with the courage to lift up others because they once experienced to be seen themselves. Youth is the most important resource we have. We need their courage, creativity and hope for the future, in order to solve the large and complex challenges the world is facing. Our task is to facilitate so that each young individual can learn and build on their potential.”
Mette-Marit has also represented Norway on visits throughout the country and around the world on behalf of King Harald. She has been the Special Representative for UNAIDS since 2006 and has visited Ukraine, Mali and Nicaragua in this capacity, and has attended the International AIDS Conference as head of the Norwegian delegation.
Mette-Marit is a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum and is a member of the International Foundation Board of the Global Shapers Community. She is also a co-founder of the Maverick Collective that “aims to engage other women to use their voice, intellectual and financial resources, to improve women’s health worldwide and help end extreme poverty.”
To promote literacy, Mette-Marit also undertakes engagements aboard a train throughout Norway called the literary train tour, which is supported by Norwegian State Railways and the Oslo Public Library. She arranges meetings and events with local authors as the train stops throughout the country and invites people aboard to read and enjoy beverages. The books are provided by the Oslo Public Library and from Mette-Marit’s personal collection.
Featured image: Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Instagram/@crownprincessmm)
NordenBladet – The summer is in full swing but the Swedish Royal Family is getting back to work. This week, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden attended the digital opening of the nature photo exhibition “Royal National City Park – 25 Years”. The exhibition, with 28 curated photographs, will be on show in Stockholm until 13 September 2020.
In a two-minute long video, the prince opened the exhibition. He talked a bit about the history of the park and the history of the royal family’s associations with the park. The prince said: “I myself have a great interest in both nature and photography. And when I had the opportunity to see this exhibition in advance, it struck me that they are not only beautiful, but they also show the incredible diversity we find in this park “.
Carl Philip attended alone and Princess Sofia wasn’t with her husband at this event. Sofia often accompanies Carl Philip at such events, which has led the Swedish press to speculate as to why the princess was not present.
The Royal Court has stated that: “The prince has been asked to inaugurate the exhibition. It is also in the prince’s interest in photography and art, the question of attendance was only addressed to the prince”.
In the spring of 1995, King Carl Gustaf opened the world’s first national city park. A national city park is a unique historical landscape of importance to the national cultural heritage, for the ecology of an urban area and for human recreation. Unlike national parks and many nature reserves, it is a requirement that is located in an urbanized environment.
The area of Stockholm`s national city park dates back to 1452 when King Karl Knutsson Bonde converted the island of Södra Djurgården to a royal park. Many kings have personally left their mark on the park; Johan III was the one who created a royal zoo there in the 1570s. One hundred years later, Charles XI made the area to a larger royal hunting park. Jakob de La Gardie built a castle there in the 1640s. In the 18th century, Gustav III created an English park landscape there.
Featured image: Prins Carl Philip invigde fotoutställningen “Kungliga Nationalstadsparken 25 år” (YouTube)
NordenBladet – Prince Joachim of Denmark has been seen for the first time since undergoing emergency surgery for a blood clot on his brain last month. The prince was photographed with his older brother, Crown Prince Frederik, who has spent several days in France with Joachim and his family.
In a post on the official Danish royal Instagram page, the brothers are seen smiling while enjoying the summer sun at the Chateau de Cayx where Joachim is staying with his wife, Princess Marie, and their children, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena.
The short message with the photo says that Frederik is now back in Denmark having spent time with his brother. It adds that Joachim is doing well but still needs peace and quiet as he continues his recovery.
Prince Joachim, younger son of Queen Margrethe II, was rushed to hospital on July 24th 2020 in nearby Cahors before being moved quickly to the University Hospital of Toulouse where he underwent emergency surgery for a bloodclot on his brain. He spent over a week in hospital recuperating with Princess Marie at his side. He returned to the Chateau de Cayx on August 3rd.
The prince and his family moved to France in 2019 so that Joachim could complete military training there. He is set to take up a role as Military Attache in Paris this autumn although the exact timetable of that appointment may yet be altered to allow him to continue to recover from his operation.
Featured image: Prince Joachim of Denmark (Alex Berger/CC/Flickr)
NordenBladet – There is an ongoing dispute over inheritance within the Danish Royal Family according to the Danish weekly magazine Billed Bladet. Prince Gustav Frederik Philip Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, the son of Danish Princess Benedikte and nephew of Queen Margrethe, is involved in the ongoing dispute.
The Danish media has said that, for several years, there has been an inheritance dispute in connection with the family castle of Berleburg, which is located near Dortmund in Germany.
For three years, the 51-year-old Prince has been in conflict with his great-uncle and his late grandfather, who, in their own way, have made it difficult for the royal to inherit the palace that the family has owned for several generations.
In his will, the Prince’s grandfather, Prince Gustav Albrecht, left his castle and property to his first grandson. At that time, he did not have any grandchildren, but he was sure that his son, Prince Richard, would eventually have a son. He did so, with Danish Princess Benedikte.
Prince Gustav Albrecht’s death during World War II resulted in issues with his family. A will cannot be changed once someone has died, and the writing of the will has now haunted the family for several generations. Prince Gustav Albrecht’s last will and testament required that his unborn grandson be forced to marry a Protestant, Aryan noblewoman. If he did not, he was not to get the castle. In 1940s Germany, it may not have been a particularly problematic requirement, but a lot has happened since then.
Photo: Princess Benedikte of Denmark and Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Photo: By Holger Motzkau 2010, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-3.0)
For around 15 years, Prince Gustav has dated Swedish-Mexican Carina Axelsson – whom he cannot marry according to his grandfather’s will. If he does, he forfeits his right to inherit the castle.
Right after Prince Gustav’s father, Prince Richard died in 2017, a new problem arose. Prince Gustav’s great-uncle, Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand, saw his chance to claim the castle.
Prince Ludwig-Ferdinand believed that the castle had to go to him since the heir in the will did not meet the decedent’s requirements for inheritance. The case has now gone through a number of lawsuits in Germany.
The Court of Appeal immediately concluded that the castle belonged to German-Danish Prince Gustav. However, it has not been decided whether he can marry his Swedish-Mexican girlfriend. The couple have not had any children. Questions have, therefore, been raised about who will inherit the castle in the future.
In the future, the castle will probably go to the Prince’s nephews. The will excludes women from being able to inherit. Thus, the sons of his sisters are at the top of the list.
There is still much discussion in Germany regarding whether the inheritance of the castle will end up in court again or if the family has finally reached an agreement.
Featured image: Berleburg Castle (Wikimedia Commons)
NordenBladet – The details of the last will of the late Princess Lilian of Sweden are once again being debated by the country’s press. And the details show that siblings Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine were treated very differently by their aunt when it came to inheritance.
Princess Lilian died in 2013, at the age of 97, in her home, Villa Solbacken on Djurgården in Stockholm. Princess Lilian was married to Prince Bertil, uncle of Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav. When Princess Lilian died, she left a fortune of 78 million Swedish kroner, about 7.6 million Euros. This summer, Swedish media is again looking at where her possessions went.
Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil were especially close to Carl Philip. He was their godson and Carl Philip and Bertil shared a great passion for cars. Princess Lilian was very fond of Carl Philip. It therefore quickly became known in 2013 that the prince was to inherit the property Villa Solbacken from the widow of his father’s uncle.
Villa Solbacken is a villa on Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen 67, located just north of Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen by Djurgårdsbrunnsbron on Södra Djurgården in Stockholm.The villa was built in 1930 and was owned from 1949 by Prince Bertil who bequeathed it in 1997 to Prince Carl Philip.Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen is a street on Gärdet in Stockholm.Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen begins at Dag Hammarskjölds väg in Diplomatstaden and extends east along the northern shore of Djurgårdsbrunnsviken to Djurgårdsbrunnsbron by the Djurgårdsbrunn canal, a distance of approximately 1.7 km. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The newspaper Expressen managed to obtain the essential information from the will and the estate register, and was therefore able to reveal who got what. King Carl Gustaf inherited Princess Lilian`s collection of photographs, art and some objects of great family value. Queen Silvia, who was one of Lilian’s closest friends, received five million Swedish crowns and several valuable pieces of jewellery.
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Carl Philip were very close to Lilian and Prince Bertil. They regarded Lilian and Bertil as a kind of grandparents. Crown Princess Victoria received Lilian’s favourite tiara, which formerly belonged to Princess Margaret of Connaught, Bertil’s mother. It was made by the French jewellery company Boucheron in Paris and consists of silver, gold and diamonds. Victoria wore the tiara to Madeleine’s wedding in June 2013, three months after Lilian’s death.
Princess Madeleine’s relationship with Princess Lilian wasn’t as well known. She inherited from her great-aunt an antique ring.
However, a year after the death of the princess, it was Madeleine who honoured her by naming her first child in her memory. Her elder daughter is Princess Leonore Lilian Maria of Sweden.
Featured image: Princess Lilian of Sweden, the Duchess of Halland (Wikimedia Commons)
