Official Visit from Norway to Denmark; November 7th-8th, 2005 - Page 3

Mette2 · #41 11-07-2005, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowabelle

Mette2, how fun for you! (He must be pretty outgoing, and have a good memory for faces if he realized he hadn't met you.)

I wish I had gotten to see him when he came to Minneapolis. Perhaps the next time he comes to the Vesterheim in Decorah, Iowa, I'll be able to squeeze away. It would probably be pretty easy to meet him there.

Well, I'd like to think he saw me when he arrived at Aalborghallen, then noticed me again when he left, and remembered that he hadn't said hello to me.

But of course he probably just said that, in order to say something, which then led him to shake my hand.

It doesn't really matter to me. I saw him and shook his hand, so I'm really happy about that.
Then I hope for you he will come to the Vesterheim in Decorah, so that you can meet him. Since it was so easy for me to meet him, I'm sure it'd be just as easy for you.

There was also a press conference with the Norwegian royals. Harald was asked how Danish he feels. He said that he doesn't really feel Danish, but that he is Danish enough to like Denmark. Also that he's very fond of the family who lives here, and that they're probably the part of their family they are closest to.
Haakon was asked if the reason why Mette-Marit didn't participate in the visit was out of "fear" that the baby would be born on Danish soil if she went into labor. He laughed and said that it was not because of this reason she wasn't there. He then said that Mette-Marit would have loved to have come, but they realized it would be too close to her due date, and therefore she stayed at home to relax. Harald then said she wasn't allowed to fly, which Haakon agreed with, and then he said that she sent her greetings.
Haakon was also asked since he was a father if he could offer Frederik any advise on fatherhood. Haakon said no, because he thinks Frederik and Mary will do a wonderful job. He then said it is a great joy to be a parent, and that he could only congratulate Frederik and Mary on becoming parents.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful pictures.:) Alexandra did indeed look beautiful this evening.

ap3 · #42 11-07-2005, 06:46 PM

Alexandra looks great! Love the dress, lovely cut, pattern, color - and, of course, she has great figure! The tiara is my idea of a fairy princess's tiara. I like the jewellery, but wish the necklace had been little heavier and filled in the neckline a little more.

Pink Tulip · #43 11-07-2005, 06:51 PM

Queen Anne Marie's dress is the same one she wore to Mary and Fredericks wedding.

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...2&d=1103240762

sara1981 · #44 11-07-2005, 07:05 PM

no CP Mary attend at theatre? oh darn it

Sara Boyce

rosalyn · #45 11-07-2005, 07:07 PM

This is so nice of the Queen to include Princess Alexandra.

ysbel · #46 11-07-2005, 07:24 PM

Thanks for the pictures everybody. I too was disappointed that Mary couldn't attend the theatre.

The Danish reporters were quite rude to Haakon to ask if Mette-Marit stayed at home so her baby wouldn't be born in Denmark. I thought the Danish press was more diplomatic than that.

Mette2 · #47 11-07-2005, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ysbel

Thanks for the pictures everybody. I too was disappointed that Mary couldn't attend the theatre.

The Danish reporters were quite rude to Haakon to ask if Mette-Marit stayed at home so her baby wouldn't be born in Denmark. I thought the Danish press was more diplomatic than that.

Hi Ysbel. I don't know if you saw the press conference, so sorry if you did:o, but the reporters who asked Haakon about this meant is as a joke.:) Haakon also laughed and smiled when he was asked this, so I don't think he was offended.

HRHAmy · #48 11-07-2005, 08:15 PM

Ewww watermarks, they ruin such beautiful pictures. But Mary looks fabulous! Can't wait to see her at the Baptism she will look eaqually as beautiful.

ysbel · #49 11-07-2005, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mette2

Hi Ysbel. I don't know if you saw the press conference, so sorry if you did:o, but the reporters who asked Haakon about this meant is as a joke.:) Haakon also laughed and smiled when he was asked this, so I don't think he was offended.

Hi Mette2, unfortunately no I didn't. I can't understand Danish. :o I'm sure it sounded different if you heard it. :)

BTW, were the Norwegian royals speaking Danish or Norwegian? Are the two languages close enough that you can understand each other?

purple_platinum · #50 11-08-2005, 12:03 AM

i don't know what is lack from this visit (perhaps because it's not a state visit like the norwegian had few weeks ago to britain), but it's not as glamour or special as i had hoped (don't take any offense on my comment, it's just what i felt) :o :o

1 more question, where is Princess Alexandra seated on the luncheon? on the long table or not? thanks...
it's really good to see her again with the DRF, especially wore a tiara.. i thought we never get to see her do that again.. :)

more from the press conference at amalienborg (from polfoto) :

norwegianne · #51 11-08-2005, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by purple_platinum

i don't know what is lack from this visit (perhaps because it's not a state visit like the norwegian had few weeks ago to britain), but it's not as glamour or special as i had hoped (don't take any offense on my comment, it's just what i felt) :o :o

The status of the Norwegian visit to Britain was the same as this one to Denmark. I suppose it is just a matter of differences in how the British and the Danes "operate" when it comes to official visits. I think one thing dragging down the glamour factor is that the Crown Princess don't participate as much, and Mette-Marit isn't there at all. A lot of the excitement around the visit to Britain was that it was Camilla's first time in a tiara.

The Norwegian and the Danish royal family are also a lot more informal than the British.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ysbel

were the Norwegian royals speaking Danish or Norwegian? Are the two languages close enough that you can understand each other?

They were speaking Norwegian. The two languages are so close that, with a few minor differences in words and pronounciations, you can understand each other fairly well. The Danes have somewhat problems with a lot of the Norwegian dialects, but then again, so have some Norwegians.

I live in Denmark, and I speak Norwegian - though not my own dialect as that's just plain mean to the Danes in my surroundings.

Xandra · #52 11-08-2005, 03:46 AM

I wonder where Alex was seated at lunch? I´m curious how far away from the DRF she was placed.

It must be so strange for her; where previously she would be seated at the head table, now she´s seated (presumably) farther away. I can´t see from the pic of the lunch table where she is.

GrandDuchess · #53 11-08-2005, 04:04 AM

Queen Margrethe indeed looked superb, she was in the essence of being her majestic self yesterday evening - not all can pull off wearing "old" pieces of clothes and accomplish such an impressive sight while doing so.

Princess Alexandra also looked truly fabulous, she only becomes more beautiful and radiant with time. I'm glad that she attended this event, and that she wore her tiara - which she holds up quite beautifullly. It's a special tiara, and I don't think everyone can look so poised in it as she does, my guess is that it would just look strange on some.

And what a wonderful gift Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik has presented to King Harald and Queen Sonja! Very nice! http://kongehuset.dk/artikel.php?id=73836

ysbel · #54 11-08-2005, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norwegianne

They were speaking Norwegian. The two languages are so close that, with a few minor differences in words and pronounciations, you can understand each other fairly well. The Danes have somewhat problems with a lot of the Norwegian dialects, but then again, so have some Norwegians.

I live in Denmark, and I speak Norwegian - though not my own dialect as that's just plain mean to the Danes in my surroundings.

Thanks for explaining Norwegianne. :) I read on another message board that its sometimes difficult for Scandanavians to understand each other and they speak a sort of Scandanavish (a combination of the 3 languages) to understand each other.

galuhcandrakirana · #55 11-08-2005, 04:58 AM

How nice QMII toward her ex daughter inlaw by include her to the event and still allows her wearing the Tiara (because I'm not sure it was given to her as a wedding gift or she just gets the right to wear it) . Bravo to the Queen. Btw Alexandra looks stunning... :) http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...9&d=1131403730

Layla1971 · #56 11-08-2005, 05:24 AM

I loved the outfit that Mary wore to the lunch at Fredenborg and she really does seem to have a good relationship with her father-in-law. The outfit that Alexandra wore was beautiful IMO, the details on the suit made it interesting and less boring than it would have been if it was left plain.
The suit that Queen Margrethe wore was nice, but photographs terribly!

I can't remember who said it (sorry to whoever it was) and I can't remember who gave the gift to whom, and I can't read the Danish on the website to find that out:o , but the gift that was given to one of the couple's was really beautiful, does anyone know the date or style of the piece?

And, to cover the most recent events in one post, the oufits worn during the recent events: Princess Alexandra was just gorgeous, and the tiara suited the dress perfectly. The Queen's dress was one we've seen before, but still it suited her. And the dresses worn by Queen Anne-Marie and (the sister to the two women, but her name escapes me now:o ) were very beautiful too and suited the occassion very well.:)

norwegianne · #57 11-08-2005, 07:36 AM

Am back from my rendezvous with the royals. I'll start narrating at the beginning.

I arrived in the church at 10.30, as I was one of the ones that were to sit at a table with the royals. I found my name-tag, and discovered that I was to sit next to Crown Prince Haakon

. We all got a brief introduction about the order of things - get up, sit down when the royals do, etc. and then proceeded into the main part of the church where the service would take place.

The orientation took about 15 minutes, so we still had 45 minutes before the arrival of the royals. Inside the church there were others who also had invites, but to the "service" part of the visit only. It was a long wait, several people had brought along their young children - who, quite frankly, were bored by the long wait. We did get another orientation to exactly what would be going on in the service part of it: Rise when the royal family enters, rise when they leave. No mention of curtsying - but most people did it as the royal family were leaving the room.

It was quite a normal service, bit short, with song by Norwegian singer Herborg Kråkevik, instead of one psalm.

After the service King Harald gave a speech. I thought he looked rather good. Then the Royals left for the room where they, and we were to have coffee and cake.

On my way in there I ran into Prince Henrik, who was speaking in French to one of the ladies in waiting (I think that was who she was, or possibly a private secretary. They had quite an entourage.) "Ah, C'est bon."

The royals were supposed to sit 10 minutes at each table, to get to talk to as many people as possible. I was on the table which Crown Princes Haakon and Frederik frequented last.

Man, they're so nice. Really, really nice. Frederik talked and talked about the new addition to their family. He's been keeping them up quite a bit at night, but he's fortunately getting into a pattern that is livable right now. He also kept mentioning how it was that he was growing from being a baby they brought home from the hospital to being an individual with his own quirks

And Haakon beamed up when we wished him good luck with the new baby, and said something on how exciting it all was.

Seriously, they're really really sweet. We chatted a bit, they asked what we were doing in Copenhagen, and we talked a bit on how most Danes seem to have a problem with Norwegian dialects, and how nice it was to study in Copenhagen. It was Frederik's first visit to a Norwegian Seaman's Church, but Haakon has been to quite a few. Frederik also talked about the military with one of the ministers and another guy sitting at the table.

And did I mention I was sitting next to Haakon? :) The 10 minutes allotted were way too short, really.

On the way out, Sonja stopped and chatted with the flower girls - while the others signed the guest book. Frederik and Haakon gave an extra wave to the people at the two tables which they'd been seated at.

I suppose tonight on television in Norway, my family's playing "spy Norwegianne in these emissions" because there was quite a lot of television cameras, and a large portion of press attending. I recognized Kjell Arne Totland from Se & Hør...

This was a nice experience. I was so worried that I was going to be tongue-tied when I discovered that I was among the few lucky sitting at one of the tables where the Crown Princes were sitting, but they were nice and sweet, and it wasn't awkward at all. Well, a bit, because the purse on my Bunad slipped off when Haakon turned towards me to be introduced... but it was nothing big. A little laughter solved that potential embarrassment. He was also really interested when I said I was studying Library and Information Science, regarding all the new possible ways to do things like that in the future.

Summa Summarum: I had a really good time, and I may have picked with me Crown Prince Haakon's name-tag.

Layla1971 · #58 11-08-2005, 07:42 AM

Thank youu so much for sharing your story with us norwegianne! This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, well twice-in-a-lifetime for you! But, it seems both Norway and Denmark have really good people as future kings, lucky you! I'm so happy for you, and my deepest congratulations!!!!!!!!!!