Viking Magazine - May 2021 - Cover3

Ambassador's Insights
The Crown Princess and the President
BY ANNIKEN KRUTNES
the close relationship
between our two
countries' governments.
The story is
emblematic of the
Norwegian-American
bond in general. In the
mid-1800s, Norway
was an impoverished
nation, and countless
Norwegians voyaged to
America in search of a
better life.
S
he's holding a small purse, wearing
fashionable gloves, a string of
pearls around her neck. A hat sits
atop her head at a jaunty angle. She is
waving to passersby, all day, every day,
indefatigable.
She's Crown Princess Märtha, and her
statue, by Norwegian sculptor Kirsten
Kokkin, has stood in front of the
Norwegian Ambassador's Residence in
Washington, DC since 2005.
When the Nazis invaded Norway
in 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt
invited her to Washington, while her
husband, Crown Prince Olav, and his
father, King Haakon VII, established a
government-in-exile in London.
Märtha, 39, brought her three young
children, and stayed briefly at the White
House before moving into a home in
Bethesda, Maryland. They didn't return
to Norway until after the war in 1945.
She and President Roosevelt formed a
remarkable bond during that time, and
would maintain a lifelong friendship
that is the subject of a recent dramatic
series on PBS, " Atlantic Crossing. "
The series, although fictional, is based
on events from our recent past that
generate interest now-demonstrating
It was a hard life, but America was a
land of opportunity, and it welcomed
Norwegians much as President
Roosevelt would welcome the royal
family a century later.
Thanks to that Great Migration, it
is estimated that there are now more
Norwegian-Americans in the United
States than there are Norwegians in
Norway.
One of Märtha's children, Harald,
would become our current King.
Norway would roll up its sleeves after
World War II and become the thriving,
modern society we know today, thanks
to sound economic policies, natural
resource management and distribution
of wealth.
Through it all, Norway and the
United States have remained friends.
Norway will always be grateful to
the United States for its invaluable
assistance during and after the war, and
for continuing to be our closest ally.
We are happy to give back, by
standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the
United States in trouble spots around
the globe, by working together to
combat climate change, by sharing our
expertise on renewable energy, and
by providing insight on sustainable
management of the ocean's vast
resources.
We celebrate our Constitution on
May 17, Norway's Constitution Day.
The document defines much of what
we stand for, and it draws heavily from
America's own Constitution. They are
the world's second-oldest and oldest
constitutions still in use, respectively.
Freedom, basic human rights for
all, the rule of law, and democracy
underpin our societies and are part
of our shared value system. We must
continue nurturing those values and our
democratic systems of government. We
see these values challenged every day
around the world, and the fragility of
our democratic way of life has become
evident.
Many of you will celebrate May 17
in Norwegian-American communities
in the United States. I hope you will
reflect upon our forefathers who put
those values into writing and charted the
course to where we are today.
About the Author
Anniken Krutnes is
Norway's ambassador
to the United States.
An expert in security
policy, the law of the
sea and Arctic issues,
she has previously
served as Deputy Director General of
the Department of Security Policy, as
Norway's Ambassador for Arctic and
Antarctic Affairs, and as ambassador
to the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
facebook.com/
NorwegianEmbassyinWashington/
@NorwayAmbUSA
sonsofnorway.com VIKING MAY 2021 47
PHOTO BY PONTUS HÖÖK
PHOTO BY PONTUS HÖÖK
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Viking Magazine - May 2021

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