Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Princess Benedike of Denmark attended the International Horse show at Flyinge in Southern Sweden on Wednesday, November 04th 2009.

Princess Madeleine just returned home from her month-long stay in New York.
Yesterday the Princess attended a large horse show. Among the participants in the show was also Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, who competes in the World Cup in dressage. Nathalie is the daughter of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, who joined Madeleine.
The two Princesses arrived in a horse-drawn carriage in the large indoor riding school where the show was held.

You can find a gallery here.

Her_Majesty Danish Royals, German Royals, Swedish Royals Horses, Princess Benedikte, Princess Madeleine, Princess Nathalie, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Sport

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Elisabeth Samnoy have written a new book: “Møt din skytsengel”, or in english:”Meet your Guardian Angel”.
In that book the two women teach others how to get in touch with angels.

“A Guardian Angel is personal. Everyone has an own guardian angel. To find it,you have to face yourself in an honest and loving way.”, the princess said in an interview.
She also talked about how scared she was to investigate her internal “I was convinced that I basically was an evil person” she says She adds that she did not find malice, but only love.
You can see a whole interview with the two authors here.
You can find a special page about the book at facebook. Have a look here.

On October 29th 2009 Princess Märtha Louise spoke about her angel school and the new book to TV-host Fredrik Skavlan in the talkshow “Skavlan” on Swedish public chanel
SVT in Stockholm.

You can find a thread about the new book here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Books, Facebook, Princess Märtha Louise

Today Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit attended the gala night for the Pink Ribbon with the musical “Mamma Mia!” at the Folketeateret in Oslo.

The performance was part of the Cancer Society and the Association for the “Pink Ribbon” campaign.
All proceeds from the musical show is also going to be used for breast cancer research.
The Queen pointed out how important that topic is for her:
“This is about raising awareness. It is very, very many who are affected, and we all know someone who is affected. Who knows when it’s our turn? I think Pink Ribbon action is a great and very great way to meet a challenge on.”

Queen Sonja also revealed that she already saw “Mamma Mia!” 3 times:
“I’ve seen it twice before with Lisa Stokke in London. And it was fun”, the Queen reveals.

You can find the official homepage of the “Pink Ribbon” campaign here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals ABBA, Cancer, Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja, Theatre

Today HM King Harald and HM Queen Sonja invited the Parliament’s representatives to dinner at the Palace. Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Astrid also attended the gala. The gala for Stortinget is part of an over 100 year old tradition.

In 1906 King Haakon first invited the members of the Parliament to a gala dinner. It was held every year since then and only interrupted by the years during the war. The first dinner was held in the Great Hall. There four long tables formed a horseshoe. In the first year the Parliament Dinner was held in winter. Nowadays the dinner is held in October, short time after the opening of the Parliament. In 1908 the dinner was moved from the Great Dining Room. More then 225 people are invited to the gala nowadays.

During this year’s dinner King Harald appeared from the jolly corner and served several jokes during his speech. The King’s speech before the dinner is served is a permanent fixture.

Read more about the history of the parliamental gala here.
A thread can be found here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Haakon VII, Harald V, Parliament, Prince Haakon, Princess Astrid of Norway, Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja

Yesterday Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit sold coffee and cakes outside their residence Skaugum for the sake of CARE. Their children and Mette-Marit’s brother Espen Hoiby were also seen during this event.

Crown Prince Haakon is a patron of the charity campaign CARE. The money from this year’s television campaign will be used to provide the world’s poorest women the opportunity to fend for themselves.

About Care:
Care’s vision is to have a world where poverty is overcome and where people live in safety and dignity. It is a nonprofit organization that is working in several of the world’s poorest countries. CARE fights for women’s rights and for everyone to live a decent life.

You can read more about it here: CARE
A thread can be found here: TV campaign CARE 2009

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals CARE, In-Laws, Marius Borg Høiby, Patronage, Prince Haakon, Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Princess Mette-Marit

Today Queen Silvia of Sweden recieved the ‘Courage Prize’ in Bad Iburg, Germany.

Click at the image to see a gallery

The Queen received the ‘Courage Prize’ for founding the ‘World Childhood Foundation’ in favour of abused and disadvantaged children in Bad Iburg the same day. The prize is endowed with 5,000 Euro. Silvia was awarded by Gerd Schoewing ; Chairman of the ‘Courage’ committee.

Earlier in the day more then 600 people gathered around the city hall, waving with Swedish and German flags, when the Queen of Sweden arrived to sign the golden book of the city.

The ‘Courage Prize’ is awarded since 1996. Queen Silvia is the 14th awardee. A thread about the Prize can be found here.

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Awards, Germany, Queen Silvia, World Childhood Foundation

Today Swedish King Carl Gustaf awarded the Spanish opera tenor and conductor Placido Domingo with the first Birgit Nilsson Prize, created by late Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson. The Birgit Nilsson Prize was handed out during a ceremony at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm on October 13, 2009. Queen Silvia also attended the ceremony.

The prize is worth 1 million dollars and is one of the biggest prizes in classical music. The prize is to be awarded every second or third year ‘for outstanding achievement’ in the international field of opera, concert or oratorio. Birgit Nilsson died in December 2005 at age 87. She selected the Spanish tenor herself.

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Awards, Carl XVI Gustaf, Music, Queen Silvia

 Today King Harald V formally opened the 6th Sami Parliament. The King held an opening speech during the ceremony, that was also attended by Queen Sonja. The ceremony began with singing the King’s Song in Norwegian and Sami.

After that the president of the Sami Parliament, Egil Ollie, held his welcome speech. During his speech he welcomed the wrong King! “On behalf of the Saami Parliament, I welcome His Majesty King Olav 5th and Her Majesty Queen Sonja.”

King Olav was the father of King Harald, and King of Norway from 1957 to 1991.

The Sami Parliament was opened for the 6th time today. It was first opened on October 9th 1989. Back then King Olav held the first opening speech.

You can read an article about the Sameting here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Olav V, Parliament, Queen Sonja

Today King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon attended the opening of the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, in Oslo.

As every year the parliament was formally opened by the King , who also gave out the throne speech in Parliament. The throne speech was a review of the government’s work plans for the coming year. It contained no political news, but dealt with all the main points that the government will give priority in the future. The formal opening of Parliament is part of HM the King’s constitutional role.

You can read the King’s throne speech here. A thread can be found here.

On October 22nd, the King and Queen will hold a dinner for members of parliament at the Royal Palace.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Parliament, Prince Haakon, Queen Sonja

During the week, the Nobel Prize committee in Stockholm announced the winners of the Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Literature.

On Monday, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine were announced. The prize is shared by Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak for “the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”. Medicine 2009

On Tuesday, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics were announced. 1/2 of the prize goes to Charles K. Kao “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”. 1/4 of the prize goes to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith “for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor”. Physics 2009

On Wednesday, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry were announced. The prize goes to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan,Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath “for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”. Chemistry 2009

The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature was announced on Thursday. The prize goes to Herta Müller “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”. Literature 2009

The winner of the Prize in Economic Science will be announced on Monday 12th at 1 p.m. Economic Science 2009

The Nobel Prize for Medicine, Physics, Literature, Chemistry and Economic Sciences Awards Ceremony will take place on December 10th in Stockholm, Sweden. The Award is handed out by Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf.

A thread in the Swedish Forums can be found here: Nobel Prize 2009.

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, Nobel Prize