Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, Princess Anne will be returning in 2026.
The Anglo-Norwegian Commemoration Project, of which Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, became Patron in 2023, was established with the aim of increasing public awareness and recognition of the close cooperation between the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the many Norwegian patriots who worked with them, and the significant contribution which they made to achieving the liberation of Norway from German occupation.
In her capacity as Patron of the Project, Her Royal Highness has already visited Norway once, in May 2024, when she went to Vemork, the site of the celebrated raid on the heavy water plant, Operation Gunnerside.
The main purpose of her visit on this occasion is to unveil a memorial statue which the Project has commissioned. This statue, called Coastwatchers, will be installed in Normandieplassen in central Oslo. It was designed and created by Håkon Anton Fagerås at his studio in Pietrasanta, in northern Tuscany, and has already been transported to Oslo. Coastwatchers consists of two figures, who are depicted in a vivid representation, carrying out surveillance or reconnaissance activities.
At the end of World War II, neither the British nor Norwegian Governments made any public acknowledgement of the close cooperation between SIS and SOE, and the Norwegian Resistance groups, the Linge Company and Milorg. This was unfortunate given the significant contribution of their work to the Allied War effort but was due to the secrecy surrounding British intelligence operations. The situation has now changed, and it has become possible to acknowledge the extent of the remarkable achievements on which Britain and Norway cooperated. The Anglo-Norwegian Commemoration Project, of which Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal became Patron in 2023, has the aim of increasing public recognition of this important chapter in the history of Norway and the United Kingdom.
Her Royal Highness has met many of the key figures of the Norwegian Resistance such as Joachim Rønneberg, and has heard a number of speeches highlighting Operation GUNNERSIDE, the SOE Operation to disrupt the supply of Heavy Water to Germany. She has also previously met numerous members of the Norwegian Special Forces.