thumb|171x171px|[[Coat of arms|Arms of Princess Märtha of Norway and 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. As Olav only became king in 1957, Märtha never became Queen of Norway. Her son, Harald V, is the current king of Norway. Princess Märtha was also an elder sister of Queen Astrid of Belgium and a maternal aunt of Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg and Kings Baudouin and Albert II of Belgium.

In 1940, Crown Princess Märtha and her family were immersed in World War II as [[German occupation of Norway|

Germany invaded Norway]]. After escaping to her home country of Sweden, and then being evacuated to America by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she effectively advocated for Norway and did fundraising until the end of the war. In 1942, King Haakon VII of Norway, Märtha's father-in-law, invested her as a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.

Early life

thumb|left|Princess Märtha (right) with [[Princess Ingeborg of Denmark|her mother and sisters]]

Märtha was born at her parents' home of Arvfurstens Palats in Stockholm on 28 March 1901, the second child of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Her father was the younger brother of King Gustav V of Sweden, making her a first cousin twice removed of the present King of Sweden, and her mother was the younger sister of King Christian X of Denmark and of King Haakon VII of Norway.

Märtha had an elder sister, Princess Margaretha of Denmark, a younger sister, Queen Astrid of the Belgians, and a younger brother, Prince Carl Bernadotte. Märtha grew up to be much more confident and outgoing and so the daughter most admired by her mother.

As a child, Märtha was taught at home by private tutors and completed in-depth courses in childcare and first aid. She and her sisters were occasionally seen shopping unaccompanied on the streets of Stockholm.

Crown Princess

During the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Princess Märtha of Sweden became engaged to her first cousin Prince Olav, only son and heir apparent of her uncle the King of Norway and grandson of her grandfather King Frederik VIII of Denmark's younger sister. News of the engagement was very well received: it was taken as a sign that there was no longer any tension following the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden. An excellent match in terms of strengthening royal ties, it was also clearly a match based on love. was killed in a car crash; the two siblings had been very close. Later King Olav said that it took his wife more than ten years to come to terms with her sister's death, and he did not think that she ever really got over it. She – together with her elder sister Margaretha – became a great support for her sister's children in Belgium.

In 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Crown Prince and Princess visited the United States. The couple befriended President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor. During this visit, the royal couple conducted an extensive tour of the Upper Midwest, where many Norwegian immigrants were settled. Also during their US tour, Crown Princess Märtha was initiated, together with her lady-in-waiting Ragni Østgaard, into the Delta Zeta sorority being pinned at the University of North Dakota by Delta Zeta national president Myrtle Graeter Malott.

In 1938 upon the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Maud, Crown Princess Märtha became the royal Norwegian court's senior lady. During the flight from the German invasion in 9–10 April 1940, the Norwegian government decided that the Crown Princess and her children were to flee across the border to her native Sweden while her husband and father-in-law remained. Upon their arrival at the Swedish border, they were first denied entry because they could not provide passports; she then instructed her driver to run through the border gate, thus gaining entry into her native Sweden.

In Sweden, she stayed at first at a tourist hotel in Sälen, before travelling on to Stockholm where her parents and relatives lived. Her presence in Sweden became problematic where some considered her presence to put Sweden's neutrality in jeopardy. President Roosevelt then offered her a personal invitation to the United States. Her uncle, King Gustav V of Sweden, telegraphed her father-in-law King Haakon and advised against the trip, but Märtha insisted on accepting the invitation.

Roosevelt's son James stated that "There was no question that Martha was an important figure in Father's life during the war ... there is a real possibility that a true romantic relationship developed between the president and the princess." Roald Dahl, later a well-known author and then a young RAF fighter pilot assigned to Washington, seems to have agreed:

<blockquote><small>

"Dahl was inclined to think that all the smoke indicated a real fire ... [Dahl wrote] 'The President has it in his mind that he would like to sleep with her.'"</small></blockquote>

Princess Märtha spent much of World War II in the United States, where she worked tirelessly to keep up support for Norway among the American public and government.

Trygve Lie wrote about her war-work:

: "During those years of struggle, she was undeniably Norway's Ambassador Number 1, because of her charm, humanity, wisdom and tact. As Secretary of Foreign Affairs I had to turn to her many times, and the results she achieved and the advice she offered, were always of value." Her death is often attributed to cancer or hepatitis.

Her death came while her elder daughter Princess Ragnhild was expecting her first child and just over three years before her husband became king.

Her son King Harald V named his daughter Princess Märtha Louise after her grandmother.

The popular Swedish layer Princess cake was named for Märtha and her two sisters when they were children.

The ship MS «Kronprinsesse Märtha», launched in 1929, was named after her. This ship which helped to save hundreds of passengers from the sinking German cruise ship Dresden in 1934 has, since 2000, been used as a hotel ship in Stockholm.

Märtha is depicted in the historical docudrama television miniseries Atlantic Crossing, a co-production of Cinenord and the state broadcaster, NRK.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Website of the Royal House of Norway: Crown Princess Märtha