Princess Ingrid Alexandra says goodbye to family tradition

Since January 2024, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, has been living in the Skjold camp in Tromsø, in the far north of Norway. The daughter of Princess Mette-Marit, 50, and Prince Haakon, 50, is currently completing her military service there. For Ingrid Alexandra, this means the other way around: When her family appears on the balcony on the occasion of the national holiday, she has to appear in her uniform. At the same time, she answers the question that has been bothering many of her fans and observers for months: How is the Norwegian princess addressed in the military?

Princess Ingrid Alexandra has said goodbye to one of her first names

Weeks before Ingrid Alexandra’s arrival in Tromsø, experts were puzzling over this seemingly small detail. Because: Soldiers usually wear their last names on their clothing. The journalist Caroline Vagle speculated in January: “It is likely that the uniform of the heir to the throne will be designed like that of her father when he was in the civil service. Pictures from that time show that Crown Prince Haakon is written on the name tag.”

However, Ingrid Alexandra’s current appearance on the national holiday on May 17th paints a different picture: if you look closely, you will see a name tag on her uniform. According to this, the princess is only addressed as “Alexandra” – and seems to have said goodbye to her first name, at least for a short time. The Norwegian website “Se og Hør” also notes that the princess also chose not to have her title embroidered on her uniform. This means that the 20-year-old falls out of the mold of her royal predecessors: Haakon’s first name and his title of Crown Prince have always been visible on her father’s uniform. It is still unclear where the decision to address the 20-year-old princess only as “Alexandra” comes from.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra: Problems in her military camp?

At the “Home Base of the 2nd Battalion and the Pioneer Battalion” in Tromsø, Princess Ingrid Alexandra is one of around 10,000 young Norwegians who are called up for military service every year. The camp, where the young royal currently lives and works, is located in the town of Øverbygd. It is around 21 hours by car from Oslo – Ingrid Alexandra’s new home is far in the north and very isolated. A circumstance that the princess probably had to get used to, after all, she previously lived in a busy Oslo neighborhood. And the northern Norwegian temperatures will also take some getting used to.

The Norwegian website “Se og Hør” also reported on difficult circumstances in the Skjold camp: the housing was very cramped, and the article spoke of “space problems”. The solution? Soldiers are allowed to store fewer personal items and equipment in their small rooms.

The Norwegian “Forsvarets Forum” also wrote in May 2023 about 150 cases of sudden nosebleeds in soldiers. The Forum quoted Viktor Fladmoe, a union representative for the Norwegian army, as saying: “The soldiers have stated that it is healthier when they go into the field for exercises because of the air quality in the barracks. The air becomes incredibly stuffy when “You live together in a small room with poor ventilation.” As early as May 2022, 118 cases of nosebleeds were counted within a week. It is still unclear whether there is a connection between the poor air quality and the incidents. The affected soldiers were all medically examined. Similar cases also occurred in military camps in Porsangermoen, Kirkenes and Bodø.

Sources used: seher.no, svenskdam.se, forsvaretsforum.no

cre
Gala