COVER N. 459 - NORWAY

Postmark: Vika Oslo 21.05.2024

Posted on the 21st May; received on the 28th May 2024

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The restless wanderer, the ghost who walks... my friend The Phantom was on the move again... this time to where the sun sometimes forgets to set and the moon refuses to rise ... Danke sehr Herr Phantom!

According to Wikipedia (I know absolutely nothing about the Norwegian monarchy), the current Monarch, King Harald V, born in 1937, is the first monarch born in Norwegian soil since King Olav IV in 1340. 

This would look a bit strange for a national of a country that is almost 900 years old, like myself, but the explanation is easy to obtain since Norway, as we know it today, only became independent in 1905, when it peacefully severed its ties with Sweden, with the dissolution of the  United Kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark, a personal union which had existed since 1814.

Harald had not a quite upbringing. When he was just three years old,  Germany invaded Norway and so his mother, Crown Princess Märtha,  himself and his two sisters , had to flee to the United States where they stayed for the duration of the war, while his father, Crown  Prince Crown Prince Olav, and his grandfather, King Haakon, stayed in London with the Norwegian government-in-exile.

Come to think of it, this story is at the centre of a TV series which aired some years ago on Portuguese TV, called "Atlantic Crossing".

King Harald V is married to Queen Sonja, an Oslo born commoner, since 1968.

The happy couple is the subject of the two "Innland 20g"  nice stamps which Alex used to mail me the cover, part of a set of four issued on 22APR2024, dedicated to "Royal anniversaries", which besides Harald and Sonja, includes another two stamps with the smiling faces of King Hakoon VII (Harald's grandfather) and Princess Ingrid Alexandra (Harald's granddaughter), these last two for domestic service up to 50g (Innland 50g).

Of note is the quality of the portraits on the stamps, which picture the Royal couple under a very common people aura, which I think can only improve their good looks.

One last comment to note that this is probably the cover I've seen with the smallest postmark of all... very clear, but quite small in size.