At concerts, galas, and state occasions, Princess Astrid of Norway always brought a plus-one: a small, wide-eyed chihuahua mix named Wilma, usually settled comfortably in her lap. So when Astrid died on September 11 at 94, it didn't take long for dog lovers to start asking an important question. Who will take care of Wilma?
© Rune Hellestad - CorbisFor days, there was no clear answer. The palace stayed quiet on the matter, and Solplassen, the shelter where Astrid adopted Wilma, shared that the 12-year-old dog would be warmly welcomed back if she needed a home. The facility doubles as a retirement home for older dogs, so a return would have been something of a homecoming.
It won't come to that. In a post on its social media accounts, Solplassen said it had been flooded with messages from dog lovers checking on Wilma, and that both the princess's family and the palace had reassured the shelter. "She is receiving the best care and is now happily living with one of Princess Astrid's children," wrote the shelter.
The family hasn't said which of the five took her in. Cathrine, Benedikte, Alexander, Elisabeth and Carl-Christian, Astrid's children with her late husband, Johan Martin Ferner, have always kept a low profile, and it seems Wilma's new living arrangements will stay just as private.
© Getty ImagesA lifelong dog person
Wilma was far from Astrid's first four-legged companion. According to the Royal Court of Norway, dogs were part of the princess's life from the very beginning; her parents gave her the first one on her second birthday. In her later years, she made a point of adopting rescues, including Wilma's predecessor, a black-and-white dog named Tarzan. "If a dog is not thriving in its current home, it is a privilege to offer it a better life," she told NRK in an interview marking her 93rd birthday, as quoted by the Royal Court.
Losing Tarzan hit her hard, and Wilma filled the gap. "Wilma is everything to me," Astrid told NRK. "A whole new world opened up after she came home. I had lost my previous dog, and I felt a great emptiness. It was wonderful to have her. In place of a broken world, I found a whole world when she came into my life."
The comparison to Queen Elizabeth II and her corgis was hard to miss, and Norwegians made it often.
© Royal House of NorwayThe woman who gave Wilma up
Wilma's royal chapter began with an act of love from someone else entirely. Her first owner was an elderly woman with terminal cancer who, anxious about her dog's future, brought her to Solplassen, in Ås, to find her a new family. In October 2022, that family turned out to be a princess.
"She was very worried about what would happen to Wilma when she was no longer here, so she was very relieved," Marianne Øyen of Solplassen told Norwegian newspaper VG.
Four years later, Wilma has once again outlived an owner who adored her, and once again, someone stepped in to make sure she'd be looked after.
© HEIKO JUNGEThe end of an era
Astrid's funeral takes place today, at Ris Church in Oslo. Her death came just two days after she attended the funeral of her younger brother, King Harald V, who died August 28, making it one more blow in a brutal year for Norway's royal family. The months before brought Marius Borg Høiby's conviction, revelations about Queen Mette-Marit's past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and her own lung transplant.
As the last surviving child of King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha, Astrid was the final link to an entire generation of Norwegian royalty. That generation is now gone, but her little dog, at least, is exactly where she'd want her to be.
