31 October 2012

Royal family tree in Dagsavisen 29 October 2012

Following the engagement between Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill last week, the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen published on Monday 29 October 2012 a family tree showing the relations between the British, the Danish, the Swedish and the Norwegian royal houses. The stated sources were Kongehuset.no, the Palace and NTB.

Unfortunately, there are so many mistakes in the family tree that the readers better throw it away rather than keeping it for future reference (I am commenting on it here just for the fun of it!). I am not going to list all the mistakes, as it would probably take the whole evening, but I will give a few examples. We learn for instance that Queen Maud died in 1939, but the correct year was in fact 1938. Queen Ingrid of Denmark, née Princess of Sweden, was not born in 1920,  but in 1910. Her eldest daughter Queen Margrethe II was not born in 1949, but 9 years earlier. Her husband Henrik was certainly not born in 1967 (!), but in 1934. Yes, their wedding took place in 1967... King Christian X of Denmark was not married to Princess Margaretha, who was Crown Princess Märtha of Norway's elder sister. Princess Madeleine's future husband was not born in 1985, but 11 years earlier. The maiden name of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and the surname of her eldest son Marius is spelt Høiby, not Høibye... I think I better stop here!

It is difficult to say how Dagsavisen, or more likely NTB, has got it so wrong. I haven't got the time to look through all the details in the family tree presented at Kongehuset.no, but it looks okay to me and it is not to blame. If only NTB and Dagsavisen could have spent a few minutes on proof-reading...
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4 comments:

  1. Trond Norén IsaksenWednesday, 7 November 2012 at 00:31:00 CET

    Factual mistakes are to be found in the newspapers so to speak each and every day, but what I find particularly interesting about this chart is the lack of logic. For instance, not only did Queen Louise of Denmark live to the age of 111, but she was born eleven years before her own father Carl XV (who they wrongly call "Carl IV"). And the Prince Consort of Denmark, born in 1967, fathered his first child at the age of one.

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    Replies
    1. Barb LodermeierTuesday, 3 January 2017 at 06:20:00 CET

      Ha ha ha, very astute! Interesting that you point that out, as records can be totally wrong.

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  2. GaryMonday, 12 November 2012 at 03:22:00 CET

    I suppose this proves that royalty are not like other people!

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  3. DelaplaneSunday, 27 May 2018 at 14:14:00 CEST

    It is my hope that we see and hear more of all the royal families of Europe besides England. We may not understand their language but someone could translate. I miss seeing. the coronation of the king of The. Netherlands and the marriages of Monaco.

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