By John Choate

The 1st pedigree lists a Scot, Malcolm MacLeod [GMB3-28F] as the 13th great grandson of a Scot William Sinclair [LCCN-H49]. 

This column is a series about the hobby of family history using  familysearch.org and relativefinder.org. Most anyone can conveniently pinpoint known relationships with prominent  founding fathers, celebrities, and religious leaders. English and Scottish descendants may connect with some 700 people in the data base, if their pedigrees are in Family Search. As of 2024, Family search has 1.67 billion searchable people, with 530 million sources to increase accuracy.  Because Donald John Trump Sr’s ancestors  have many descendants, he has cousins by the dozens. The family trees come from familysearch.org.  Let’s review the Norwegian Royal lines.

       Since the records go back many centuries, many of the names have had whole books of biographies recording their stories. Many biographies  are featured in the Dictionary of National Biography. The seven character code in brackets [ ]  after a person’s name is the code to find them in FamilySearch.org.  The country is Norway and the people are Norwegians.

The Kingdom of  Norway is in Scandinavia, opposite Scotland facing west toward the North Sea. About half of Norway is North of the Arctic circle, 66.5 degrees north latitude, where the sun never sets in the summer, mid June to mid July, and never shines in the winter.  The Church of Norway is described as an evangelical Lutheran Protestant Christianity denomination, with Christianity as the state religion since 1020 AD.  The reformation dated from 1536 AD, so the Norwegian monarch was the church head from 1537 AD to 2012 AD.  In 1845 AD, the Dissenter Act allowed other religions in Norway. This brief summary is appropriate because until 2012 AD, the constitutional head of the church was King of Norway, who is stlll obliged to profess as a Lutheran, and the church reports three in five population as membership.

Norway is close to the size of Montana, and borders Sweden, Finland and Russia. According to sources, Norway was created in 872 AD, and has been united with, or part of  Denmark and Sweden. Norway claimed neutrality in both World Wars, but after being knocked off by the Nazi’s in 1940, Norway  joined NATO in 1949 AD as a founding member. Norwegian, with a bit of Danish and Swedish, is the official language, with English also being spoken by 90% of Norwegians. Another claim to fame, are the Viking or Norse ancestors from Scandinavia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, who roamed the oceans.

The 2nd pedigree lists King Haakon VII of Norway, L5JG-RCX also a 13th great grandson of the same William Sinclair.

Among several titles, Earl Sinclair was Lord High Chancellor of Scotland between 1454 and 1458 AD. The Lord High Chancellor  was a peer and the principal Great Officer of State, the presiding officer of the Parliament of Scotland, the Keeper of the Great Seal, presiding officer of the Privy Council, and a judge of the College of Justice.  Other titles were 3rd Earl of Orkney (last), 1st Earl of Caithness, 2nd Lord Sinclair, 11th Baron of Roslin.

The 3rd pedigree lists Malcolm MacLeod [GMB3-28F] as the 14th cousin of Prince Oscar Carl Wilhelm Bernadotte of Sweden [LHMQ-DVF]. Prince Carl is a 14th great grandson of the same William Sinclair LCCN-H49].   Prince Carl is ancestor of the Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg, and Belgian and Norwegian royal families. 

The present ruler of Norway is King Harald V of Norway[1], house of Glucksburg, born Feb 21, 1937  and Queen Sonja[2]. The Heir apparent Haakon Crown Prince of Norway.[3]

King Harald V is the son of King Olav V of Norway [KHRJ-M26] and Princess Martha of Sweden known as Martha Sofia Louisa Dagmar Thyra Bernadotte [LT9Z-QBP].

King Olav V was Son  of King Haakon VII of Norway [L5JG-RCX][4], of the pedigree above noted, and  Princess Maud[5] of Wales  and Queen Norway [GSJ4-WQT] Maud was daughter of King Edward VII  [LD34-CQD] known as Albert Edward Prince of Wales and Queen Alexandra of Denmark[L8M6-T8P] and parents of King George V [LD34-CWD]. Donald John Trump Junior is 15th cousin once removed of King George V of the United Kingdom.  As a great grandson of King Edward VII, King Harald V holds Order of the Garter, and was 1st cousin once removed from Queen Elizabeth 2nd[6] twice removed from King Charles 3rd.

Coming full circle, Malcolm MacLeod [GMB3-28F] who along with King Haakon VII are 13th great grand sons ofWilliam Sinclair [LCCN-H49].  Their childrenMary Anne Trump nee MacLeod and cousin King Olav V are 14th great grand children ofEarl Sinclair [LCCN-H49].  Their children Donald John Trump Senior and cousin andKing Harald V are 15th great grand children of Earl Sinclair.  Their sons, Donald John Trump Junior and cousinH.R.H. Haakon are 16th great grand children of Earl Sinclair.  Their children Donald John Trump 3rd and cousin Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (born 21 January 2004) would be 17th great grand children of Earl Sinclair.

Conclusion, the Norwegian Royal family down to Haakon VII is listed in Family Search.

Source of Norwegian  family is https://www.royalcourt.no/the-royal-house-of-norway. Familysearch records of living persons are private and not visible, records of deceased are public or  visible.

The Nobel Peace Prize is selected by the Norwegian Parliament, but the Nobel Prizes for Science and Literature are selected in Sweden.

[1] https://www.royalcourt.no/the-royal-house-of-norway/his-majesty-the-king

[2] https://www.royalcourt.no/the-royal-house-of-norway/her-majesty-the-queen

https://www.royalcourt.no/the-royal-house-of-norway/her-majesty-the-queen/the-biography-of-queen-sonja

[3] https://www.royalcourt.no/the-royal-house-of-norway/his-royal-highness-the-crown-prince

[4] https://www.royalcourt.no/the-monarchy/history/a-new-royal-house-of-norway

[5] https://www.royalcourt.no/the-monarchy/history/a-new-royal-house-of-norway/queen-maud

[6] https://www.royalcourt.no/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-laid-to-rest