Christening of Prince Oscar of Sweden

Photo: Hans Garlöw/Kungahuset.se. In the middle Crown Princess Victoria with Prince Oscar in her arms, Prince Daniel and Princess Estelle. To the left the sponsors Hans Åström, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. To the right Princess Madeleine carrying Princess Leonore and beside her the last of the five sponsors, Oscar Magnuson. 

The christening of Prince Oscar of Sweden, who was born on 2 March this year, took place at the Palace Church in Stockholm today. Sponsors of the little prince were Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Oscar Magnuson (first cousin of Crown Princess Victoria) and Hans Åström (first cousin of Prince Daniel).

Archbishop Antje Jackelén, assisted by Bishop and Chief Court Chaplain Johan Dalman and Court Chaplain and Rector of the Royal Court Parish Michael Bjerkhagen officiated the ceremony.

The program of the christening ceremony can be viewed here.

Among the guests at the church ceremony and reception were:

The Swedish Royal Family

• King Carl Gustaf
• Queen Silvia
• Crown Princess Victoria
• Prince Daniel
• Princess Estelle
• Prince Carl Philip
• Princess Sofia
• Princess Madeleine
• Christopher O'Neill
• Princess Leonore
• Prince Nicolas

HM The King's family

• Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler
• Baroness Christina Louise De Geer and Baron Hans De Geer
• Princess Christina Mrs. Magnuson and Tord Magnuson
• Gustaf Magnuson and Vicky Magnuson
• Oscar Magnuson and Emma Magnuson
• Victor Magnuson and Frida Bergström
• Countess Marianne Bernadotte af Wisborg
• Count Bertil Bernadotte af Wisborg amd Countess Jill Bernadotte af Wisborg
• Dagmar von Arbin

HM The Queen's family

• Ralf de Toledo Sommerlath and Charlotte de Toledo Sommerlath
• Thomas de Toledo Sommerlath and Bettina Aussems
• Walther L. Sommerlath
• Patrick Sommerlath and Maline Sommerlath
• Leopold Lundén Sommerlath
• Chloé Sommerlath
• Anaïs Sommerlath

Other foreign royal guests

• Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
• Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

In addition Prince Daniel's parents Olle and Ewa Westling, his siblings and their families and other family members, as well as representatives of Riksdagen (the Parliament), the leaders of the polical parties, the Government and the church, other authorities, including the governors of Stockholm, Skåne and Västra Götaland and finally representatives of the corps diplomatique. For a full guest list, go here.

The arms of Prince Oscar of Sweden. (The image is taken from the Swedish National Archives' press photo section, where the photos and images are free of use.)

The arms and monogram of Prince Oscar were also published in connection with the christening. The four quarters of the arms show the lesser coat of arms of Sweden (field 1 and 4), the arms of Folkunga (field 2) and in field 3 the arms of Skåne (Scania) (Prince Oscar is also Duke of Skåne), while the inescutcheon shows the arms of the House of Bernadotte. The arms are crowned by the princes crown. The arms are drawn by the heraldic artist Henrik Dahlström, the Swedish National Archives. The monogram consists of the initial O and a prince crown above.

From the archives: John Frisvold, d. Canada 1931. Any heirs?

John Frisvold er avgått ved døden i Canada i februar 1931, ca. 63 år gammel. Han antas å være født i Romsdalen. Han efterlater sig midler i Canada. Mulige arvinger bedes melde sig til Utenriksdepartementets arve- og rettskontor.

While looking for something completely different, I came over a paragraph in Aftenposten 13 September 1934, by which the readers were informed that a John Frisvold had died in Canada in February 1931, around 63 years old. He was assumed to have been born in Romsdalen (i.e. Møre and Romsdal county). According to the short article, he left behind capital in Canada. Possible heirs were asked to contact the Inheritance and Law Office of the Foreign Ministry of Norway.

I hope the inheritance case was solved in the end. Maybe someone searching for genealogical information about the Frisvold family will sooner or later find the newspaper paragraph useful. I searched for the name of John Frisvold at Ancestry.com and found that he died in Milestone, Saskatchewan in 1931. According to Findagrave.com, he is buried at the Bethesda Lutheran Cemetery in Milestone, which is a town in the southeast of the province of Saskatchewan.

If the information in Aftenposten is correct, John Frisvold was born around 1868. So far I haven't found anyone who fits the picture when searching for variations of the name at the Norwegian Digital Archives, but I must admit that I haven't put my heart and soul in this little project. There are, however, Frisvold farms in Nesset in Romsdal. Another possibility could be Lom, which of couse is in Oppland county, but not that far from Romsdal.

Romania-insider.com: Romania’s Royal Family wants tax exemption for their Savarsin Castle

The English-speaking Internet news service Romania-insider.com published an interesting article about the Romanian royal family on 19 May 2016:

Romania’s Royal Family wants tax exemption for their Savarsin Castle

Certainly it is the king's legal right to ask for tax excemption for his property in Savarsin, but if it is really the wisest thing to do, is another.