Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Birth and baptism

Born at 9:13 am in The National Hospital the Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Princess Ingrid Alexandra is the first child of Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne, and the second granddaughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Her mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has a son named Marius Borg Høiby, born in 1997 from a previous relationship. Following Ingrid Alexandra's birth, the already well-regarded royal family experienced an upsurge of popularity.

Ingrid Alexandra was christened by Bishop Gunnar Stålsett in the chapel of the Royal Palace on 17 April 2004. Her paternal grandfather the King, her aunt Princess Märtha Louise, the Crown Prince of Denmark, the Crown Princess of Sweden, the then Prince of Asturias, and her maternal grandmother Marit Tjessem were her godparents. The Crown Prince of Denmark and The Prince of Asturias were unable to attend the christening due to their respective weddings scheduled to occur within a month of the christening.

Education

Ingrid Alexandra started her first day of school on 19 August 2010 at Jansløkka elementary school, a local state school attended by her half-brother. She is the first member of the Norwegian royal family to attend a local school. Other members of the family were sent to Oslo to attend schools there. Her parents chose the school because they want her to have as ordinary a childhood as possible. Newspaper reports said Princess Ingrid Alexandra would walk to school with her half-brother and local citizens could expect to see her occasionally out in the community with her classmates on school outings. School officials hope to make the school a place where the princess can make friends and enjoy some relief from public scrutiny. On 17 June 2014, the Norwegian Royal Family notified the public that from the start of the 2014–2015 school year, Princess Ingrid Alexandra would transfer to the private English-language Oslo International School, reportedly because her parents wanted her to be fluent in English. Her younger brother Sverre Magnus, was to transfer to Oslo's Montessori school.

Activities

On 19 June 2010, Ingrid Alexandra served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of her godmother, the Crown Princess of Sweden. In December 2012, the Princess attended an interview with her father by a Norwegian television programme in aid of Environmental Agents, the children's environmental organization. Her mother was supposed to attend, but the Crown Prince attended instead as the Crown Princess was ill. She has taken part in traditional celebrations of the Constitution Day, as well as the traditional ski jumping tournament at Holmenkollen in Oslo.

On 4 May 2015, Princess Ingrid Alexandra christened the Norwegian Rescue Company’s new lifeboat, Elias that she has been made godmother.

On 12 February 2016, the Princess and her grandfather played roles during the opening ceremony of the Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer. While the King declared open the Games, the Princess lit the cauldron. Her father the Crown Prince Haakon did the same thing 22 years ago, during the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994.

Constitutional status

The Constitution of Norway was altered in 1990 to introduce absolute primogeniture, ensuring that the crown would pass to the eldest child regardless of gender but keeping the Crown Prince ahead of his elder sister, Princess Märtha Louise; the change was to apply for the first time to their children. Princess Ingrid Alexandra has thus been second in the line of succession since birth, preceded only by her father. Because of the reform, her status was not affected by the subsequent birth of her brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, in 2005. The Princess is expected to become Norway's first female monarch since Queen Margaret, who reigned over Norway, Denmark and Sweden from the late 1380s until her death in 1412.

Along with her parents and grandparents – but unlike her brother, half-brother Marius, and other relatives – Princess Ingrid Alexandra is a member of the Norwegian Royal House. The family belongs to the House of Glücksburg.

The Norwegian royal family is also in the line of succession to the British throne, being descended from the British King Edward VII's daughter Maud; Princess Ingrid Alexandra is preceded by her brother in the British line due to male-preference cognatic primogeniture.

In popular culture

Princess Ingrid Alexandra was mentioned in a 2010 episode of The Simpsons, "Once Upon a Time in Springfield". Lisa Simpson's teacher, who was wearied by all of the reports by the girls of her class about various princesses as inspirational women, said there had been two reports about "baby Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway".

Title

National honour