Scandinavian countries may lead the world in the areas of technology and social welfare, but their love for their royal families remains a beloved tradition amidst a sea of futuristic developments. Walk down the Strøget, Copenhagen’s central avenue, and notice whole postcard stands dedicated to the fairytale romance between the Crown Prince of Denmark and his Australian commoner bride. Visit the Stockholms slot (Stockholm Palace) in Sweden’s capital and enter a room filled with an interactive personals ad-style dedication to unmarried heiress apparent to the Swedish throne. So what’s all the fuss about? It seems that the royal families of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway do a more than a respectable job of all-out fairytale, salacious scandal, and completely cuckoo. Though most of the their duties are symbolic, the royals remain in the forefront of the Scandinavian hearts and minds.
Here are three histories of royal glory, scandal, and love.
DENMARK: The Danish royal family is the oldest in the world, dating from 899, when Gorm the Old ascended to the thrown. In 1448, the Oldenburg branch of the dynasty took power with Count Christian of Oldenburg, who became Christian I. In the late 19th century, his direct descendent Christian IX became known as the “father-in-law of Europe,” after his son became king of Greece George I and his other children married into the royal families of Russia, France, and Great Britain. Denmark’s current queen, Margrethe, born in 1940, married French count Henri Marie Jean André, who became Prince Henrik of Denmark. In 2002, Prince Henrik “fled” Denmark and stayed at their château in the south of France because he apparently felt humiliated that his son, rather than him, was asked to host a New Year’s reception in place of the queen. Queen Margrethe flew to France and after three weeks, he returned to Denmark. A happier event occurred in 2004, when the couple’s oldest son married raven-haired Australian beauty Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, now Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark, after meeting her in Sydney. This dream-come-true fairytale romance melted hearts ‘round the world. They now have two small children and seem to be enjoying their happily ever after. The crown prince’s younger brother Joachim, however, divorced his first wife, Hong-Kong-born Alexandra Christina, Countess of Frederiksborg, with whom he has two children, in 2005 and remarried Parisian Marie Cavallier, now Princess Marie of Denmark, in 2008.
SWEDEN: In Sweden, the royal family is over a thousand years old. Elected in 1523, Gustav Vasa is the first Swedish King whose history is clearly known. French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte’s 1810 succession to the Swedish throne established the Bernadotte Dynasty, which still reigns today. Though the governing procedures of the King represented Europe’s oldest form of government for 165 years between 1809 and 1974, the Constitution Act of 1974 asserted that “All public power in Sweden derives from the people." Today, Sweden ´s successor to the throne is Crown Princess Victoria, an unmarried independent spirit. Her 30th birthday was celebrated extensively in 2007 with a commemorative exhibition at the Royal Palace, which lauded her inner and outer beauty, and felt to some visitors like a 3D personals ad. Victoria’s younger brother Carl Philip, Prince of Sweden, is a handsome graphic designer who has studied and interned in the United States, and her sister, often considered “the beautiful sister,” is involved in humanitarian work.
NORWAY: Originally linked to Sweden, Norway was united with Denmark in 1380 until 1814, when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden, forcing Norway to accept the Swedish royal family as its own. When that union ended in 1905, Prince Carl of Denmark, the son of the king of Denmark and Princess Louise of Norway and Sweden, took the Norwegian throne. He became Haakon VII and moved into the royal palace in Oslo with his wife and son. In 1940, however, the royal family was forced to flee to London in the middle of the night when the Nazis invaded. He set up a government-in-exile in London, while his family stayed in the United States. At the end of the war, their return to Norway was a celebrated event. The current king of Norway, King Harald, and his wife Queen Sonja, have two scandal-stirring children. Crown Prince Haakon married Mette-Marit, a single mother, and has two children with her. Princess Märtha Louise married controversial writer Ari Behn in 2002, and has three children. In 2007, the princess and a business partner announced the opening of a private school which promised to teach students to communicate with angels, and had the slogan, “Use angels and your own power to create miracles in your life.” Needless to say, intense, worldwide media scrutiny followed. Norway’s Bergens Tidende newspaper called for the her to relinquish her royal titles and Swedish author and columnist Jann Guillou urged the princess to “seek treatment.” Norwegian televangelist Jan Hanvold called her “an emissary from hell.” Though Märtha Louise defends the school, she is still accused of using her royal status for profit.