Princess Märtha of Sweden (Märtha Sofia Lovisa Dagmar Thyra; 28 March 1901 – 5 April 1954) was Crown Princess of Norway as the wife of the future King Olav V from 1929 until her death in 1954. The current King Harald V is her only son.
Princess Märtha was also a sister of Queen Astrid of Belgium, and a maternal aunt of Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, King Baudouin of Belgium and King Albert II of Belgium.
Early life
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 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 and second cousin, Prince Olav, only son and heir apparent of her uncle the King of Norway and grandson of her grandfather King Frederick VIII of Denmark's younger sister. News of the engagement was very well received. An excellent match for strengthening royal ties, it was also clearly a match based on love. Initially, her younger sister, Astrid, was expected to marry Olav, being younger than Olav by two years, while Märtha was two years older. Astrid was also considered more beautiful, but she instead married the future King of the Belgians Leopold III.
Following a year-long engagement, she married Crown Prince Olav in Oslo Cathedral on 21 March 1929. Märtha's was the first royal wedding in Norway in 340 years. The marriage is widely believed to have been a success due in large part to their genuine mutual love. They had three children: Ragnhild (1930–2012); Astrid (b. 1932); and the much awaited heir, Harald (b. 1937).
Crown Princess Märtha soon became a popular and respected member of the royal family, later performing a range of official engagements. She also gave many speeches, unusual for royal females in that era.
Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway resided at the country estate of Skaugum, which was a wedding gift from Baron Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg. When the main house at Skaugum was destroyed by fire in 1930, the Crown Princess was actively involved in its rebuilding.
Tragedy struck Crown Princess Märtha in 1935 when her sister Queen Astrid of the Belgians was killed in a car crash. The two sisters 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. Märtha and elder sister Margaretha became a great support for Astrid'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.
In 1938 upon the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Maud, Crown Princess Märtha became the royal Norwegian court's senior lady.
World War II
Crown Princess Märtha contributed greatly towards Norway mobilizing for self-defence by making a public announcement on 26 January 1940 when she encouraged Norwegian women to participate in the mobilization work. 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. When they arrived 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.