Harkmark Church and Cemetery, Mandal, Norway

Grave of my great-uncle Jakob Trygsland (1910-2001) and his wife Martha Trygsland, née Eikså (1912-2010).

One of the oldest graves at the cemetery - shopkeeper Thomas Knuthsen, who was born at the farm Dosta in Harkmark 16 December 1786 and died the same place on 11 October 1863.

Grave of Andrea Jørgensdatter, b. 18 July 1830, who after 15 1/2 years of marriage to L. Fredriksen, died on 25 December 1865.

The war memorial outside the cemetery walls. Engraved are the names of Thomas Skeie (d. 6 March 1943, he was in the US Army), Alf Fredriksen Harkmark (died in the concentration camp of Natzweiler(-Struthof) 5 January 1944) and Tarald Osnes (died in Dachau 31 March 1945). The red sign, if anyone wonders, says "The children's flower garden. Here all children can plant and water [the flowers]." It seems to be a project for local pupils. I have seen similar signs at other cemeteries.

Harkmark Church in Mandal in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway, celebrates its 400th anniversary this year. I have visited the cemetery on several occasions, but this was the first time since my great-aunt died. The church, which has 135 seats, is protected by law. A book about the church in connection with the anniversary will be published later this year. For photos of the church inside, go to the official website of Mandal parish. The anniversary service will take place on 22 September 2013, to be conducted by the bishop of Agder and Telemark, Stein Reinertsen.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 40th birthday celebrations

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway celebrates her 40th birthday tomorrow, 19 August 2013. Her anniversary was marked today with an outdoor church service in Dronningparken ("The Queen's Park"), which is a part of the Palace Park in Oslo.

In attendance were among others King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, Marius Borg Høiby, Princess Märtha Louise, Ari Behn, Maud Angelica Behn, Leah Isadora Behn, Emma Tallulah Behn and even the Crown Princely dog, Milly Kakao as well as one of her puppies born earlier this year.

Other family members and representatives of various organisations the Crown Princess is involved in were also present. Bishop emeritus Gunnar Stålsett conducted the service. Ever since 2001, the year the then Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby married Crown Prince Haakon, she has marked her birthday by inviting family and friends to a church service in the Palace Chapel, but this year the service was moved outdoors.

See more details as well as photos at VG.no and VL.no.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit's birthday tomorrow will be celebrated privately.

Princess Irina of Romania arrested

It is not often you hear about Princess Irina of Romania, the third daughter of the former King Michael of Romania. But this morning I woke up to the news that she and her husband, John Wesley Walker, had been arrested in her home state of Oregon, USA, accused of having staged cockfighting derbies!

The Press Office of King Michael has released the following declaration:

His Majesty King Michael I has noted with deep sorrow the events related to Princess Irina of Romania, his daughter. His Majesty and the Royal Family as a whole hope that the justice system of the US and the courts of the Oregon state will offer an as equitable and rapid solution as would be possible in this case.

His Majesty also hopes that the presumption of innocence to function, as is normal legally and morally, from the onset to the end of this unfortunate event.

The translation has kindly been provided by Valentin Mandache. His wife Diana has used the same translation at her blog. Diana Mandache has also provided comments made by Princess Irina's daughter Angelica Kreuger in her blog, which is worth reading.

Princess Irina, who was born at Lausanne, Switzerland on 28 February 1953, is the third daughter of the former King Michael (Mihai) of Romania and his wife Anne, née Princess of Bourbon-Parma. She married John Kreuger in 1983 and had two children by him, Michael, b. 1985, and the aforementioned Angelica, b. 1986. After their divorce, Irina married John Wesley Walker in 2007.

Updated on 17 August 2013 at 01:10 (original link to Oregonlive.com replaced with Usatoday.com, as the former seemws to have a virus of some sort, as confirmed by McAfee).

Hoover descendant

Margaret Hoover and John Avlon have become parents to a boy, Jack Avlon, as announced by John Avion's Twitter account on 15 August 2013.

Margaret Hoover, a great-grandchild of President Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), is a political commentator, former Capitol Hill staffer and Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush (2001-2009) as well as the author of the book American Individualism: How A New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party (2011), which I have mentioned in an earlier blog article.

Margaret's husband John is a journalist and among others a contributor to the CNN. They were married at Stanford Memorial Church in Palo Alto, California, USA, on 7 November 2009.

I have mentioned earlier in this blog that I am very much interested in US presidential history and also genealogy. The Hoover family is one of the presidential families I am keeping a file on, so the news of the Avlon-Hoover birth was higly welcomed in this regard!

Postcript 29 August 2013: The baby, which was born at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York on 14 August 2013, is named John Andrew Hoover "Jack" Avlon, cf. West Branch Times Online 23 August 2013.

Updated on 29 August 2013 at 23:55 (postscript added), last time on 30 August 2013 at 09:30 (typo corrected).

UK: Prince and Princess Michael of Kent's first grandchild

Lord Frederick Windsor and his wife Sophie have become parents to a daughter, Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina Windsor, who was born at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles, USA on Thursday 15 August 2013.

Lord Frederick Windsor, a second cousin to the Prince of Wales, is the oldest child and only son of Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent. He married the actress Sophie Winkleman in 2009. According to the Telegraph, the young Miss Maud is no. 42 in the line of succession to the British throne.

Funeral of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau to take place on 16 August 2013

The Dutch Government Information Service (RVD) on behalf of the Royal Family announced yesterday that the funeral service for Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau will take place in the afternoon of Friday 16 August 2013 in the Stulpkerk in Lage Vuursche in the municipality of Baarn (province of Utrecht). The service will be officiated by Reverend Carel A. ter Linden. After the funeral the prince will be interred in the adjacent cemetery. A memorial service will take place later in the year.

Prince Friso and his brothers grew up at the Drakestein Castle (Kasteel Drakensteyn) closeby, and as Princess Beatrix is to take up permanent residence at the castle later this year, it means she will be able to visit her son's grave regularly, as the cemetery is only a short walk from the castle. In fact, as commented by Berno at the Benelux Royals Message Board yesterday, the then Queen Beatrix donated in 2008 400 square meters of land to the church as there was no more space for new graves.

After the announcement of Prince Friso's death, the Dutch media seemed to be certain that the prince was to be interred in the royal crypt at Delft. Personally I think it is a good idea "to bring Prince Friso home" to the place where he grew up. It is also nice that he will be buried in a public cemetery.

The Norwegian Royal Court confirmed today that King Harald is to attend the funeral service on Friday. The king was one of Prince Friso's sponsors (godparents) and was also present at Friso and Mabel's wedding in 2004 together with Queen Sonja. According to the official program of the Norwegian Royal Court, the service will start at 3 p.m.

Death of Prince Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau

The Dutch Government Information Service earlier today announced the death of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, younger brother of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands:

His Majesty the King announces with deep regret that His Royal Highness Prince Johan Friso Bernhard Christiaan David, Prins van Oranje-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg passed away this morning at Palace Huis ten Bosch in the Hague at age 44.

Prince Friso has died of complications related to the hypoxic brain injury, which he suffered as the result of his skiing accident in Lech, Austria on 17 February 2012.

Following initial treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the Innsbruck University Hospital, Prince Friso was transferred in early March 2012 to the Wellington hospital in London, his place of residence. In November 2012, Prince Friso begun showing signs of limited awareness ('minimal consciousness') and remained in that state since then. In early July 2013, he was transferred to Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The Royal family wholeheartedly thanks all persons who have looked after Prince Friso for their excellent and devoted care.

Prince Johan Friso, who preferred to be called just Prince Friso,* was the second son of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, who reigned from 1980 to 2013, and Prince Claus (1926-2002), b. von Amsberg. Prince Friso lost his title Prince of the Netherlands and his rights of succession to the Dutch throne when he in 2004 married Mabel Wisse Smit without consent of the Dutch parliament. The government had refused to forward a marriage bill to the parliament after it was disclosed that the then Ms. Smit had not told the truth about her former relationship to a "drugs baron".

According to the official website Prince Friso studied mechanical engineering at the College of Engineering of the University of California at Berkeley, USA and later also aerospace engineering at the Delft University of Technology, graduating in 1994.

From 1990 onwards, the Prince also studied economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, graduating in 1995. In 1997, he studied and received an MBA at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France. At the time of the skiing accident in Austria, he was a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of URENCO in Stoke Poges, England.

Prince Friso leaves behind his wife as well as two daughters, Luana (b. 2005) and Zaria (b. 2006).

King Willem-Alexander and his family returned from their vacation in Greece today. Information on Prince Friso's funeral service will be disclosed later.

Prince Friso's obituary published by Telegraph.co.uk can be read here.
 
Postscript 14 August 2013: *A correspondent has kindly informed me that Prince Claus on the day his second son "met" the press for the first time after his birth, informed that Friso was going to be his call name (this is on tape as well, as broadcast on Dutch TV on Monday evening). I had got the impression that the now late Prince Friso only in later years had expressed his wish only to be referred to as Prince Friso, but I was obviously wrong. Prince Friso was quite often presented as "Prince Johan Friso" in the media, so I guess I am not the only one who have got stuck by the (incorrect) reference. I will try to restrict myself to Friso from now on ...

Last time updated on Wednesday 14 August 2013 at 20:20 (postscript added).