Christmas with the Norwegian Royal Family

[ROYAL NORWAY]

The King and Queen will (as I wrote in the ''Märtha Louise & Ari Behn Current Events'' thread) celebrate Christmas with Princess Märtha Louise, her children and Ari Behn at Kongsseteren on Voksenkollen (a hill on the outskirts of Oslo), not long from Holmenkollen.

They will attend the Christmas Service in Holmenkollen Chapel (12:00) on Dec 25th. The official calendar don't mention Ari - so we don't know whether he attends or not.

The CP family will celebrate with the Høiby family at Skaugum in Asker and attend Christmas Service in Asker Church (15:00) on Dec 24th (the Christmas Eve - which is the main day of celebrations in Norway).

They will also do somthing else. - Article with quotes translated by me:
https://www.budstikka.no/kronprinspa.../s/5-55-587851

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will attend a Christmas dinner at Egon (restaurant) at Storosenteret (shopping center) in Oslo.

The Christmas dinner is directed by Fattighuset (The Poverty House In Oslo) and Natthjemmet, an emergency accommodation in Oslo, which helps prostitutes women with substance abuse problems.

This is reported by Se og Hør on its web page. To the weekly magazine, Sverre Rusten at the The Poverty House says he is pleased that the CP couple takes the time to be with them just this day.

"We and Natthjemmet sent an invitation to the CP couple, and was contacted by an employee at the Palace, who said that Haakon and Mette-Marit would like to come on Christmas Eve. We are very happy,'' says Rusten.

[eya]

Merry Christmas from the Norwegian Royal Family!!The royal couple and the Crown Prince family gathered at the Christmas tree in the Red Salon.

Julefotografering - kongehuset.no

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Thanks eya!

NTB article for VG, Aftenposten, ABC, Dagbladet and other media outlets with quotes translated by me:
https://www.abcnyheter.no/nyheter/no...ing-pa-slottet

On Tuesday the royal family was photographed with the Christmas tree in the ballroom, one of several Christmas trees at the palace. It's a good, old-fashioned spruce, not evergreen or plastic, and the decoration is the same year after year.

A correction from me to NTB: The photographs is taken in the beautiful Red Drawing Room (the King's salon) and not in the ballroom.

The King and Queen have both turned 80 this year. Despite their age, they have been very active in December, with a full program. In an interview with NRK in connection with the Christmas program "Royal Family 2017", which will be sent on Dec 26th, they say that they are in good shape. Queen Sonja says it doesn't feel so very different being 80, something that King Harald agrees on.

''We cant do anything about it. The alternative is worse,'' he laughs.

With age, the question of activity and health is something that comes up.

''I'll say it again. I'm healthy as long as the opposite is not proven,'' says King Harald.

Really good news!

The article also mentions the Christmas celebrations, which I have already written about in the above post.

BTW, I love the photos, especially these two:
https://imbo.vgc.no/users/vgno/image...47d5827c651931

https://imbo.vgc.no/users/vgno/image...9ce498b358aefb

[Skippy]

I like the Christmas pictures very much this year And Ingrid Alexandra is sporting a big smile in most of the pictures, which makes her very pretty. As in it gives her something extra.

[An Ard Ri]

As always the Norwegian RF Christmas photos are happy,festive and relaxed looking.

[iceflower]

Originally Posted by ROYAL NORWAY

BTW, I love the photos, especially these two:
https://imbo.vgc.no/users/vgno/image...47d5827c651931

https://imbo.vgc.no/users/vgno/image...9ce498b358aefb

The second one is my favourite one as well. You can see that the King didn't expect it and somehow didn't know how to react, but the little smile of love says enough

Here's an additional article:


** dailymail: Deck the (palace) halls! Norway's Princess Mette Marit gets into the festive spirit as she decorates the Christmas tree with her family **

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Thanks iceflower!

What an utterly idiotic, ignorant and stupid article from the DF, and I really regret reading it.

Quotes from the article:

Norway's royal family, including a festive-looking Princess Mette-Marit, 80, gathered this afternoon to deck the halls at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

She is Crown Princess, and the last time I checked she was not 80.

Proving style runs in the family, teenage Prrincess Ingrid looked pretty in an all black outfit, consisting of a black dress and matching shoes.

Her mother Mette-Marit, a former waitress, met her future husband at a music festival in the 1990s when she was a single mother and married into the royal family in 2001.

What the heck has that to do with the Christmas photographs?

Noticeably missing from the photographs was Mette Marit's first son Marius, now 20.

Earlier this year it was announced that he would formally step away from public life to pursue a degree in business studies at a university in California.

Over the years, his mother has become widely respected for her charity work and has been a special representative for UNAIDS, a branch of the UN that focuses on dealing with HIV and AIDS.

She also joined the Norwegian aid agency NORAD as an intern, and is a patron of several Norwegian charities, including the Oslo International Church Music Festival and the Norwegian Scouting Association.

She deserves to be respected for all that, but unfortunately for her, she isn't (at least not in Norway). She is in fact being criticised for that UNAIDS thing. - Why? Because it is seen by politicians/commentators as being political.

Edit: This went a bit to fast, so I deleted this this post and re-write it due to several writing errors caused by my dyslexia.

[Countessmeout]

Well said

Beautiful photos. They definitely know how to do festive photos.

My favorites are the two with Ingrid and her grandfather interacting. She definitely seems to have a bond with her grandparents.

https://imbo.vgc.no/users/vgno/image...9ce498b358aefb

[eya]

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit with Marius attend today Christmas lunch with guests from Fattighuset (organization helping poor people) and the Church City Mission at Egon restaurant in Storo shopping mall in Oslo.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7J0S4xhjJ...0/69213197.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0teyTHRbZ...0/69213202.jpg

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdFc5pvl...norskekongehus

Kronprinsparet på julelunsj - kongehuset.no


And later The Crown Prince family withoutCP Mette Marit but with Marius and Mette Marit's mother attends at the family service in Asker Church

http://www.kongehuset.no/nyhet.html?...0016&sek=26939

https://g.acdn.no/obscura/API/dynami...jpg?chk=C19736

[iceflower]

Here are some more photos of the lunch:


** gettyimages: Norwegian Royals Attend Christmas Luncheon in Oslo ** gettyimages 2 **

[eya]

And the Christmas Service today in Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo for the King Harald, Queen Sonja, Princess Martha Louise and her daughters!

Høymesse i Holmenkollen - kongehuset.no

http://www.gettyimages.com/search/ev...ssettype=image

Princess Martha Louise posted two bueatiful pictures of Holmenkollen

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdNI7mtF...rtha_louise123

The royal couple and the Crown Prince couple will thank everyone who sent Christmas and New Year greetings.
The royal family has appreciated all the nice letters and cards

Hjertelig takk for julehilsener - kongehuset.no

[iceflower]

Here's an additional article:


** dailymail: Walking in a winter wonderland: Norwegian Royals step out into snow-covered Oslo for traditional Christmas church service **

[An Ard Ri]

Lovely to see them all at the Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo for the hristmas Day Service,Princess Martha Louise's daughters have gotten so grown up!

[ROYAL NORWAY]

The Queen attended the famous Norwegian boys' choir Sølvguttene's (The Silver Boys') Christmas concert in The Queen Sonja Art Stable this evening, Dec 2nd.

About Sølvguttene in English from Wikipedia.

About The Queen Sonja Art Stable in English from The Royal House-website.

No photos of it yet, but see some pictures from this year's decorations (and a photo of the Queen from last December) in these two Royal House articles: 1 - 2

BTW: There will also be concerts (from other choirs and artists) in the Art Stable on Dec 4th, 9th and 15th.

[eya]

First picture from the Queen tonight. It mention that Princess Martha Louise was there too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq5p28Hnhw0/


And as every year the Christmas tree at the Palace lit on the first Sunday in advent

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq5ppT1Hn0Q/

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Thanks eya! - I think I checked Instagram for photos, at least 20 times last night.

BTW: I really hope the court can fulfill my Christmas-wish this year - and release some pictures from the decorations in the Small/Great Ballrooms and the Banqueting Hall (see photos in this post).
Why? Well, when you (IMO) have the most beautiful Royal Palace in Scandinavia with ''THREE'' large Halls (in contrast to the royal residences in the UK, DK and Sweden, which only have one), then one have to showcase it.

(And to the person who asked in the thanks-button, yes, I have re-written my above post - and added some other articles. )

[ROYAL NORWAY]

The Queen attended the third of four Christmas concerts in The Queen Sonja Art Stable this evening, Dec 9th, where ''Det Norske Jentekor'' (''The Norwegian Girl's Choir'' - read about them in English here) performed.

No photos yet.

BTW: She was not present for the second one on Dec 4th, where ''Nidarosdomens Guttekor'' (''Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir'' - read about them in English here) and award winning Norwegian violinist Arve Tellefsen (read about him in English here) performed, but she did attend the first one on Dec 2nd, which one can read about in posts 726 & 727.

[eya]

Two pics from the Palace

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrLmGmqHN6P/

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Thanks eya!

You're really quick, because I was about to post them now.

And HM looks great BTW, as always. - So does the Choir-Girls, and it must be a pretty amazing experience for them (and even more for their parents, I think ).

[CyrilVladisla]

Originally Posted by ROYAL NORWAY

The Queen attended the third of four Christmas concerts in The Queen Sonja Art Stable this evening, Dec 9th, where ''Det Norske Jentekor'' (''The Norwegian Girl's Choir'' - read about them in English here) performed.

Norway is greatly blessed to have such a spectacular vocal group as The Norwegian Girl's Choir. So much beauty is expressed in the art of singing.