I read in the paper this afternoon that there's going to be a Norwegian Princess in town promoting a children's book she wrote. She's touring the US, and stopping particularly in places that have large ethnic Norwegian populations. (Minnesota qualifies.) Anyway, it just caught my eye, and I was curious what sort of role royalty plays in Norway these days? From the article, she has a normal job and doesn't seem to be "for show" royalty so much. I think it said that she was the crown prince's brother, though, so she's not directly in line for the throne. Can it pass to women, anyway?
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
quote: I think it said that she was the crown prince's brother, though, so she's not directly in line for the throne.
She is a brother to the prince?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
*sigh*
Ooops.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
I thought the same thing when I saw that. Tee hee hee.
Still, that's cool. Norweigan royalty. You know, I want to be royalty, that would be fun. Actually, not so much. Now I'm just ranting. I'm sick, give me a break!
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
That would be the princess whatshername, I suppose. (No, I'm serious, I really can't recall her name at the moment. It's annoying.) Anyway, to answer your question, they're mainly public relations, which admittedly they do a fair job of. It's actually slightly interesting : By the strict letter of the Constitution, the King has very extensive powers indeed; he can in principle appoint his cabinet at will, as long as they are Norwegian citizens. In actual practice, he gets to graciously give the nod to whoever has a majority in the Storting, but somehow we never got around to amending the Constitution.
We did change the inheritance law a few years back, so assuming everything goes as expected, the monarch after our current Crown Prince croaks will be the princess Ingrid Alexandra. But it wasn't made retroactive, or the crown prince would be out a job, and princess whatshername (damn, what is her name? I'm going to have to Wiki it now... Märtha Louise, that's it) would have a better one than writing children's books.
There's the occasional rumble of making Norway a republic, but really, the royals behave pretty well, annoy no major power groups, and do quite a reasonable job of representing the country. I'm not convinced they're worth what we pay for them, but whatever. They would have to screw up right royally, you should pardon the expression, for any such constitutional change to get any support. Also, those of us with some history remember April 1940, when the elected politicians wanted to surrender to the Germans, and only the King had the spine to stand up and say "We're going to fight". Who knows, we might need some of that again.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by whiskysunrise:
quote: I think it said that she was the crown prince's brother, though, so she's not directly in line for the throne.
She is a brother to the prince?
Well, they are right near Denmark.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
And that was my first thought, starLisa. Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Thanks, KoM. The article also said that y'all invited to come be your royal family? That the original King & Queen were part of the Danish royal family, and Norway decided it wanted royals? I thought that was pretty interesting.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Yes, it was a tactical maneuver to make the dissolution of the union with Sweden more palatable to the Great Powers. 1905, you know - republics weren't that popular. An independence movement was one thing, but a republic on top of that? Eh. Then the new king insisted (in the official version, anyway - newer histories disagree slightly on just whose idea this was) that he would not want to rule without a popular mandate, so a referendum on monarchy versus republic was held.
Incidentally, our current king is 60th in line ofr the throne of England. Now, you have to figure those people are pretyt well protected, but I wonder how we would deal with it if they all died of completely natural causes? Suddenly Norway would be in a personal union with Canada!
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
It would be like King Ralph, but with much cooler accents.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
I really hate this smiley:
People who use it suck.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
I love that movie! Is there anything Dan can't do?
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
Hey, she is coming here too. I'm thining of taking Livvie.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
A Norwegian Monarch neh? Maybe I should investigate... Maybe theyll all die of natural causes one by one on even numbered days...
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: I really hate this smiley:
People who use it suck.
Was that really necessary?
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by whiskysunrise:
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: I really hate this smiley:
People who use it suck.
Was that really necessary?
I figure it was more gratuitous than necessary.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
quote:Originally posted by whiskysunrise: Was that really necessary?
Was using the smiley in the first place necessary?
Plank, meet eye.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Although I would not have said anything had Primal not started the discussion, and I certainly would not have said it like he did, I did feel that the original usage of the smiley was unkind. Yes, I made a stupid mistake. It could have been pointed out without making me feel like an idiot. I don't hate the smiley, as when someone makes a joke it is sometimes an appropriate way to show appreciation for their humor. But I do not like it when it is used to laugh at someone instead of with them, regardless of if that someone is me or not.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
eerg, its been eating at me, how am I like Carn Carby again? As far as I can remember (and I'm rereading EG for the 6th time) Carn wasn't very well explored character, so this is making my curiosity bone ache.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
I was thinking of military skill : Competent, but not dazzling. Gets his ass handed to him by Ender. It wasn't so much that you're like Carn, it was more that you ain't no Ender. I just racked my brain to find a not-that-great commander from the book.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
She is a brother to the prince? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)