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.

Click at the image to read the King's Speech at Kongehuset.no

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

 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.

Click at the image to see a gallery at NRK

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.

Click at the image to see the original ANP picture

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

Click at the image to read the official announcement

Today the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 goes to US President Barack Obama. He recieves the prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.

You can read the official announcement here: Nobel Peace Prize 2009.

The Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony will take place in Norway’s capital Oslo on December 10th. The prize is annually handed out by King Harald V of Norway. The award ceremony is attended by all members of the Royal House of Norway.

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

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Nobel Prize, President Obama, United States of America

In 2005, the renovations of the Palace of Oscarshall started. In autumn 2006 it was closed for the public. The palace will be reopened for visitors on august 26th. The King and Queen of Norway already attended the official opening of the castle on August 20th.

Click at the image to see it at kongehuset.no

The Palace of Oscarshall is situated on the peninsula of Bygdø, in Oslo. The palace is built on a rise, with a garden sloping down to the Oslo Fjord.

A picture gallery can be found at Side2

The palace was built from 1847 to 1852 by King Oscar I. In 1863 the castle was sold to the state and became the disposal of the reigning monarch ever since. In 1881 the palace was opened to the public by King Oscar II.

The palace consists of a three-story main building, a park running down to the sea, with fountains, an open, six-sided pavilion, a caretaker’s lodge, a separate building for the kitchens and a service lodge down by the water.

You can find out more about Oscarshall here. A thread at TRF can be found here. You can find many pictures of the interiors of the castle on this site.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Palace of Oscarshall, Palaces, Queen Sonja, Renovations

On Monday, July 6th 2009, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia, and Norway’s King Harald V attended the 1000 year celebrations of Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.

Several other Heads of State also attended the celebrations:for example: President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson of Iceland, President Valdis Zatleras of Latvia, President Lech Kaczyński of Poland, President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Legate of Pope Benedict XVI and Dean of the College of Cardinals, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip of Estonia, and Russia’s Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeyev, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, Minister of Defence Franz Josef Jung of Germany, and Minister of Culture Pavel Latushko of Belarus.

The celebrations started with the Flag Hoisting Ceremony on the Daukanto Squareand and a Mass at the Vilnius Cathedral. After the mass, the Palace of Rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was symbolically opened. In the courtyard of the Palace of Rulers, rulers from Lithuania and foreign countries were greeted by the State Choir of Kaunas.

Later the guests visited the exhibitions “Lithuania in Ancient Historical Sources”, “Wawel in Vilnius. From the Jagiellonian Dynasty to the end of the Republic”, and “The Art of Balts” in the Museum of Applied Arts. After that, they attended a lunch hosted by the President.

In the afternoon, heads of states from Lithuania and foreign countries watched “The Song of the Centuries” concert in the Vingio Park. After the concert, the President hosted a gala reception.

You can read more about the program here.

A thread where you can find pictures of the Royals attending the celebrations can be found here.

Her_Majesty Danish Royals, Norwegian Royals, Swedish Royals Anniversary, Carl XVI Gustaf, Harald V, Lithuania, Margrethe II, Official Visit, Queen Silvia

 King Harald V and his wife Queen Sonja paid a visit to Hordaland between June 16th and 18th, 2009. The couple visited Tysnes, Austevoll, Fedje, Austrheim, Lindås and Radøy.

There was already a visit planned to this region in 2005, but it was cancelled due to the King’s illness. Hordaland is the third largest county in Norway, after Askerhus and Oslo in population. You can read more about the region here.

Click at the image to see a gallery at kongehuset.no

During the trip, the Royal Couple used the Royal Yacht “Norge” to travel to the different cities. The Couple started their vist in Tysnes where they visited the “Galleri G”, after being officially welcomed. In the Gallery you can see an exhibition of nature photographies made by Queen Sonja herself. Later they visited a nursing home and the “Tysneshall”.

Afterwards the “Norge” sailed to Austevoll where the King and Queen contined their visit. You can read more about the first day here.

Click at the image to see a gallery at ba.no

On the second day the King and Queen visited Fedje, Lindås and Austrheim. They visited the Mongstad oil refinery the town of Lindas and Håkonshaugen. You can read more about the 2nd day in Hordaland here.

On the 3rd day they visited Radøy, where they finished their visit. They visited an emigration center there.

A thread at TRF can be found here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Norge, Queen Sonja

Click at the image to see a gallery

In the beginning of the week, Tuesday June 9th , Crown Prince Haakon and his father King Harald V attend a ceremony at the synagogue in Oslo. Rabbi Joav Melchior welcomed the Royals to his synagogue and underlined the symbolic meaning of this visit to support the dialogue between the Jews and Christians.

On June 11th Haakon attended a conference about “Global Dignity” for headmasters in Oslo .
The”Global Dignity”-day has been arranged by the Bjørnholt school and the Ruseløkka school . You can find a special by kongehuset.no here.

Click at the image to see the picture

In the evening, Haakon and his mother, Queen Sonja, attended a gala dinner on the occasion of the 75th birthday of Henrik Prince Consort of Denmark in Fredensborg Castle, Denmark.

On June 13th, Crown Prince Haakon had an engagement called “Til topps” or “Join us at the summit”. He was going to the top of Norway’s highest mountain Galdhøpiggen. The trip is arranged by the red cross.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Prince Haakon, Queen Sonja

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway came to Bergen on May 20th 2009 for the opening of the Bergen International Festival.

Click here to read more at kongehuset.no

The festival represents art of all genre: music, literature, theatre, dancing, paintings and so on. The Festival in 2009 is the 57th International Festival in Bergen.
The Royal Couple was welcomed by Svein Alsaker, County Governor of Hordaland and Gunnar Bakke, Mayor of Bergen.
You can find some highlights of the opening (in Norwegian) here.

More news about the Royal couple’s engagements can be found here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Queen Sonja

 May 17th 2009: “Gratulerer med dagen, Norge!” (Happy Birthday, Norway!)

Click to see the gallery at kongehuset.no

Today the Norwegian people and their Royal Family celebrated Norway’s National Day.
As every year the day started with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ familiy greeting the children’s parade in Asker by the main gate of Skaugum; the residence of the Crown Princely family.
You can find a gallery here.

Later the Royal Family greeted the children’s parade in Oslo from the palace balcony.
As usual the Royal Couple, the Crown Princely couple and Ingrid Alexandra, the Heir to the Throne, were present. For the first time at all Sverre Magnus also appeared on the balcony for a short while.
A gallery can be found here.

In the afternoon the King and Queen visited the Grünerløkka area in Oslo.

A thread on the National Day can be found here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, National Day, Prince Haakon, Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja