Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway has marked another major milestone, attending the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for the first time.
The future queen joined her grandparents, King Harald and Queen Sonja, and her parents, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, for the ceremony at Oslo City Hall, where Venezuelan activist María Corina Machado received the honour for her work in ushering in democracy and peaceful transition from dictatorship to popular rule within her home country.
María Corina Machado couldn’t attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, however, and the award was accepted by her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa. Ana Corina Sosa delivered the laureate lecture on her mother’s behalf and attended an audience at the Royal Palace to meet with King Harald and the rest of the Norwegian Royal Family.
In the lecture, she spoke of growing up in a democracy and the complacency her generation held for their rights. “We assumed freedom was as permanent as the air we breathed. We cherished our rights, but we forgot our duties…By the time we recognized how fragile our institutions had become, a man who had once led a military coup to overthrow the democracy, was elected president. Many thought charisma could substitute the rule of law.”
She continued: “Peace is ultimately an act of love. This love has already set our future in motion. Venezuela will breathe again.”
Although Nobel Laureate, María Corina Machado was not present for the ceremony, she arrived in Oslo later, after the Nobel Peace Prize Banquet—which Crown Prince Haakon attended solo on behalf of the Norwegian Royal Family. She appeared on the balcony of the Grand Hotel and led the crowd below in singing the Venezuelan national anthem.
She has been under a travel ban and lives in hiding, having fled Venezuela in January after a protest in Caracas.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra joined her mother earlier in the day at the Save the Children Peace Prize celebration outside Oslo City Hall. This ceremony is open to students and gives them the opportunity to meet with the Nobel Peace Prize laureates and interview them while also enjoying a concert featuring top Norwegian talent.
