Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Blaðsíða 270

LE NORD
260
as a consequence of this development she regained the full in-
dependence by seceding from the union with Sweden in 1905. In
order to demonstrate its spirit of friendship towards Sweden the
Norwegian Parliament offered the crown of Norway to one of
the younger sons of King Oscar II, and when this offer was
refused, the next choice of Norway was the Danish Prince Char-
les, who then ascended the throne as King Haakon VII. So his
wife, the British Princess Maud, the daughter of King Edward
VII, became the Queen of Norway. It ought to be noted that
both of them, being grand-children of King Christian IX of Den-
mark, were able to lead their descendency up to King Haakon V
of Norway, who died in the year 1319.
It fitted well in with the historical traditions that the first
queen of the new independent Norway came from England. With
no other country outside Scandinavia had Norway entertained
so close connections. As, towards the end of the i8th century,
the independence movement began to rise in Norway, the leaders
were people with outspoken English sympathies. When, in the
times of war, Napoleon impatiently exclaimed: “Every merchant
is an Englishman”, and then from the North the adage added:
“Every Norwegian is a merchant”, the conclusion to be made
evidently was an exaggeration, but doubtless pointed to an es-
sential truth. As a matter of fact, the constitution of 1814, that
still is the law of the country, in many respects took the consti-
tutional state of England as an example.
In 1905, Queen Maud came to live in one of the most de-
cidedly democratic countries in the world. It is characteristic that
nobility was completely abolished there as early as 1821, and
at that date in fact hardly any nobility existed. So, manifestly,
in the capital of Norway, there could be no question of keeping
a stately court in the English fashion. But this proved to be
exactly in agreement with the taste of Queen Maud.
She hated to live on exhibition, she had a horror of publicity,
she wanted just a home, and together with King Haakon she
established the most simple-fashioned court one could imagine.
She loved gardening, and behind the fences of the royal farm at
Bygdöy she planned and put up a most attractive parterre of
flowers. Out there she felt free and was at her ease more than
anywhere else. Besides she was a sporting woman, she took up
the Norwegian wintersports and became very clever at'skiing.