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Norwegian Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who celebrated her 18th birthday in mid-June, received a driver’s license. Her older brother Marius, the illegitimate son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, back in January, when the heir to the throne came of age, published a video of her driving a Volkswagen electric car with the caption: “Congratulations on the day of the coolest sister in the world! You are so young! I recommend that those who live in Asker stay away from the road for the next few hours!”
Meanwhile, one of the world’s first electric cars belonged to her great-grandfather Olaf. In 1912, Queen Alexandra of England presented the little Crown Prince of Norway, who was her grandson, with a toy car, presented at the World Exhibition in London that year. It was a small battery-powered Cadillac that could go 15 miles on a single charge. He developed a speed of up to 20 km / h. And when Olaf grew up, he bought himself a real Cadillac Series 75 Limousine. Recently, this car, which served Crown Prince Olaf for 43 years and was donated to the International Fund for the Disabled (IDF) in 1994 by his son King Harald as a fundraiser, was purchased from the Norwegian American Museum of Westerheim in Iowa and returned to its homeland.
But the royal family’s favorite car has always been the Buick Roadmaster, given to the prince and his wife, Princess Martha, during their trip to the US in 1939. Not because of its modern characteristics, and not because of the design. They associated this car with salvation from destruction during the years of fascist occupation and a triumphant return home. In 1940, Olaf’s father, King Haakon VII, refused to conclude a pact with Nazi Germany on the terms of surrender and recognize the collaborationist government. His decision was truly historic. The king’s monogram became a symbol of resistance during World War II.
On the morning of April 11, 1940, in an attempt to destroy the unshakable Haakon, his son and the government of Norway, Luftwaffe bombers raided the city of Nybergsund, in which they were located. The city was destroyed. Soon the royal family in full force fled the country. Moving north was accompanied by repeated bombardments – the Germans took revenge on the monarch and his heirs. It was decided that it would be safer for the family to separate. King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olaf were to stay in Norway, while Crown Princess Martha – the granddaughter of the King of Sweden – and three children, including the current King Harald V, went to her homeland. They were taken away by this car with the license plate A-1. In the valley of the Pasvik border river, the Crown Princess asked the driver to stop. It was a farewell to Norway. She got out of the car with the children and together they looked out over the Norwegian side of the valley. No one knew then how long they parted. Then, aboard the last of the neutral ships allowed to leave Northern Europe, the USS American Legion, the family traveled to the United States. And Haakon and Olaf fled to the UK.
Five years later, on June 7, 1945, a Buick Roadmaster A-1 carried the king and his family to the palace through streets filled with jubilant Norwegians. This machine is still in good health to this day and is used on special occasions.
Cars in general played an important role in the life of the Norwegian royal family. In 1906, horse-drawn carriages brought the Danish Prince Carl, who arrived in Norway aboard the Royal Yacht Norge, to Trondheim for his coronation. After her, he became King Haakon VII. But already in the autumn of 1913, the first two cars bought by Olaf’s father appeared in the royal garage. These were Minerva, from which the tradition of license plates with the letter A-1 went.
Since then, members of the royal family have bought and sold many cars. And Crown Princess Martha, who was a very progressive woman, received her Volvo 652 car as a gift from the ladies from the Gothenburg sorority. The royal family especially loves the 1966 Lincoln Continental A-5 convertible, which the press calls the “wedding car.” It is more associated with presidential motorcades than with weddings, but it was on the Lincoln on August 29, 1968 that King Olaf of Norway arrived at Oslo Cathedral with his future daughter-in-law Sonja Haraldsen.
Fifty years later, Queen Sonja and King Harald drove this car to the same cathedral to celebrate their golden wedding. And their son, Crown Prince Haakon, remained faithful to the “wedding” Lincoln: in August 2001, he carried his wife, the newly crowned Princess Mette-Marit, from the wedding ceremony in it. For official events, nine cars are assigned to the royal family with license plates from A-1 to A-9. But in ordinary life, members of the royal family drive electric cars with regular numbers. But who knows, maybe in a few years we’ll see Ingrid Alexandra wearing a veil in the back seat of a Lincoln Continental.
Source: Hellomagazine
Benjamin Smith is a fashion journalist and author at Gossipify, known for his coverage of the latest fashion trends and industry insights. He writes about clothing, shoes, accessories, and runway shows, providing in-depth analysis and unique perspectives. He’s respected for his ability to spot emerging designers and trends, and for providing practical fashion advice to readers.
