Princess Ragnhild, Mrs Lorentzen (Ragnhild Alexandra; 9 June 1930 – 16 September 2012), was the eldest child of King

Olav V of Norway Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...

and

Princess Märtha of Sweden Princess Märtha of Sweden (Märtha Sofia Lovisa Dagmar Thyra; 28 March 1901 – 5 April 1954) was Crown Princess of Norway as the spouse of the future King Olav V from 1929 until her death in 1954. The presently reigning King Harald V is h ...

. She was the older sister of

King Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

and Princess Astrid. She was the first royal to have been born in Norway since the Middle Ages. In 1953 she married the industrialist

Erling Lorentzen Erling Sven Lorentzen (28 January 1923 – 9 March 2021) was a Norwegian-Brazilian shipowner and industrialist. He founded Aracruz Celulose in 1968. He was the widower of Princess Ragnhild, the eldest child of King Olav V of Norway. In additio ...

, a member of the Lorentzen family of shipping magnates. In the same year they moved to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where her husband was an industrialist and a main owner of

Aracruz Celulose Aracruz Celulose S.A. was a Brazilian manufacturer of Pulp (paper), pulp and paper. In 2009 it merged with Votorantim Celulose e Papel, VCP and was renamed Fibria. The new company maintained its headquarters in Sao Paulo, and is a supplier of bl ...

. She lived in Brazil until her death 59 years later. Although she was the King's eldest child, she was never in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, owing to Norway's law of agnatic succession. She was in the

line of succession to the British throne Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, gender, legitimacy and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 a ...

, and occupied the 16th and 17th place in that succession line during her childhood and youth.

Early life

Princess Ragnhild was the first Norwegian princess to have been born on Norwegian soil for 629 years. She grew up at the royal residence of

Skaugum Skaugum is an estate, manor house and the official residence of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The estate is located in Asker municipality, southwest of Oslo, by the foot of the mountain Skaugumsåsen. T ...

near

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greate ...

, west of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. She was christened in the Palace Chapel on 27 June 1930 and her godparents were: her paternal grandparents, The King and

Queen of Norway The list of Norwegian monarchs ( no, kongerekken or ''kongerekka'') begins in 872: the traditional dating of the Battle of Hafrsfjord, after which victorious King Harald Fairhair merged several petty kingdoms into that of his father. Named after ...

; her maternal grandparents, The Duke and Duchess of Västergötland; her great uncle, The King of Sweden; her great aunt,

Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom Princess Victoria (Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary; 6 July 1868 – 3 December 1935) was the fourth child and second daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and the younger sister of King George V. Early life and education Victoria A ...

; her maternal aunt, Princess Axel of Denmark; and

The Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was D ...

. In 1940, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she and her family fled the German

invasion of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, and she spent the wartime years in exile with her mother and siblings in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, located northwest of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Before the birth of her younger brother, it was assumed she would accede to the throne in the absence of a male heir, although this would have required a constitutional amendment, as women could not inherit the throne at the time.

Marriage and family

Princess Ragnhild married

, a member of the Norwegian merchant upper-class (see Lorentzen family), in Asker on 15 May 1953. Lorentzen was a businessman and army officer who had served as her bodyguard during the

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. There was great controversy at the time as she was the first member of the Norwegian Royal Family to marry non-royalty. (In Norway, there is a tradition of "official flagdays", and royal birthdays are normally listed as such occasions; however, soon after the couple's wedding, it was announced that her birthday (9 June) would cease to be such an official flagday.) Following her marriage, the couple moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, where her husband had substantial business holdings. Their residence in

there was originally temporary, but they eventually settled there, and remained in Rio until Ragnhild's death in 2012. The couple had three children. In Brazil, her husband founded

. *Haakon Lorentzen (b. 23 August 1954), married Martha Carvalho de Freitas on April 14, 1982, and had 3 children, each born in Rio de Janeiro: **Olav Alexander (b. 11 July 1985) **Christian Frederik (b. 23 May 1988) **Sophia (b. 28 Jun 1994) *Ingeborg Lorentzen (b. 27 February 1957), married Paulo César Ribeiro Filho, son of Paulo César Ribeiro and Ercilia Cabral Pereira, and had one daughter. **Victoria Ragna Lorentzen Ribeiro (b. 19 December 1988), married Felipe Sampaio Octaviano Falcão and has two children: ***Frederik Sven Lorentzen Falcão (b. 28 September 2016) ***Alice Eva Lorentzen Falcão (b. 21 October 2022) *Ragnhild Alexandra Lorentzen (b. 8 May 1968), married Aaron Matthew Long. They had two daughters. **Alexandra Joyce Lorentzen Long (b. 14 December 2007) **Elizabeth Patricia Lorentzen Long (b. March 2011)

Public life

Princess Ragnhild opened the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, as her father and grandfather were attending the funeral of King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

. A conservative, Princess Ragnhild publicly criticized her niece and nephew,

Princess Märtha Louise Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

and

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal famil ...

, for their choice of spouses, in 2004.Here's what Princess Ragnhild said
Princess Ragnhild was

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the Norwegian Organisation for the Hearing Impaired. Several ships, including MS ''Prinsesse Ragnhild'', were named for her.

Death

Princess Ragnhild died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at her home in Rio de Janeiro on 16 September 2012, aged 82. Her body arrived in

on 24 September 2012, where her brother King

Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the li ...

and her sister Princess Astrid were present to greet her alongside her spouse Erling and their children. The funeral of Princess Ragnhild was held on 28 September 2012 in the chapel of the Royal Palace of Oslo. She was later cremated and privately interred in the church of

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

* 9 June 193015 May 1953: ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Ragnhild of Norway * 15 May 195316 September 2012: ''Her Highness'' Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen

Honours

National honours

* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav * : Dame of the Royal Family Decoration King Haakon VII * : Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Olav V * : Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Harald V * : Recipient of the King Haakon VII Golden Jubilee Medal * : Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Haakon VII * : Recipient of the King Olav V Silver Jubilee Medal * : Recipient of the King Olav V Commemorative Medal * : Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V * : Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 18 ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

* : Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown * : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit * : Member Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of ...

* : Recipient of 90th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustav V

Honorific eponym

A 540 000 km² area in Antarctica is named

Princess Ragnhild Coast Princess Ragnhild Coast is the portion of the coast of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica lying between 20° E and the Riiser-Larsen Peninsula, at 34° E. All but the eastern end of the coast is fringed by ice shelves. It was discovered by Capt. Hj ...

in her honour. The

Jahre Line Jahre Line was a cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not lea ...

(later Color Line) cruiseferry was named in her honour.

Ancestry

She was a great-great granddaughter of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

of the United Kingdom and great granddaughter of Edward VII of Great Britain, thus a second cousin to Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. At the time of her birth she was 17th in the

, and 77th at the time of her death. Princess Ragnhild's maternal aunt was

Queen Astrid of Belgium Astrid of Sweden (17 November 1905 – 29 August 1935) was the Queen of the Belgians and the first wife of King Leopold III. Originally a princess of Sweden of the House of Bernadotte, Astrid became the Duchess of Brabant after her marriage ...

, which also made Princess Ragnhild a first cousin of kings Baudouin and

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

and of

Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium Joséphine-Charlotte can refer to: * Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (11 October 1927 – 10 January 2005), was the Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Jean. She was the ...

, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Through her maternal grandmother, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, she was also a second cousin of Queen

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

and Queen Anne Marie of Greece as well as a second cousin once removed of King

Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, D ...

through her maternal grandfather Prince Carl of Sweden.

References

External links

Official biography at kongehuset.no

(Norwegian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragnhild Of Norway, Princess 1930 births 2012 deaths Norwegian princesses House of Glücksburg (Norway) Lorentzen family Norwegian expatriates in Brazil Recipients of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Daughters of kings