President of Palau in Norway

King Harald of Norway granted today the President of Palau, Tommy Remengesau, an audience at the Royal Palace in Oslo. According to Royal Court's information department, the news/photo agency NTB Scanpix took photos at the event, but as far as I know no newspapers or other media have published them, and I am not willing to pay a large fee in order to publish a photo on my blog.

No published photo from the historical event is a pity, I think, as it is not every day King Harald meets a head-of-state from such a far-away country.* There is at present no information about the visit at the president's own Twitter account or the official website of the Government of Palau. But according to the Norwegian Foreign Office, President Remengesau is in Norway in connection  with a summit on illegal fishing. The president spoke at the summit yesterday, as is shown in tweets from the UN Food & Agriculture Organization's Fisheries & Aquaculture Department and Christian Laborda, former Head of Oceanic Dpt. MOFA Chile (see here and here). There is even a photo of President Remengesau together with the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Per Sandberg (Árni M. Mathiesen, Assistant Director-General, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department FAO, is also in the photo).

So what is to tell about President Thomas E. «Tommy» Remengesau? According to the official website he is in his fourth period as President. He was Vice President of Palau from 1993 to 2001, then President from 2001 to 2009 and after a break, because in accordance with the Constitution of Palau one cannot be elected for more than two consecutive periods, he regained the top position in 2013. The president, who is born in 1956, is married and has four children and five grandchildren. His father, Thomas O. Remengesau, b. 1929, served as acting President of Palau in 1985 (then in the capacity as Minister of Justice as the Vice President was abroad and had to return to take the oath) and as President from 1988 to 1989 and was the country's Vice President from 1985 to 1988. The short presidential history of Palau is kind of brutal. The first president, Haruo Remeliik, was assassinated in 1985, while the third president, Lazarus Salii, commited suicide in 1988.

*One could argue that photos from official royal events in a public building as the Royal Palace is, should be taken by the court's own photographers and be permitted to be published freely as long as credit is given, but I guess that is just the grumpy old me ...

Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth to divorce

The Danish Royal Court annunced today that HSH Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and her husband Count Jefferson-Friedrich von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth have decided to divorce.

Princess Alexandra is the second child and eldest daughter of the late Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Princess Benedikte of Denmark. Princess Alexandra married Count Jefferson at Gråsten Palace on 6 June 1998. They have two children together, Friedrich, b. 1999 and Ingrid, b. 2003. For the last three years the couple has lived in Germany.

In the press statement Princess Alexandra has given the following comment:

«Det er en utrolig svær beslutning. Vi har kendt hinanden i 30 år, men er kommet til et punkt, hvor vi må erkende, at vi er vokset fra hinanden. Vi afslutter ægteskabet, men forbliver sammen i forældreskabet. Hele familien, men naturligvis mest børnene, er – nu også efter min fars død – i en meget sårbar situation, og vi beder derfor om ro og respekt omkring den proces, vi skal igennem.»

(«It is a very difficult decision. We have known each other for 30 years, but have reached a point, where we must admit that we have grown apart. We are ending the marriage, but will stay together in parenthood. The whole family, but especially the children are – also after my father's death – in a very vulnerable situation, and we ask for quiet and respect for the process we are going through.»)

The couple has not yet made a final decision about where they will settle in the future, but the children will continue at their school in Schleswig-Holstein.

President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated: Longest reigns website updated

Emmanuel Macron, who was elected President of France last Sunday, 7 May 2017, was installed as the new president in a ceremony at Élysée Palace in Paris today. At the same time Macron became the new Co-Prince of Andorra.

I have therefore updated my Longest reigns website accordingly.

Funeral service for Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld

The funeral service for Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld, who died on 11 April 2017, 82 years old, took place today at Erska Church at Sollebrunn in Alingsås municipality.

Attending the service were of course the late baron's widow Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld and her immediate family. King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia came directly from the celebrations in Oslo, and they were accompanied by Princess Märtha Louise, who represented the Norwegian royal house.

The Swedish Princesses Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler, Princess Birgitta and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson and her husband Tord Magnuson and other family members were also present for the funeral service. According to Svensk Damtidning, the Danish Royal House was represented by Princess Benedikte. Princess Madeleine and her husband Chris O'Neill are currently in Florida, USA, and where thus unable to attend.

After the funeral service a reception took place at Koberg Palace.

So far it has not been revealed where Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld will be buried. One possibility is the Royal Burial Ground at Haga outside Stockholm. Another possibility is the Silfverschiöld family grave in Sahlgrenska gravkoret (the Sahlgren Grave Chapel) at Tölö Cemetery at Kungsbacka south of Gothenburg. Svensk Damtidning seems to suggest the latter in an article published today: «De närmaste fortsatte sedan till familjegraven för gravsättningen och just nu pågår mottagningen hemma hos familjen Silfverschiöld på Koberg.» («The closest [family members] continued to the family grave for the funeral and just now a reception is taking place at the Silfverschiöld's home at Koberg.») It takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes from Sollebrunn to Kungsbacka.

Updated on Thursday 11 May 2017 at 21:25 (more people in attendance were added, as well as information about the burial place).

Official celebrations of the King and Queen of Norway

The official celebrations of the King and Queen of Norway, who both turn 80 this year, take place on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th of May 2017. The celebrations include among others a gala banquet at the Royal Palace on Tuesday evening, a cruise with the royal yacht on Wednesday and the Norwegian Government's dinner at the Opera House on Wednesday evening.

The Royal Court has released the following list of heads of state and royals attending the celebrations:

Norway

• Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit
• Princess Märtha Louise
• Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner

Denmark

• Queen Margrethe II
• Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary
• Prince Joachim and Princess Marie (10 May only)

Sweden

• King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia
• Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel
• Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia

**

• Madeleine Kogevinas and Bernhard Mach
• Desirée Kogevinas and Carlos Eugster

Luxembourg

• Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa
• Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie

Monaco

• Prince Albert II

The Netherlands

• King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima
• Princess Beatrix
• Prince Constantijn (9 May only) 

**

• Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau

Belgium

• King Philippe and Queen Mathilde

Spain

• King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia (10 May only)

United Kingdom

• HRH The Countess of Wessex

**

• Lady Elizabeth Shakerley

Greece

• Queen Anne Marie
• Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal
• Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana

Finland

• President Sauli Niinistö and Jenni Haukio

Iceland

• President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and Eliza Reid

All in all 183 guests were present at the Royal Palace on Tuesday. When the royals greeted the people from the balcony, all the grandchildren of the king and queen were present - Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, Maud Angelica Behn, Leah Isadora Behn and Emma Tallulah Behn. They were also included in the official photo which was published on Tuesday night.

In addition to the royals and dignitaries above also representatives of the official Norway were present, and surely also other family members of the king and queen. I wasn't able to watch TV when the guests arrived, so I am not able to give more details at present. Further details about the celebrations can be found at the official website. For photos of some of the guests, go here.

Updated on Wednesday 10 May 2017 at 00:05 (one link replaced).

King Harald and Queen Sonja 80 years' anniversary: Jubilee book published

King Harald turned 80 years old on 21 February, while Queen Sonja will be 80 on 4 July. Next week the official celebrations will take place with royal guests expected from all corners of Europe. in connection with the anniversary Aller Forlag has published a jubilee book titled Sonja & Harald. En kjærlighetshistorie («Sonja & Harald. A Love Story») (2017; ISBN: 9788232503223, softcover, 115 pages). The book costs NOK 149 (USD 17,19/Euro 15,68/GBP 13,28). The editor is Caroline Vagle, who is a royal reporter for the bi-weekly magazine Se og Hør.

The jubilee book covers Their Majesties' life before they met and their life together as Crown Prince and Crown Princess and later King and Queen. The contents:

• Page 10: En prins er født («A Prince is born»)
• Page 22: Borgerjenta («The commoner girl»)
• Page 32: Sonja eller ingen («Sonja or no-one»)
• Page 48: To blir fire («Two becomes four»)
• Page 82: De eventyrlige reisene («The adventurous travels»)
• Page 112: 80 ting du ikke vet («80 things you don't know»)

First of all it is a «table book» filled with great photos from a long public life together. I will report back if I come across any other similar jubilee books.

UK: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to retire

Photo: 2015 Aaron McCracken / Harrisons. Wikimedia Commons.

Yesterday morning I woke up to the news (*) that «The Queen's entire household [had been] called to Buckingham Palace for [an] 'highly unusual' emergency meeting» and rumours were circulating that a member of the royal family had died, with Prince Philip's name being mentioned more than others. The Sun even managed to report that Prince Philip had died. Soon it fortunately turned out that there was nothing extraordinary about the staff meeting, and that the senior royals were all well.

Later on Thursday 4 May, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Philip, who turns 96 on 10 June, was to retire from public duty:

«HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.

Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen. Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time.

The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements.

Her Majesty will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements with the support of members of the Royal Family.»

The Greek-born Prince Philip married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947. Since 1952, The Duke of Edinburgh has carried out 22,191 solo engagements, we were told by Buckingham Palace's Twitter account. 22,191 solo engagements. No wonder that Prince Philip yesterday received praise from all corners of the world for his «70 Years as as Her Majesty's "Rock"». His retirement is well deserved. I would like you to read the following sentence once more, though: «[...] he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time». In his 96th, soon 97th, year! And the Queen will carry on as usual with the support of the rest of her family ...

(*) The link goes to a Daily Mail article which was updated several times after the tweet was posted.

Genealogen nr. 1, 2017

Genealogen nr. 1, 2017, medlemsbladet til Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening, kom i min postkasse i dag, og jeg tenkte at jeg skulle skrive en kort presentasjon av innholdet og deretter fortelle litt om mitt eget hovedbidrag. (Scroll down for an English summary of this blog article.)

Et bilde av innholdsfortegnelsen ble lagt ut på NSFs nettside i slutten av forrige måned da bladet var sendt til trykkeriet, men for søkbarhetens skyld gjengir jeg det mest sentrale innholdet her:

• Formannens spalte: Hvor blir det av kildekritikken?
• Ole Arild Vesthagen: Klokkerfamilien Berger i Gran på Hadeland – slektens opphav i Odalen
• Jan Christensen: Rømning fra Skien fengsel i 1909
• Petter Vennemoe: Manhaffte korporal Niels Christensen Krog – Rettelse
• Jan Christensen: Karen Margrethe Elisabeth Storchs tragiske liv
• Audun Lem: Tre løytnanter fra Sogn i krigen mot svenskene 1807–1814
• Svein Henrik Pedersen: Noen eldre presteslekter i Trøndelag og Nord-Norge
• Elin Galtung Lihaug: Slektsforholdene til Gunvor Galtung Haavik
• Dag Trygsland Hoelseth: Brødrene Rosenbaum som tok slektsnavnet Rogg

I tillegg finner man referater, årsberetning for Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening 2016, regnskap m.m. Blant foreningsstoffet finner man også min lille oppsummering kalt «Status for Slektshistoriewiki» per midten av mars 2017. Selve wikien finner du her. Formannen nevnt over er Rune Nedrud, som også er hovedredaktør for medlemsbladet.

Nytt av året er at forfatterne av slektsartiklene har fått egne presentasjoner på samme måte som i Norsk Slektshistorisk Tidsskrift. Det synes jeg var en god idé. Hvorfor Audun Lem ikke kom med i presentasjonen, vet jeg ikke. Jeg har selv vært medlem i redaksjonen siden 2010, men har først og fremst beskjeftiget meg med korrekturlesing og har ikke hatt noe innflytelse på innholdet ellers, bortsett fra artiklene og annet stoff som jeg selv har bidratt med. Petter Vennemoe er heller ikke presentert, men hans bidrag denne gangen er en rettelse til artikkelen av samme navn i Genealogen nr. 2, 2016. Vennemoe var for øvrig bidragsyter til NSFs store prosjekt Eidsvollsmennene – Hvem var de? fra 2014, og man finner en presentasjon av ham der på side 274.

Ole Arild Vesthagen er en erfaren slektsforsker kjent blant annet for nettstedet Oavesthagen.no (Ole Arilds slektssider). Jan Christensen har drevet nettstedet Skien Genealogiske Side siden 1995. Elin Galtung Lihaug har sittet en årrekke som styremedlem i NSF og har blant annet vært redaktør for antologien Genealogica & Heraldica. Influence on Genealogy and Heraldry of Major Events in the History of a Nation. Proceedings of the XXXIst International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences. Oslo 2014. Svein Henrik Pedersen er historiker og medforfatter av firebindsverket  Orkdalshistoria og for tiden medforfatter av Fosens historie, bind 2.

Mitt hovedbidrag denne gangen er altså artikkelen Brødrene Rosenbaum som tok slektsnavnet Rogg. Som tittelen antyder, så omhandler artikkelen brødrene Halvard, Karl Marius «Kalle» og Henry Conrad Rosenbaum, som i 1939 fikk Justisdepartementets bevilling til å anta slektsnavnet Rogg. I artikkelen fortalte jeg litt om hva som motiverte ønsket om navneskiftet og litt om navnebevillinger som kilde. I tillegg skrev jeg en liten presentasjon av de tre brødrene samt en kort genealogisk oversikt over de tre brødrene og deres nærmeste slektskrets, som inkluderte to halvsøstre, en antatt halvbror samt brødrenes foreldre Henry Conrad Rosenbaum (d.e.) (1878–1949) og Harriet Kristensen (1881–1965).

Jeg kom ikke helt i mål med genealogien – det var fortsatt noen uavklarte spørsmål som stod igjen ved deadline. Det skyldtes delvis at jeg kom litt for sent i gang med prosjektet (og det var jo navnebevillingen jeg først og fremst hadde tenkt å fokusere på), og delvis at jeg ikke var kreativ nok i letingen etter kilder. Etter at jeg leverte artikkelen, har jeg funnet ytterligere informasjon om slektskretsen, og som både utfyller og korrigerer artikkelen, så jeg håper jeg kan komme tilbake med en kort oppfølgerartikkel i neste utgave av Genealogen. Blant de nye funnene er at jeg har funnet både fødselsattesten til brødrenes far Henry Conrad (d.e.), som ble født i Edinburgh i Skottland i 1878, samt vielsesattesten til Henry Conrads foreldre Adolf (Adolph) Rosenbaum og Helle Johanne Nilsen. Dermed har jeg også navnet på Adolfs foreldre. Videre har jeg funnet korrekt fødested og fødselsår for Halvards kone Mary Alice. Dessuten har jeg funnet flere detaljer om den antatte halvbrorens mor, slik at det er mulig å avgrense letingen etter halvbroren til en kortere periode. Jeg har kommet over mer informasjon om halvsøsteren Constanse (Henry Conrads datter fra første ekteskap) i USA. Kanskje kan denne informasjonen lede til en løsning på spørsmålet om hvor det ble av Adolf og Johanne i USA? Jeg har dog foreløbig ikke funnet ut noe mer om halvsøsteren Magdalena Henriette, f. 1909, etter at hun giftet seg i 1928. Jeg jobber videre med alle de uavklarte spørsmålene, og håper som sagt å komme tilbake med en oppfølgerartikkel senere. Forhåpentligvis vil artikkelen i herværende utgave også føre til tips fra leserne?

Slektsforskning handler ikke bare om  systematisk leting i kilder. Av og til er det tilfeldighetene som rår også. Stor var nemlig overraskelsen da jeg under letingen etter dåpen til den antatte halvbroren til Rosenbaum/Rogg-brødrene kom over en dåpsoppføring der min oldefar Oscar var oppgitt å være faren. Fødselen fant sted 4 år før han giftet seg med min oldemor, og funnet har kommet som en stor overraskelse på hele slekten. Så har jeg enda et prosjekt å jobbe med i dagene og månedene fremover ...

Short English summary: This blog article is about the latest issue of Genealogen (no. 1, 2017), the newsletter of the Norwegian Genealogical Society. In addition to a presentation of the main articles, I give some details about my own contribution, Brødrene Rosenbaum som tok slektsnavnet Rogg («The Rosenbaum brothers who took the surname Rogg»), and new findings which will hopefully lead to another article about the Rosenbaum-Rogg family.