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.

Click at the image to see it at Side2

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.

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 see it at Daylife

On September 24th, Queen Sonja of Norway attended the Norwegian Institute in Rome’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The celebration took place at the American Institute in Villa Aurelia. The program included artistic and technical elements.

During her speech at the Institute the Queen said: “I must admit that I feel a little envious of the students at the Institute – who have the chance to delve into history and study art and architecture precisely here in Rome, so close to the sources – as we have heard is quite necessary. We can clearly see that understanding the past is the very key to understanding our own time, and possibly get an idea about the future.”

On Saturday the Queen was a guest of honor when the photographer Morten Krogvold opened his exhibition “Places in Rome”. Morten Krogvold has been passionately involved in photography since he was a young boy. Today he is one of the leading photographers.

Read more about the Queen’s visit to Rome here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Italy, Official Visit, Queen Sonja

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

 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

Today Queen Sonja of Norway attended the opening of ‘The Collectors’ Exhibition at the Danish and Nordic Pavilions during the 53rd International Art Exhibition on June 4, 2009 in Venice, Italy. On June 6th the exhibition will be inaugurated by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.

Click here to see a gallery at Zimbio

In 1895 the exhibition was arranged for the first time. This year it takes place for the 53rd time. The festival shows art exhibitions, dancing, music, theatre and architecture.
The exhibition “Making Worlds” includes works of more then 90 artists from all over the world .

You can read Her Majesty’s opening speech here.
Find out more about the Venice Biennale here.
The homepage of the Danish and Nordic Pavilions can be found here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Exhibition, Queen Sonja

Queen Sonja will be operated on her foot again. The 71 years old Queen-consort had problems with her feet for quite a while now.
The surgery is scheduled for June 22nd in the “Rikshospitalet” in Oslo.
It will be the Queen’s 4th surgery on her feet: she had already been operated in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

From TRF Avatar Gallery

The Queen’s engagements for late June and early July have been cancelled by the Royal Court.
The Royal Couple’s visit to Hordaland (16th to 18th of June) will happen as planned.

More about the surgery can be found here (article in norwegian).

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Hospital, Queen Sonja, Surgery