Lonely grave in Riverton field that of former Danish princess, family says

On a lonely hill outside of Riverton, Man., sits a single grave surrounded by a dilapidated white picket fence where some inManitoba's Icelandic community believe amember of the Danish royal familywas laid to rest decades ago. Now, there's an effort to recognize and properly markthe burial site.

"She was long gone before I was brought into this world but her story has always circulated through my life,"saysRobbie Rousseau,president of Islendingadagurinn (The Icelandic Festival)."I remember hearing stories of this possible royal family [connection]."

Frith Rika (Fririka)Bjornsdottirdied Aug.8, 1884, attheage of 35, just two weeks after the birth of her eighth and finalchild. That child wasRousseau's great-grandmother, making him Fririka'sgreat-great-grandson.

The Riverton Cemetery was closed at the time of her death, so thefamily buried Fririka inthe field near their home, so the story goes.

Tracing Fririka's journey to that exact spot in that ordinary Prairie field takes us back a few hundred years into Denmark's royal chambers.Angela Chalmers, owner of the film company As It Happened Productions, is currentlymaking a documentary aboutFririka's family'slong voyage to theInterlake region in Manitoba.

'Royal soap opera'

"It's a royal soap opera,"Chalmers says. "King FrederickVI was trying to have a male heir. His wife kept giving him daughters so he looked outside his marriage, is the way of saying it I guess, and ended up having relations with a woman outside his marriage."

A baby boy named Samuel was born after his Icelandic mother,and the Danish king, did the royal deed, Chalmers says.

There is potentially a new Icelandic princess in the middle of a field with a bunch of cows.-Angela Chalmers

Samuel was raised in Denmark, secretly on the king's dime, but he was never formally recognized as the rightful descendent and heirto the throneallegedly due to hisextramarital conception story, Chalmers says. He eventually made his way back to Iceland, where his wife gave birth to a daughter named Lovsa.

Lovsalater gave birth toFririka, making herKing FrederickVI's great-granddaughter,Chalmers says.

"As interesting as Fririka's story is, her husband's early-life story is just as amazing," Rousseau says.

"When he was a young child, eight years old, both of his parents died. Two weeks after his father's death, his mother, and his sisters and his uncle went to a wedding at the parish church. They were crossing astream; the ice had formed over the river on the fjord and he made it across with his uncle. His uncle went across to get everyone else and they went through with his sister. And his mother was on the side of the river with him and his uncle was calling out to save his sister. His mother went out and they all went down and all lives were lost."

Except, that is, for the boy who would later becomeFririka's husband.

He grew up and eventually met Fririkaon a Danish fishing boat, Chalmers says.They had children and moved to North America in 1876 along with thousands of Icelanders, settling in Sandy Bar just south of Riverton. After losing three kids to small pox, the couple went on to have another five kids.

And that fifth child, Rousseau's great-grandmother, was raised without her mother.

Resting in a 'lonely field'

"Right now she is literally in a bit of a lonely field," Chalmer says ofFririka'sburial site.

A weather-worn picket fence marks the spot of her final resting place, which is routinely visited and grazed by local cattle, Chalmers says.

"There is potentially a new Icelandic princess in the middle of a field with a bunch of cows," Chalmers says. "What the family would like to do is provide her with a proper burial."

Chalmers and others are raising money and working with the family to do just that. A pillar has been created locally with a plaque commemorating Fririka's life and lineage.

Owners of the property where Fririka is buried have welcomed the installation of the pillar, but volunteers are still in need of more donations to bring the project to completion.As for the beaten up picket fence, it's slated to get a face lift and remain in that lonely field withFririka, Chalmers adds.

More information on theFririka Bjrnsdttirmemorial project, including how to donate,is available online here and here.