Lorentzen grave, Asker kirkegård, Norway

© 2021 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

Yesterday on my way home from Easter vacation at Blefjell I made a short stop at Asker kirkegård (Asker Cemetery) in order to take new photos of the Lorentzen grave after the burial of Erling Lorentzen on 22 March. Erling Lorentzen, the widower of Princess Ragnhild, died on 9 March 2021 and was buried next to his wife.

I hadn't visited this cemetery since the summer of 2013 when I among others took photographs of Princess Ragnhild Mrs. Lorentzen's grave following her death and burial the previous year.

Back in 2013 I promised to return with a blog article on other graves in the cemetery, and one of these days I hope to fulfill the promise ... 

Funeral service for Erling Sven Lorentzen

The funeral service for the industrialist Erling Sven Lorentzen, widower of Princess Ragnhild, took place today at Asker Church at noon. Lorentzen died on 9 March 2021, 98 years old. Asker church is where Erling Lorentzen married Princess Ragnhild in 1953.

Due to the pandemic, the number of people attending the funeral was limited to 30 only. From the Norwegian royal family came King Harald, who still is on sick leave following his operation in January, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Märtha Louise and Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner. All the Ferner children were also present.

Erling Lorentzen's eldest son Haakon Lorentzen and his family decided not to travel from Brazil because  the situation there due to the pandemic is so bad at the moment. They had to follow the service on Internet instead. Lorentzen's daughters Ingeborg Lorentzen Ribeiro and Ragnhild Lorentzen Long and their husbands Paulo Ribeiro and Aaron Long have lived in Norweay since last year and could therefore attend. In addition, Ingeborg's daughter Victoria, her husband Felipe Falcão and their son Frederik had travelled from London to say their last farewell. There were also other members of the Lorentzen family present, in addition to Lorentzen's partner Ebba Løvenskiold, Princess Ragnhild's close friend Bitten Giæver-Krogh, who was Ragnhild's maid-of-honor at the wedding in 1953 and Erling Lorentzen's secretary Randi Færden. The only representative of the official Norway was Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen, who held a speech in English where he among others talked about Lorentzen's war effort.

Anne Netland, who is Sjømannskirken - Norwegian Church Abroad's ambulatory pastor in Latin America and knows the Lorentzen family well from her time in Branzil, officiated the service. She spoke both Norwegian and Portugese during the service. As Haakon Lorentzen was absent, his speech was read by his cousin Einar Lie, son of Ingjerd Ragna Lie, née Lorentzen (1914–1999) and Ragnar Holm Lie (1912–1997). Brazil's Ambassador to Norway,  George Monteiro Prata, was meant to attend, but was in quarentine, so his speech was read in Portuguese by Lorentzen's son-in-law, Paulo Ribeiro. Ribeiro also said a few words on his on behalf, this time in Norwegian. 

After the service, the coffin, which was draped in the national flags of Norway and Brazil, were carried out to the grave by Aaron Long, Felipe Falcão, Einar Lie, Jan Lorentzen, Crown Prince Haakon and Alexander Ferner. Erling Lorentzen was then laid to rest next to the grave of Princess Ragnhild, who died in 2012. The headstone had been made ready in advance with Erling S. Lorentzen's name, date of birth and date of death inscribed.

The funeral service was broadcast on the Norwegian TV2 with Trond Norén Isaksen as commentator and who as always did an excellent job.

Funeral service for Erling Sven Lorentzen

The death announcement for Erling Sven Lorentzen, who died on 9 March 2021, 98 years old, was published in Aftenposten and Vareminnesider.no today. The announcement was signed by Lorentzen's 3 children, their spouses, his six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

© 2013 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

The funeral service for the industrialist Erling Sven Lorentzen, who was married to Princess Ragnhild from 1953 until her death in 2012, will take place at Asker Church on Monday 22 March 2021 at noon. Only those invited will be allowed to attend. Others will be able to watch the broadcast via Erling Lorentzen's memorial page at Jolstad.no. Lorentzen will be interred next to his wife at Asker kirkegård (Asker Cemetery).

The Crown Princess Märtha statue outside Asker Church, Norway

The statue of Crown Princess Märtha with her son Prince Harald, now King Harald V, on her arm was made by sculptor Dyre Vaa (1903-1980).

Princess Märtha of Sweden (and of Norway until 1905) (1901-1954) married the then Crown Prince Olav of Norway (1903-1991) at Our Saviour's Church in Oslo in 1929. The couple lived at the Skaugum estate in Asker not far from Asker Church.

The bronze statue was cast in 1959, but first unveiled by King Olav V on 29 August 1969. The original plan was to place the statue in a park planned to be constructed west of Asker, but the statue was finally placed outside Asker Church. The statue is 2,80 m high (including the base the monument is around 5 m high) and the base of the statue is made of syenite.

Present at the unveiling ceremony were besides King Olav and the sculptor also Crown Princess Märtha's siblings Princess Margaretha of Denmark and Prince Carl Bernadotte as well as Crown Prince Harald, Crown Princess Sonja, Princess Astrid Mrs. Ferner, Johan Martin Ferner, Cathrine, Benedikte and Alexander Ferner, Prince Georg and Princess Anne of Denmark, Count Flemming and Countess Ruth of Rosenborg and Asker's mayor Jon Fossum.

(To the right when you pass the Southern gate of the cemetery behind the statue one can find the grave of Crown Princess Märtha's eldest daughter Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930-2012).

Sources: Aftenposten 3 March 1959 No. 104, p. 4; Aftenposten 12 June 1969 No. 261, p. 1; Aftenposten 30 August 1969 No. 397, pp. 1 and 18.

Postscript 7 July 2013 at 23:40:  It should be added that Asker og Bærum Leksikon (Encyclopaedia), 2006, p. 355, claims that the statue was unveiled on 28 September 1969 (after being stored since 1958). This is definately wrong, cf. the newspaper references above. However, the entry about the Crown Princess Märtha monument also claim that it is 4 m high (statue + base), while Aftenposten 12 June 1969 No. 261, says it is about 5 m high. I really have no idea. The monument is named "A happy mother to a little boy" and after all the disagremeents over where to place the statue it was King Olav himself who ended the discussion by expressing his wish that the statue should be outside the church.

Updated on 8 JUly 2013 at 13:15 (corrected "main gate" to "Southern gate").

The King Olav V statue, Asker, Norway

The statue of King Olav V in an admiral's uniform at Asker Torg was unveiled in 1998. The sculptor was Joseph Grimeland (1916-2002).

Grave of Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen, Asker Cemetery, Norway

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen, b. The Royal Palace, Oslo 9 June 1930, d. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 16 September 2012, was the oldest daughter of the then Crown Prince Olav (1903-1991) and Crown Princess Märtha (1901-1954) of Norway.

The funeral service took place at the Palace Chapel in Oslo on 28 September 2012, followed by interment at Asker Cemetery. The three photos above show Princess Ragnhild's grave. An article about the church and cemetery will follow later.

(The photos were all taken on 6 July 2013.)

Earlier articles

• 17 September 2012: Princess Ragnhild Mrs. Lorentzen (1930-2012)
• 18 September 2012: Princess Ragnhild's funeral set for 28 September 2012

Confirmation of Marius Borg Høiby

Marius Borg Høiby, the son of HRH Crown Prince Mette-Marit of Norway and Morten Borg, was confirmed in Asker Church today, 2 September 2012. Besides the Crown Prince family, the confirmation service was attended by King Harald and Queen Sonja.

Go to the online versions of Budstikka, VG and Dagbladet for articles and photos covering the event.

Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway starts school

Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, the youngest child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, will have his first school day tomorrow, Thursday 18 August 2011. The prince is to attend Jansløkka primary school in Asker, the same school which his elder sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra goes to. His half-brother Marius Borg Høiby was also a pupil at Jansløkka until 2010.

Views and News of Norway has today written a little piece, Youngest prince starts school, about Sverre Magnus' big day.

According to the Norwegian Royal Court, Prince Sverre Magnus will be followed to school on Tuesday by his parents as well as his grandmother, Queen Sonja. It could very well be that the other grandmother, Marit Tjessem, will also come along, but she would naturally enough not be included in such a press release.

Postscript 18 August 2011 (20:05): For the record Marit Tjessem was not present when Prince Sverre Magnus had his first school day at Jansløkka in Asker today. See photos and videos at Budstikka.no and VG Nett.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra to attend local school

The Royal Palace in Oslo could earlier this week confirm that Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the eldest child of Crown Prince Haakon and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been registered to start school at Jansløkka in Asker. The school year of 2010-2011 begins on 19 August.

Although the princess will be the first member of the royal house that will attend a neighbourhood school, the choice did not come as a big surprise, as Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son Marius Borg Høiby already goes there.* King Harald V and his children Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Märtha Louise attended Smestad School in Oslo.

I think the Crown Prince couple has made a good choice. It must be much better for the princess to attend a school which is so close to the Skaugum estate, especially as many friends from her kindergarten will join her. Surely the princess will feel more at ease in familiar surroundings.

Go to Gulesider.no to see a map of Asker and Jansløkka School. The Skaugum estate is just north of the school buildings. See also pictures of Jansløkka School here.

[Photo: Jo Michael/The Royal Court]

References

• Aftenposten.no 19 May 2010
• Views and News from Norway 19 may 2010
• Jansløkka Primary School

* It should be added that Marius Borg Høiby will move on to Solvang ungdomsskole (junior high school) in August 2010. (Information added on 28 June 2010 at 21.00.)

17th of May, 2010

The Norwegian National Day is celebrated on 17th of May in memory of the events of 1814, when Norway got its independence and the Constitution was passed. A central element of the celebrations is the children’s parade. Here are some pictures from the parade in Oslo, which is greeted by the Norwegian Royal Family at the Palace balcony.

HM The King's Guard at the head of the parade as usual.

The Mayor of Oslo, Fabian Stang, in the middle. To the left (with a blue tie) the Governing Mayor (leader of the City Government), Stian Berger Røsland.

The Norwegian Royal Family greets the children's parade from the palace balcony. From such a distance, and with only a pocket camera available, this was the best I could manage... I hope to get a better camera in a not too distant future!

Stovner School.

Uranienborg School can be spotted in the background.

First Vice President of the Storting, Øyvind Korsberg, greets the children's parade from the Storting Balcony.

The President of the Storting, Dag Terje Andersen, returns to the balcony after a well-deserved (?) break.

The traditional 17th of May bow with the portrait of King Olav V (1903-1957-1991). I can remember having seen bows with King Harald V's portrait early in his reign, but they seem to have disappeared from the marked. Too bad! I would love to get one! In the meantime I will have to wear the portrait of King Olav...

Photos and articles

• The Crown Prince Family greets the children's parade at Skaugum in Asker (Budstikka.no)
• The children's parade at Skaugum in Asker (Budstikka.no)
  
• 17th of May celebrations in Asker, pictures (Budstikka.no)
• ... and in Oslo (Nettavisen.no)
• ... and in my old home town Sandefjord (SB.no), including a pictures gallery and the traditional laying of wreaths at among others the war graves at Ekeberg cemetery and at the Seamen's Memorial outside Sandefjord church.
• Happy 17th of May! (blog article 16 May 2010)