“While living in the United States my mother worked to strengthen the already close ties between Norway and the U.S.,” King Harald V said. “I hope this statue will serve as a symbol of enduring friendship between our countries and our people.”
The statue of the Crown Princess depicts a tall and high-cheekboned woman, smartly dressed in the style of the 1940s: pearls and heels, hat and handbag. She seems to be striding forward, her right arm raised.
“She was a quiet but strong person,” said sculptor Kirsten Kokkin, who talked to the royal family to find the details that would properly convey her presence. “She’s wearing a broche she had got in the U.S, and was known for wearing pearls. And she’s carrying a bouquet of lilies – the Märtha lily that she gave name to,” Kokkin said.
On behalf of the Norwegian American Foundation, former Vice President Walter Mondale conferred the statue upon the people of Norway. “She will be seen every day by thousands of people, and will be a symbol of our two nations’ bond and abiding principles,” Mondale said to the crowd of around 800 people.
From the left: Knut Vollebaek, Queen Sonja, Chairman of the Norwegian American Foundation Loren Anderson, King Harald V, Walter Mondale, Princess Ragnhild and her husband Erling Lorentzen, CEO of the Norwegian American Foundation Kim Nesselquist, the creator of the statue Kirsten Kokkin, Johan Martin Ferner and Princess Astrid, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Petersen.
The story of how Crown Princess Märtha ended up in Washington, looking as if she might march down Massachusetts Avenue and to the White House, began on the night of Aug. 15, 1940. The Crown Princess, her daughters, Princess Ragnhild, 10, and Princess Astrid, 8, and 3-year-old Prince Harald, the heir to the Norwegian throne, had escaped to Sweden and to a Finnish port called Petsamo, on the Barents Sea. There they walked aboard the American Legion, a ship stuffed with more than 800 Americans and diplomatic evacuees eager to escape the clutches of the advancing Nazis.
Crown Prince Olav and King Haakon V had escaped to London to set up a government in exile, while the Crown Princess and the three children were given refuge by President Roosevelt. They stayed a few months at the White House before settling into a Tudor-style mansion in Pooks Hill in Bethesda, Md. The Crown Princess played an active role in the Red Cross and helped foster relations between Norway and the U.S. through her friendship with President and Mrs. Roosevelt.