Kronprinsesse Märtha, Statue in Sentrum, Oslo, Norway

Kronprinsesse Märtha is a bronze statue in the Palace Park in Oslo, set on a polished dark stone pedestal and surrounded by grass, yellow and blue flowers, and a dirt path. The figure stands in a forward-leaning pose with her right arm raised to greet, while her left hand holds a small handbag and bouquet.

The Oslo statue was unveiled in 2007 as a gift from Norway’s parliament to King Harald on his 70th birthday, and King Harald was close to tears as he revealed the likeness of his mother. It is a bronze replica of an earlier 2005 statue outside the Norwegian ambassador’s residence in Washington, which honored her work for Norway while in exile during World War II.

The raised right hand with two fingers extended was remembered by the sculptor from her own childhood as the peculiar waving style of a stately woman. Visitors often pause to study that gesture, which local families once described to children as how a truly royal woman waved.

The statue stands on open grass in the Palace Park, so a short walk from the surrounding paths brings you right up to it without stairs or gates. Sturdy shoes help because the ground can be soft after rain, and the open setting means wind or sun exposure depending on the season.

The same figure appears in three cities that shaped Crown Princess Märtha’s life: Oslo, Washington, D.C., and Stockholm, where a replica was unveiled in 2008 outside the Norwegian church that bears her name. Few notice that the Oslo version faces the royal palace that lacked a queen for fifty-two years after her death.