Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
| Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway on her second birthday. |
|
|
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway was born
January 21,
2004 at 9:13am in Rikshospitalet University Hospital in
Oslo. She weighed 3686 grams (8.13 lb) and was 51 centimetres (20 inches) long.
She is the first child born to His Royal Highness
Crown Prince Haakon and wife
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, formerly Mette-Marit Tjessem-Høiby. Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne after her father. Princess Ingrid Alexandra has two siblings, an older half-brother,
Marius and a younger brother,
Prince Sverre Magnus.
In
1990 the
Norwegian constitution was altered, granting equal
primogeniture to the Norwegian throne, meaning that the eldest child, regardless of gender, takes precedence in the line of succession. Since this was not done retroactively, the first member of the royal family it applies to is Ingrid. This means that she takes precedence over her younger brother, but her father Haakon continues to take precedence over
his older sister,
Princess Märtha Louise.
Like her father, she is a direct descendant of
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and is therefore in accordance with the British
Law of Settlement also in line of succession to the British throne. The princess, whose name is pronounced
Ing-gree throughout Scandinavia, was named in part after her great-grandfather,
Olav V of Norway, (who was born Alexander Edward Christian Fredrik). She was christened on Saturday
17 April. Bishop Gunnar Stålsett officiated in a ceremony at the royal palace chapel in Oslo. The princess' godparents include His Majesty King
Harald V of Norway, His Royal Highness
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Her Royal Highness
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, His Royal Highness Prince
Felipe, Prince of Asturias, her aunt
Princess Märtha Louise , and Mrs. Marit Tjessem, the child's maternal grandmother.
On
December 3,
2005, Ingrid Alexandra 's mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit gave birth to Ingrid Alexandra's baby brother,
Prince Sverre Magnus. As both Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus are descendants of Queen Victoria, they are in the
line of succession to the British Throne; however, in that context Prince Sverre Magnus takes precedence over his older sister.
*
A princess is born! (Aftenposten,
21 January 2004)
*
Joy and wails mark royal christening (Aftenposten,
17 April 2004)
