Princess Astrid of Norway, sister of the late King Harald V, has died aged 94 on 11 September 2026, two days after attending his state funeral. Born on 12 February 1932, she served as a trusted public representative of the monarchy and fulfilled many First Lady duties during her father King Olav V’s reign. She married Johan Ferner in 1961, relinquishing her royal style and place in the line of succession, and devoted much of her life to charity work, notably supporting young people with dyslexia. She is survived by three sons and two daughters.
Princess Astrid of Norway Dies Aged 94 — Passed Away Two Days After King Harald V’s State Funeral
Princess Astrid in 2025: in her later years, she was often accompanied by her chihuahua, Wilma - Stian Lysberg Solum
Princess Astrid Maud Ingeborg of Norway, who died aged 94 on 11 September 2026, was a steady and discreet presence in the Norwegian royal family for decades. The second daughter of King Olav V and Princess Martha of Sweden, and the elder sister of the late King Harald V, she combined duty, charity work and a lifelong commitment to public service.
Crown Princess Martha of Norway with her two daughters Princess Ragnhild (left) and Princess Astrid - Bettmann
Early Life and Wartime Exile
Astrid was born on 12 February 1932 at Villa Solbakken in Oslo. A great-granddaughter of King Edward VII, she was a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and, at birth, stood 18th in the line of succession to the British throne. She spent her early childhood on the royal estate of Skaugum with her parents and siblings until the German invasion of Norway in April 1940 forced the family to flee. While her father, then Crown Prince Olav, served with the Norwegian government-in-exile in Britain, Crown Princess Martha took Astrid and her siblings first to Sweden and later to the United States for the duration of World War II.
With Crown Prince Harald, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, King Olav V and Crown Princess Sonja in 1981 - Erik Thorberg
Education and Role In The Royal Household
Astrid read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Oxford. After a series of family tragedies in the 1950s — her mother’s death from cancer in 1954 and her grandfather King Haakon VII’s incapacitation after an accident in 1955 — she assumed a more visible public role. When her father became King Olav V in 1957, Astrid effectively carried out many First Lady duties because the king never remarried and her elder sister Ragnhild lived in Brazil.
Greeting her brother in 2016 - Ned Alley
Marriage And Change In Status
In the late 1950s Astrid fell in love with Johan Ferner, an Olympic silver-medalist sailor and the son of a department store owner. Their relationship met resistance from conservative elements and the Church because Ferner was a commoner and a divorcé. Reportedly, Astrid threatened to renounce her royal duties unless her father approved. They married in 1961; because the Bishop of Oslo refused to officiate, the retired Bishop of Nidaros conducted the ceremony. Upon marriage she relinquished the style “Royal Highness,” her annual allowance and her place in the Norwegian line of succession and was thereafter styled "Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner." She nonetheless continued to represent the crown publicly until Crown Prince Harald’s 1968 marriage to Sonja Haraldsen.
Alone with King Harald's coffin in 2026 - Det kongelige hoff
Charity Work And Public Service
Princess Astrid remained an active and respected public figure. She chaired the Crown Princess Martha Memorial Fund, a charitable trust supporting social and humanitarian projects, and she was patron to multiple organisations with a particular focus on women's causes and support for young people with dyslexia — a condition she herself had. In recognition of her long service to the monarchy, the Norwegian government awarded her an honorary pension in 2002.
Final Days And Legacy
Astrid remained close to her brother King Harald. On 27 August 2026 she was photographed leaving the National Hospital in Oslo after spending several hours at his bedside, one day before his death. She made her last public appearance at his state funeral on 9 September and died two days later, on 11 September 2026. Her husband, Johan Ferner, predeceased her in 2015. She is survived by their three sons and two daughters.
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner
Born 12 February 1932 — Died 11 September 2026
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