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| @Ola Vatn, The Royal Court |
Guri Varpe, head of Communications for the Norwegian Royal, has confirmed to Norwegian broadcaster NRK that King Harald's older sister, Princess Astrid, has pneumonia. Varpe said the 94-year-old Princess is on the "road to recovery.
Princess Astrid was noticeably absent from the state banquet in honor of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. It was the Norwegian celebrity magazine Se og Hør that was the first to report that the Princess had been admitted to Rikshospitalet in Oslo several days earlier. In response to the magazine's article and other media requesting information, Varpe released a brief statement to the press, stating that the Princess "needs rest and convalescence after a short illness.
King Harald and Queen Sonja were seen arriving at the hospital on March 27th, where they spent time with his sister.
Se og Hør's royal expert Caroline Vagle described the Princess as very supportive of her younger brother. who has "described her as boundlessly loyal, which she has shown an entire country that she is. She has followed her grandfather's, father's, and brother's slogan - "Everything for Norway."
Astrid was born HRH Princess Astrid Maud Ingeborg of Norway on February 12, 1934, at Villa Solbakken, the second daughter of Crown Prince Olav and his wife, Princess Martha of Sweden. Her baptism took place in Palace Chapel on March 31st. Her godparents were all family members: her grandparents, King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, her maternal aunt, Princess Astrid, Duchess of Brabant, her paternal aunt, Princess Thyra of Denmark, her paternal great-uncle, Prince Eugen of Sweden, and Prince George of the United Kingdom (the future Duke of Kent).
The infant princess was named for the Duchess of Brabant and for both her grandmothers, Queen Maud, daughter of King Edward VII, and Princess Ingeborg of Sweden. In 1926, Astrid married the future King Leopold III of Belgium. King Philippe is her grandson.
Princess Astrid was only four years old when Queen Maud died in 1938. Following the death of Crown Princess Martha in 1954, the young Astrid stepped up to support her father, who succeeded to the throne in 1957. Four years earlier, Astrid's elder sister, Princess Ragnhild (1930-2012), married Norwegian shipping magnate Erling Lorentzen and moved to Brazil.
She shared her brother's and father's interest in sailing. To sail her yacht, she hired Johan Ferner (1927-2015), an Olympic Silver Medalist in sailing in the 1952 Summer Games. The couple fell in love, but there were several obstacles to a wedding, as Ferner was divorced. At the time, the Norwegian Lutheran Church did not approve of divorce.
Their marriage took place at Asker Church on January 12, 1961. Because she married a commoner - as did her older sister -- Astrid lost her HRH and the title of Princess of Norway. Her new style was Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner.
Women did not have succession rights to the throne until 1990, when the Norwegian Parliament passed a gender equal succession law. This law affected daughters born after 1990, but allowed for Crown Prince Haakon's older sister, Princess Martha Louise, to be inserted into the succession following Haakon and his future children.
The new law was not retroactive and did not apply to Princesses Ragnhild and Astrid and their descendants.
At the time of her marriage, Princess Astrid relinquished the appanage she had received as First Lady, although she continued in the role until 1968, when Crown Prince Harald married Sonja Haraldsen. She and her husband settled in Vinderen, Norway. They had five children: Cathrine (1962), Benedikte (1963), Alexander (1975), Elisabeth (1969), and Carl-Christian (1972).
She had seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The Princess who now lives in Nordmarka. She enjoys painting, reading, knitting, and spending time with her dog, Wilma, which she adopted from a rehoming center.
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The Princess is a passionate dog lover, having received her first puppy from her parents when she was two years old.
In an interview with NRK on her 93rd birthday, the Princess said: "If a dog is not thriving in its current home, it is a privilege to offer it a better life."
The Princess is the chairperson of the Crown Princess Märtha’s Memorial Fund, "a duty which remains a key focus of her activities."
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