Maud Angelica Behn is the eldest grandchild of Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja. In 1990, the Norwegian constitution was changed, introducing full cognatic primogeniture to the Norwegian throne, so that the eldest child, regardless of sex, comes first in the line of succession. However, this change was made without displacing Crown Prince Haakon, as it only affects those born after 1989. Controversially, women born between 1971 and 1989 (in practice, only Behn's mother Märtha Louise), were given succession rights, but primogeniture would not apply. This was controversial. At present, she is fifth in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne.[8]
Education
The Behn family lived in Islington, London, then in New York, and finally in Lommedalen, a valley outside Oslo.[9]
On 5 August 2016, her parents began divorce proceedings,[11][12] which were finalized in 2017.[13] Ari Behn died by suicide on Christmas Day, 2019, and was buried in Oslo Cathedral.[14]
Behn made a speech at her father's funeral and later talked about his death. In an article devoted to the speech, Aftenposten commented "It does not get more powerful than this".[15]
For her public thoughts on mental illness and suicide, she was awarded the Acute Psychiatry Prize for 2020. In October 2021, she published her first book, Threads of Tears,[16] her debut as a poet and illustrator, which tells the story of a girl whose life is dark but who learns to weave the threads she cries.[17]
Ten thousand copies were printed,[18] and on release the book went straight to first place on the Norwegian Booksellers Association bestseller list.[19][20]
Behn regularly publishes her own drawings on Instagram.[21] In 2021, Princess Märtha Louise stated that she was planning to move to the United States with her daughters when the COVID-19 pandemic was out of the way, but they did not.[22]
^"The Royal House of Norway". www.royalcourt.no. Retrieved 2024-09-26. The members of the Norwegian Royal House are Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja and Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra. The members of the Royal Family are in addition the Crown Prince and Crown Princess's other children, His Highness Prince Sverre Magnus and Mr Marius Borg Høiby; Her Highness Princess Märtha Louise, Miss Maud Angelica Behn, Miss Leah Isadora Behn, Miss Emma Tallulah Behn and Her Highness Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner.
