Coloradans get quick look at real Norwegian royalty

'Fairy Tale Princess' charms way through the city on book tour

James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 22, 2006 at midnight

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Soren klype!

By the beard of Odin, was that - could it be - Norway's Princess Martha Louise perambulating around Denver on Friday, creating an uncommon experience for commoners in the Queen City of the Plains?

You bet your bottom kroner.

Not that the 34-year-old princess's arrival was any kind of crowning achievement. In the first place, as she admitted with a laugh over a soy latte, "I don't have a crown. I guess I'm deprived, huh?

"But I do have one tiara, and sometimes I also borrow my mom's."

In the second place, the absence of a crown is the whole point of her children's book, Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns. That, by the way, was the whole point of her being in Denver, as she spent the morning promoting the book at local TV stations.

Later, in the evening, she motored up to Longmont, signing copies of her oeuvre, making Norwegianphiles of all she met with her down-to-earth warmth and charm.

In fact, the princess is so easygoing there are Buicks that are more Regal than she is. Let's face it, you gotta love a princess whose favorite American cuisine is "chicken wings. They're soooo good."

Then again, princess or no, she doesn't know how to act special. After all, "I didn't grow up in a tower; I don't have long hair out the window and down to the ground."

Instead of ivory towers and palaces, there were public schools. On top of that, she even has a marketable skill - she's a licensed physical therapist as well as an author.

Being a princess isn't odd because "I don't know anything different. Yes, it's strange - I'm the only woman in Norway whose mother is a queen and father is a king. But that's my life. It's like being the child of a dentist; that's what you know."

Even though she's the oldest child of King Harald and Queen Sonja, Princess Martha (pronounced MAR-ta) will never become queen. At the time she was born, the succession protocol mandated that sons took precedence over daughters. Ergo, her younger brother Haakon is ahead of her on the royal ladder.

That is fine with her. She's content to be a princess because "it's an honor to represent such a wonderful country. I feel privileged."

She feels less privileged to sometimes live in a goldfish bowl.

Ask her what she likes least about being a royal and a little sliver of Nordic ice stabs her voice as she replies "Paparazzi."

Then again, lamebrained media types can be a bit much, too.

Last year when she was in New York promoting the book, the princess was on a Fox News show when she heard, "So, have you been in a catfight with Fergie?"

Although she speaks Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and English and can "get along" in French and Dutch, the Princess found herself universally speechless.

Conversely, she's impassioned when talking about the "importance of reading aloud to children," how it's important because it nurtures their imaginations. And "if you don't have your imagination, how are you going to survive in the world?"

The mother of two young daughters, the princess doesn't restrict her reading to her own offspring.

Over the years, she's gained fame as the "Fairy Tale Princess" because of appearances all around Norway - on TV and in person - during which she reads fairy tales to children.

Nor is her reading prowess confined to her homeland.

"She's an incredibly charming, captivating storyteller, a real entertainer," said Mike Sevig, head of Skandisk, the U.S. publisher of her book - which has sold 15,000 copies, plus 30,000 in Norway.

When she isn't being captivating, Sevig says the princess "is a real hoot (with) a wonderful sense of humor."

Given her lack of royal airs, it's not surprising that Princess Martha travels with a smaller entourage than the average pro basketball player. Friday, her "posse" consisted of Sevig and his wife, Else, protocol adviser Mari Sorli, Norwegian police superintendent Tom Johansen and driver Eirik Thune-Larsen, a local Norwegian expatriate.

And instead of a limousine, the princess was cruising in a Chevy Tahoe. (Although, wouldn't a Fjord Expedition have made more sense?)

Within two weeks, she'll head to her home in Lommedalen, outside of Oslo, to complete her next project - a collection of fairy tales from around the world. The princess is excited because "fairy tales are the backbone of storytelling. They are what we have in common with each other: our emotions, our dreams."

And with that, it was time for her to attend a lunch with the local chapter of the Sons of Norway, a fraternal organization that, hopefully, added chicken wings to the menu.

But even if it didn't, well, small matter. With a successful children's book, two nifty children and access to two tiaras, chances are Norway's Fairy Tale Princess has a pretty good shot at living happily ever after.

Book signing

• Princess Martha Louise will read and sign books today from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Denver Public Library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, and 3 to 5 p.m. at the Sons of Norway, 6610 W. 14th Ave., Lakewood.

meadowj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2606

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