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

Click here to see the image from the Cour Grand-Ducale.

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and his eldest son Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume gave a reception yesterday at the Grand-Ducal Palace in Luxmebourg after the opening ceremony of the new term (2009/2010) of the Chamber of Deputies, Luxembourg’s parliament.

Grand Duchess María Teresa was not in attendance, presumably due to a recent operation.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Luxembourg Royals Grand Duke Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Parliament

 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

Click here to see the photo at Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse

 Last Friday, King Mohammed VI officially opened the Moroccan Parliament. He began by addressing both houses of Parliament. In his speech, the King called for the creation of an economic and social council that would serve in an advisory role to the legislature and also to the executive branch of the Moroccan government.

According to an article in Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse, the King stated that the council should be made up of “representatives of the nation’s forces, productive sectors, socioeconomic and professional institutions, as well as qualified members of civil society and a substantial number of women”. The King wants the council to be as inclusive as possible. He told the members of Parliament that the council should not only include Moroccans residing in Morocco, but also Moroccan nationals who are living abroad. The recruitment plan is, “in accordance to with my wish to involve in the council all skilled Moroccans, wherever they may be”, said the King.

The goal of the King’s plan for the council is to improve the credibility of the parliament, and to help the government run more efficiently. The King hopes that a more effective government will lead to more development within Morocco.

To read about, and to discuss King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan Royal Family, please visit this thread.

sgl Moroccan Royals Mohammed VI, Parliament

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

 The Danish Royal Family today attended the opening of the 2009/2010 Danish parliamentary season at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. The royal family traditionally attends the opening each year, where the current Prime Minister opens the season.

Click to see the image at Billed-Bladet

HRH Princess Benedikte, the younger sister of HM Queen Margrethe, arrived at Folketinget (the Danish parliament) first just after 11:45 local time. She was followed by TRH Prince Joachim and Princess Marie, who was dressed in a green coat-dress and a matching beret-style hat; and then TRH Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. The Crown Princess was wearing a black coat and skirt, with a grey hat and accessories.

Click to see the image at Billed-Bladet

HM Queen Margrethe II and HRH Prince Henrik arrived shortly after their eldest son and daughter-in-law, and the Queen was greeted by the Speaker of the Danish parliament, Thor Pedersen, before the royal family entered the parliament building. A video of the arrivals, and of inside parliament, can be found here.

At noon, the royal family took their places in the royal box and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen began his first speech at the opening of parliament (he became Prime Minister earlier this year). As usual, the Danish royals had a hard time keeping their eyes open during the event, and images of the monarch and her consort catching forty-winks is not unusal.

Click here to view the Opening of Danish Parliament thread, which includes photos from previous years.

JessRulz Danish Royals Margrethe II, Parliament, Prince Frederik, Prince Henrik the Prince Consort, Prince Joachim, Princess Benedikte, Princess Marie, Princess Mary

This past Tuesday, September 15th, the Dutch Royal Family attended the annual opening of parliament, Prinsjesdag. The event took place at The Hague’s 13th century Ridderzal (Hall of Knights), where HM Queen Beatrix addressed the Dutch parliament from the throne.

Click to see the gallery from the Examiner

Accompanied by TRH the Prince of Orange, Princess Máxima, Prince Constantijn, Princess Laurentien, Princess Margriet and Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven, the Dutch monarch arrived at the Ridderzal in a golden carriage which dates back to 1898. Upon entering the Ridderzal, Queen Beatrix read a speech written by the government of Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, which outlines the coming year’s budget.

The Queen announced that the government would be cutting costs in the years to come, following the global financial crisis which left many nations in a recession, while also addressing other financial issues facing the government in the 2010 budget. “People are losing their jobs, the number of bankruptcies is rising quickly, assets built up over the years are shrinking and government finances are unavoidably showing large deficits,” she said.

Click to see the image at Koninklijk Huis

HM also spoke of how not making chances to the parliament’s budget policies would create financial problems for the Dutch: “Serious and undesirable results will arise for the level of taxes and the affordability of services such as health care, education and pensions.” However, at the end of her speech, the Queen wished the government well, stating “You may feel supported in the knowledge that many are wishing you wisdom and join me in praying for strength and God’s blessing upon you.”

At the closure of HM’s address, the Senate Speaker proclaimed “Long live the Queen!”, to which those in attendance replied “Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!” The Queen and the royal party then returned to Noordeinde Palace, where they greeted the crowds from the Palace’s main balcony.

Extra security was on hand for this year’s Prinsjesdag, following the Koninginnedag 2009 Tragedy in April. Click here to view the Prinsjesdag 2009 thread.

JessRulz Dutch Royals Parliament, Prinsjesdag, Queen Beatrix

Click at the image to see a gallery at belga

Today the Royal Family of Sweden attended the annual opening of the House of the Parliament in Stockholm. It was pened shorty after two o’clock in the afternoon. The men attended the opening in dark suits and ties, the women in dark dresses and hats. The Royal woman are always dressed in dark colours, in an intentional homage to the old court dress, which was worn until 1974 and was made of black velvet with white detailing.

The day started with a church service in the Stockholm Cathedral. At 1 o’clock the Army Music Corps played and the Grenadiers from the Life Guards paraded at the Parliament grounds. A folk dance danced inside the Parliament and folk musicians and music classes sung.

Around 2 o’clock King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, CP Victoria, Prince carl Phillip and Princess Madeleine arrived with a royal cortège. They were greeted by the Speaker of the Parliament. The King held a short speech and declared the Parliament open.

You can find information and pictures of the event in this thread.

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, Parliament, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Madeleine, Princess Victoria, Queen Silvia

Click on image to see photo at www.dag.nl

 During the television programme Eén Vandaag’ it became clear that a majority of parliament wants that the prince of Orange to quit his position as a member of the supervisory board of the Dutch Bank (DNB). The parties fear that the prince will come in a vulnerable position due to the credit crunch and the parlementairy research commission after the crisis and the role of the Dutch Bank. The programme interviewed members of several political parties about the matter.

According to newspaper NRC Handelsblad, the minister of Finance, Wouter Bos, did not want to comment on the matter today, he did say that the powers of the prince in the board are very limited and directed journalists to the RVD (Goverment Information Service). The RVD emphasizes that the supervisory board of the Dutch bank is not responsible for the actions of the Dutch Bank in areas like the supervision of the Dutch financial sector, neither in the monetairy policies.

Parties like the VVD (liberals), PVV (extreme right), D66 (liberal democrats), GroenLinks (green), SP (socialists) and PvdA (labour) all fear that there will be a discussion about Willem-Alexander’s role when the dealings of the Dutch Bank during the credit crunch, and especially their policy with IceSave, will be researched.

The prince is a member of the supervisory board since 1998, his last reinstatement hapened on 1 June 2006. His term ends on 1 July 2010. According to the RVD his position in the board is happened to prepare him for his future task, he also is a member of the counsil of State, a member of the IOC and chairman of the UN advisory board on water and sanitation.

Marengo Dutch Royals Parliament, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander

Click the image to see the photo at the BBC website

 The House of Commons has just elected Tory MP John Bercow as the new Speaker of the House in an ancient balloting process to replace the outgoing Speaker Michael Martin, forced to resign over the MPs expenses scandal. He is the first Speaker in 300 years to be forced from office and his successor will have a tough job to reform the British parliament. The role of the Speaker will be well-known to Royal watchers who follow ceremonies such as the State Opening of Parliament, but where does the Queen come into it all?

Though there’s been no official word on the expenses row from the Palace (as if there would be!), Her Majesty has apparently made it clear to the Prime Minister that parliament needs reform. Although the new Speaker is elected by Members of Parliament, he still needs to get the Royal “approbation” or Royal approval by going to the House of Lords where the Lord Commissioners appointed by the Crown will approve the choice in the name of the Monarch. The process is fairly quick, but when the new Speaker visits the House of Lords, he’ll petition “in the name and on behalf of the Commons of the United Kingdom, to lay claim, by humble petition to Her Majesty, to all their ancient and undoubted rights and privileges, especially to freedom of speech in debate, to freedom from arrest, and to free access to Her Majesty whenever occasion shall require”. Let’s hope the Queen doesn’t mind the idea of the Speaker popping in unannounced for a cuppa.

 The new Speaker will enter into the Order of Precedence behind the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord President of the Council.

For threads about the State Opening of Parliament, click here and here.

BeatrixFan British Royals Elizabeth II, John Bercow, Parliament, Speaker