King carries first grandchild to baptismal font
More than 200 invited guests filled the chapel in Oslo's Royal Palace Wednesday to watch King Harald carry his new granddaughter, Maud Angelica, to her christening ceremony. Baby Maud had no less than five godmothers and godfathers on hand.
Yet another godmother was named as well, Princess Alexandra of Berleburg, a niece of Danish Queen Margrethe, but she wasn't present at the ceremony.
Maud Angelica is the daughter of King Harald's daughter Princess Martha Louise and her husband Ari Behn. Her godfathers included her uncle, Crown Prince Haakon, and two close friends of Ari Behn, actor Kaare Conradi and Labour Party politician Trond Giske.
Godmothers in addition to Princess Alexandra included another close friend of Princess Martha Louise, Marianne Ulrichsen, and Ari Behn's sister, Anja Sabrina Bjoershol.
Oslo Bishop Gunnar Staalsett performed the ceremony, which was deemed a private affair but was held not coincidentally on what would have been the 100th anniversary of Maud Angelica's great-grandfather, the late King Olav V.
Even though Maud Angelica technically now stands in line to inherit the throne in Norway, she has not been granted the title of "princess." Most agreed, however, that she was at least "princess for the day" on Wednesday.
More ceremonies to mark the late monarch's 100th birthday were planned for Wednesday afternoon.
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