Olav to Martha

Olav to Maertha

Almost too easy is the question: "Why is Crown Prince Olav of Norway so much like Edward of Wales?"

They have in common:

English birth;

Oxford;

Grandfather Edward VII;

Sporting spills*

German blood;

Nice faces, figures, eyes.

Therefore, stout Norwegian hearts thumped for joy last week when Swedish King Gustav V announced the engagement of his niece, Princess Maertha, to Norway's Olav.

Particularly joyous was Norway's Oslo. There the Storting suspended all parliamentary business while Oslo's Hambro, the nation's stern speaker, led a barking Norwegian cheer. Appropriately enough; Norsk Kron Prins Olav was not there to hear. With gallant stealth he had slipped off to Stockholm and Sveriges Princessa Maertha Sofia Lovisa Dagmar Thyra./-

Blase Swedes are used to this sort of thing. Not quite three years ago Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium eased similarly into Stockholm on the eve of his engagement to Princess Maertha's sister Astrid, now Crown Princess of the Belgians.

Maertha is 27.

*Edward's into mud (horses), Olav's into snow (skis).

/-Olav used to be Prins Alexander Edward Christian Frederik of Danmark; but when his father was made King of Norway (1905) he was given one name and one alone, Olav.