Princess Astrid has died
Photo: Ola Vatn / The Royal Court
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner, passed away on Friday 11 September at the age of 94. She died exactly two weeks after her brother King Harald V, and only two days after attending his funeral. King Haakon has ordered flags to fly at half mast from the Palace balcony.
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner, has died. She passed away on Friday 11 September at the age of 94. The Palace announced her death in a statement on Friday afternoon.
The Princess died exactly two weeks after her brother, King Harald V, and only two days after she attended his funeral in Oslo Cathedral.
Queen Sonja and Princess Astrid on the Princess's 94th birthday on 12 February this year. Photo: Ola Vatn / The Royal Court of Norway
• The King's announcement
His Majesty The King has received with great sorrow the news that Princess Astrid has passed away. The Princess died today, Friday 11 September, at the age of 94, the Palace statement reads.
King Haakon writes of his aunt that throughout a long life she represented the royal house in a warm and dutiful manner, and that at only 22 she had to step into the role of first lady when his grandmother, Crown Princess Märtha, died.
In her work Princess Astrid was always particularly concerned with care and inclusion for the most vulnerable in society. She was deeply loyal and always carried out her duties with commitment, presence and an infectious good humour, the King writes.
He adds that the family learned a great deal from her, and that she was not afraid to speak her mind. Her passing is a great loss to us. We will miss her, he writes.
The King has decided that flags will fly at half mast from the Palace balcony on Friday and on the day of the funeral. On Friday afternoon the front page of the Royal House website carried a black and white photograph of the Princess with the words Princess Astrid has passed away.
• The family's tribute
The family has written its own tribute: Dear mother, dear Princess Astrid. Thank you for being the best mother we could have had. Throughout your life you were there for us, with love and wisdom, warmth and good humour.
You were there for grandfather King Olav and uncle King Harald, present, loyal and dutiful. And for those who needed a little extra thought, you always showed genuine care. In our grief we stand together in gratitude. Thank you for all the good memories. You will always have a large place in our hearts.
The tribute is signed Cathrine, Benedikte, Alexander, Elisabeth and Carl-Christian Ferner with their families.
• She attended her brother's funeral
Princess Astrid during the funeral service for King Harald V in Oslo Cathedral on Wednesday 9 September. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / POOL
On Wednesday 9 September the Princess was present in Oslo Cathedral when her brother was laid to rest. Her wreath read: Thank you for everything we have shared. Your Astrid.
The week before, the Royal House had shared photographs of the Princess alone in front of King Harald's coffin in the Palace Chapel.
Princess Astrid beside her brother's coffin in the Palace Chapel. Photo: The Royal Court of Norway
King Harald once described his sister as boundlessly loyal.
• Norway's first lady from the age of 22
Princess Astrid took on the role of Norway's first lady in 1954, when her mother, Crown Princess Märtha, died. She was then the same age as Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra is today, 22.
She represented the royal house at home and abroad, often alongside her father, King Olav. When Crown Prince Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968, the new Crown Princess took over the role.
The Princess at the Palace window after her brother's death. Photo: The Royal Court of Norway
• Her marriage to Johan Martin Ferner
On 12 January 1961 she married the businessman and sailor Johan Martin Ferner in Asker church. In doing so she gave up the title of Royal Highness and the annual allowance of 50,000 kroner.
Ferner had been married before, and it was her father, King Olav, who made the marriage possible. After the wedding the King decided she would be styled Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner.
The couple had five children. Johan Martin Ferner died in 2015.
• Care for the vulnerable
The Palace website says that in her work the Princess placed particular emphasis on care for the vulnerable in society and on the inclusion of those who are a little different.
She was patron of the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association from 1954 and of Dysleksi Norge, and the organisation Dissimilis was close to her heart. She also chaired the Crown Princess Märtha Memorial Fund. In 2025 she had 17 official engagements in her diary.
On her 70th birthday in 2002 she was awarded a state honorary pension of 396,000 kroner a year, in recognition of her service to Norway.
• A trained ceramicist
In her twenties the Princess spent nine years as an apprentice to the ceramicist Halvor Sandø in Oslo, and had her own ceramics workshop fitted out at Skaugum. That she was a trained ceramicist was little known until, at the age of 72, she held her first exhibition in Namsos.
• The past year
Earlier this year the Princess was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and therefore missed the state visit from Belgium. Her last official engagement was on Tuesday 12 May, when she attended the 100th anniversary of the Blindern and Vinderen branch of the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association.
On 15 May the Royal House announced that she had been admitted to Rikshospitalet with heart failure and had been fitted with a temporary pacemaker. An update on 1 July said the Princess wished to thank everyone for their warm greetings.
On her 94th birthday on 12 February, Queen Sonja said in a speech that Astrid might be the oldest princess in the world. Her elder sister, Princess Ragnhild, Mrs Lorentzen, died in 2012 at the age of 82.