Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (Ragnhild Alexandra; 9 June 1930 – 16 September 2012), was a member of the Norwegian royal family. She was the eldest child of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden and the older sister of King Harald V. She was the first Norwegian royal baby to have been born in Norway since the Middle Ages. In 1953, she married the industrialist Erling Lorentzen, a member of the Lorentzen family of shipping magnates. In the same year, they moved to Brazil, where her husband was an industrialist and a main owner of Aracruz Celulose. 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 then-law of agnatic succession. She was in the line of succession to the British throne, and occupied the 16th and 17th places in that succession line during her childhood and youth.
Contents
Early life
Princess Ragnhild was born on (1930-06-09)9 June 1930 at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway, as the first child of the then Crown Prince Olav (later King Olav V) and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway. She was the first Norwegian princess to have been born on Norwegian soil for 629 years. At a meeting of the Council of State convened specially after the birth, her grandfather King Haakon VII announced that the princess would bear the names "Ragnhild [[Alexandra]". She was christened in the Palace Chapel on 27 June 1930 and her godparents were: her paternal grandparents, the King and Queen of Norway; 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; her maternal aunt, Princess Axel of Denmark; and the Duke of York.
Although Princess Ragnhild was Olav's eldest child, she could not become Queen regnant of Norway, as under Salic law, women were excluded from the Norwegian succession at the time. However, before the birth of her younger brother, it was assumed she would accede to the throne in the absence of a male heir. Especially after the birth of her sister Princess Astrid in 1932, serious preparations were made at government level for the required constitutional amendment. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and great-granddaughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, thus a second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II.
Princess Ragnhild grew up with her siblings at the royal residence of Skaugum near Asker, west of Oslo. In 1940, during World War II, she and her family fled the German invasion of Norway, and she spent the wartime years in exile with her mother and siblings in Bethesda, Maryland.
Following the royal family's return to Norway she attended Nissen's Girls' School, obtaining her school leaving certificate in 1948. Her confirmation took place on 11 May 1947 in the Palace Chapel. She later spent four semesters, between 1948 and 1949, studying at a finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Marriage and family
Princess Ragnhild married Erling Lorentzen (1923–2021), a member of the Norwegian merchant upper class (see Lorentzen family), in Asker Church on 15 May 1953. Lorentzen was a businessman and army officer who had served as her bodyguard shortly after the war.
Following her marriage, the couple moved to Rio de Janeiro, where her husband had substantial business holdings. Their residence in Brazil was originally temporary, but they eventually settled there, and remained in Rio until Ragnhild's death in 2012. In Brazil, her husband founded Aracruz Celulose.
The couple had three children:
Haakon Lorentzen (born 23 August 1954), married Martha Carvalho de Freitas (born 1958) on 14 April 1982, and has three children:
Olav Alexander Lorentzen (born 11 July 1985), married Ingrid Kraus de Andrade Nogueira (born 1988) on 4 December 2021, and has one son:
Salvador Lorentzen (born 1 April 2023)
Christian Frederik Lorentzen (born 23 May 1988) married Mariah de Oliveira Pedrosa (born 1991) on 19 March 2022, and has one son:
Thomas Lorentzen (born December 2022)
Sophia Anne Lorentzen (born 28 June 1994)
Ingeborg Lorentzen (born 27 February 1957), married Paulo César Ribeiro Filho (born 1956) on 4 June 1982, and has one daughter:
Victoria Ragna Lorentzen Ribeiro (born 19 December 1988), married Felipe Sampaio Octaviano Falcão on 9 August 2014, and has two children:
Frederik Sven Lorentzen Falcão, (born 28 September 2016)
Public life
Princess Ragnhild opened the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, as her father and grandfather were attending the funeral of King George VI.
A conservative, Princess Ragnhild publicly criticized her niece and nephew, Princess Märtha Louise and Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, for their choice of spouses, in 2004.
Princess Ragnhild was patron of the Norwegian Organisation for the Hearing Impaired.
Several ships, including MS Prinsesse Ragnhild, were named for her.
Although a private person, in 1995 Ragnhild decided to write her autobiography (this was penned with the help of author Lars O. Gulbrandsen) published under the title, Mitt liv som kongsdatter [My Life as a King's Daughter].
Death
Princess Ragnhild died of lung cancer at her home in Rio de Janeiro on 16 September 2012, aged 82. Her body arrived in Oslo on 24 September 2012, where her brother King Harald V and her sister Princess Astrid were present to receive 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 Asker.
Titles, styles and honours
Titles
9 June 1930 – 15 May 1953: Her Royal Highness Princess Ragnhild of Norway
15 May 1953 – 16 September 2012: Her Highness Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen
Honours
Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
Norway: Dame of the Royal Family Decoration King Haakon VII
Norway: Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Olav V
Norway: Dame of the Royal Family Decoration of King Harald V
Norway: Recipient of the King Haakon VII Golden Jubilee Medal
Norway: Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Haakon VII
Norway: Recipient of the King Olav V Silver Jubilee Medal
Norway: Recipient of the King Olav V Commemorative Medal
Norway: Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V
Norway: Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal
Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross
Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Netherlands: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star
Sweden: Recipient of 90th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustav V
Honorific eponym
A 540,000 km2 area in Antarctica is named Princess Ragnhild Coast in her honour. The Jahre Line (later Color Line) cruiseferry MS Prinsesse Ragnhild was named in her honour.