Opening of the Parliament (Stortinget) 2004 - 2023


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I don't think anyone would call for King Harald to abdicate over that mistake though , or would they ?

No, of course not. As I said in my previous post above ''he's a bit frail now'', but he did the same in 2007 and the media / people here is just laughing of it.
 
Wonderful ceremony, I LOVED the open top 1960's American style car the King & Queen arrived in! how funky
 
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Wonderful ceremony, I LOVED the open top 1960's American style car the King & Queen arrived in! how funky

Is it just my impression or are the British, Swedish and Dutch royal families the only European royal families that still (occasionally) use horsedrawn carriages ? Belgium, Norway and Spain seem to have fully switched to motorized transport only, which is a shame really. I don't know about Denmark though.
 
Is it just my impression or are the British, Swedish and Dutch royal families the only European royal families that still (occasionally) use horsedrawn carriages ? Belgium, Norway and Spain seem to have fully switched to motorized transport only, which is a shame really. I don't know about Denmark though.

Denmark also used horsdrawn carriages for special occasions. And every year the Queen and Prince Consort make a tour in the Golden Coach from Amalienborg to Chriasnborg for one of the New Years Courts.
In Spain carriages are used when new ambassadors come to the Royal Palace in madrid to present their credentials to the King.
 
Opening of the Storting 2016

The Storting will be opened on next Monday, October 3.
03.10.2016 Opening of the Storting
His Majesty The King will undertake the formal opening of the 161h session of the Storting. Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Crown Prince will also be in attendance (13:00).
 
oops, that could have been gone wrong! Great reactions, Haakon!
 
The King seems to have had a bit of an unusual gait to his walk for a while now and from the video it simply looks like his foot didn't really go where it needed and on the narrow steps he nearly fell. Good reactions from Haakon!
 
To me, that looks very worrying, not at all a simple stumble. He didn't seem to know where the steps were at all.

Why on earth have the King give the speech standing up? The throne's there, for goodness sake, let him sit in it! Very strange.
 
To me, that looks very worrying, not at all a simple stumble. He didn't seem to know where the steps were at all.

Why on earth have the King give the speech standing up? The throne's there, for goodness sake, let him sit in it! Very strange.

Last year (?) he skipped an entire page of the speech while reading it, which is far more worrisome in my opinion than a stumble on the stairs.

Both King Harald in Norway and Queen Margrethe in Denmark look increasingly frail, which raises again the question whether abdication should become a normal trend now that, due to advances in medicine, people live longer , sometimes up to a very old age.
 
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That was 2 pages getting stuck together, hardly the same thing in the slightest.

This is off topic, but abdication weakens the entire idea of monarchy in the 21st Century. It may have some short-term benefits (lots of people here get to ooh and aah over younger women wearing new-to-them tiaras), but in the long term it compromises the fundamentals of the institution. Until Harald's mental faculties leave him, he should carry on, while giving his son more to do (no bad thing as Haakon strikes me as one of the most anonymous heirs in Europe).
 
That was 2 pages getting stuck together, hardly the same thing in the slightest.

This is off topic, but abdication weakens the entire idea of monarchy in the 21st Century. It may have some short-term benefits (lots of people here get to ooh and aah over younger women wearing new-to-them tiaras), but in the long term it compromises the fundamentals of the institution. Until Harald's mental faculties leave him, he should carry on, while giving his son more to do (no bad thing as Haakon strikes me as one of the most anonymous heirs in Europe).


I total agree with you abdication does weaken the entire idea of monarchy. unless people are ill.
 
I total agree with you abdication does weaken the entire idea of monarchy. unless people are ill.

So the monarchies in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Spain have weakened because of abdications?
 
That was 2 pages getting stuck together, hardly the same thing in the slightest.

This is off topic, but abdication weakens the entire idea of monarchy in the 21st Century. It may have some short-term benefits (lots of people here get to ooh and aah over younger women wearing new-to-them tiaras), but in the long term it compromises the fundamentals of the institution. Until Harald's mental faculties leave him, he should carry on, while giving his son more to do (no bad thing as Haakon strikes me as one of the most anonymous heirs in Europe).

For me it are not abdications which weaken the entire idea of monarchy. It are exactly all these marriages to all those commoners which are eroding the whole concept from within. What do we mean with "royal" family when an unmarried mother with a child from someone else can become Norway's Queen? Or just marry that newsreader all Spaniards saw on their TV-screens? Or the daughter of a discutable figure whom served in the Argentine Junta? That everyone, the girl around the corner included, can become "royal" is exactly more undermining the whole idea of having a royal family, with a royal birthright, living in royal palaces and leading a royal lifestyle, royally funded by taxpayers than a monarch abdicating after a long and dedicated service, usually at an age far past the general retirement age.
 
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Hello. It looks as if the rostrum in the main chamber of parliament is removed and replaced with thrones for the opening of parliament. Is this correct?
 
:previous: Yes, that's correct!

Read about it here: http://ra.essens.no/queryservices-n...id=1885&qid=1501696729_qa45SC&aid=110&rankd=1
On the occasion of the formal State Opening, the Storting Chamber is rearranged and the throne positioned where the President of the Storting and the rostrum of the Storting normally stand. A table for the President of the Storting and the Secretary to the Presidium are placed down in the chamber, in the semicircle in front of the seats of the Storting members.

The tradition of bringing out the throne and the chairs of the Queen and the Crown Prince on the occasion of the formal opening is so old that we have no firm sources as to its origin.
 
The King, accompanied by the Queen and the Crown Prince, will open the 162th Storting on October 9th. The opening will be broadcasted by NRK1 and TV2 News Channel as usual.

A poster here asked me a while ago (in a PM) for a video of the preparation of the ceremony - so here are two videos about it:
This video is not deleted:
 
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I'm counting down to the opening of the 162th Storting on October 9th with photos (and videos if available) from previous openings:

King Haakon VII - picture galleries from NTB Scanpix:

January 1945:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1945

January 1947:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1947

January 1949:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1949

January 1950:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1950

January 1952:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp4eeccf

January 1953:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1953

January 1954:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp56d05f

January 1955:
The last time King Haakon opened the Storting before he fell in his bathroom at Bygdøy kongsgård in July 1955. He never recovered and died aged 85 two years later on September 21, 1957. His death saw an outpouring of grief.
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1955

January 1956 - Olav as regent:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp5f79c1

January 1957 - Olav as regent:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1957

King Olav V - picture galleries from NTB Scanpix:

January 1958:
King Olav became king of Norway at King Haakon's death on September 21th, 1957, but because the Storting did not meet in the autumn of 1957, the oath was first taken in the Council of State and then repeated solemnly at the opening of the Storting on 20th January 1958. The Storting Chamber was then undergoing reconstruction, so the ceremony was held in the Lagting Chamber.
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1958

January 1959:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1959

October 1961:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp758683

October 1964:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1964

October 1965:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp84fc56

October 1966:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp8b2ac0

October 1967:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1967

October 1973:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sxa656f9

October 1974:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1974

October 1976:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1976

October 1980:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1980

October 1984:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1980

October 1988:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1988

October 1989:
The last time King Olav opened the Storting before he was rushed to hospital with heart problems in May 1990. The King's condition deteriorated at the Rikshospitalet (hospital in Oslo) and he suffered a stroke. He died on January 17th, 1991 at the age of 87. His death saw an outpouring of grief.
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1989

October 1990 - Harald as regent:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sp52da6a

King Harald V - picture galleries from NTB Scanpix and videos from NRK's amazing archive if available:

October 1991:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1991

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/ekstra-nyhetssending-tv/FAKI71006091/02-10-1991

October 1992:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1992

October 1993:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1993

October 1994:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1994

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/ekstra-nyhetssending-tv/FAKP70000994/03-10-1994

October 1995:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1995

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/ekstra-nyhetssending-tv/FAKP70001295/03-10-1995

October 1996:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1996

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/ekstra-nyhetssending-tv/FAKP70000196/02-10-1996

October 1997:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1997

October 1998:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1998

October 1999:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 1999

October 2000:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2000

October 2001:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2001

October 2002:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2002

October 2003:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2003

October 2004:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2004

October 2005:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2005

October 2006:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2006

October 2007:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2007

October 2008:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2008

October 2009:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2009

October 2010:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2010

October 2011:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2011

October 2012:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2012

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/ekstra-nyhetssending-tv/NNFA41006412/02-10-2012

October 2013:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2013

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/nyheter/NNFA41007813/09-10-2013

October 2014:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2014

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/nyheter/NNFA41009114/02-10-2014

October 2015:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2015

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/nyheter/NNFA41023615/02-10-2015

October 2016:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/search.action?search.aggregations.eventName=Stortingets åpning 2016

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/nyheter/NNFA41012316/03-10-2016

I've worked with this post 10 min each day since Wednesday. I will make a second post with some historical facts tomorrow.
 
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In addition to the above post from yesterday evening where I went through almost all the openings since 1945, here are some historical facts:

1. Queen Maud attended 5 openings, the last time in 1922.

2. Queen Sonja has participated during all openings, except 1992, 2000 and 2001.

3. Some of the MP's didn't want the Queen to attend in 1991, but the King insisted.

4. Transport to and from the Storting:

King Olav started the tradition of using an open car for the ceremony after he got a new one in 1966.

About the car:

A5: This is a Lincoln Continental purchased in April 1966. This is the car used during the wedding between Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja in 1968 - and later at the wedding between Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit in 2001. It was rented for the wedding in 2001 because it had been sold (to disappointment from many) in the meantime. Why? The court bought a new ugly limousine where the roof could be lifted down. The Lincoln Continental was purchased back by the Royal Court in 2002. The car is still used on official occasions and has been used for most Stortings openings by the King and Queen. It's one of two open cars. The other is the Iconic A1, a roadmaster from 1939.

Open car - A5 - The Lincoln Continental 1966:
1991
1997 - rented
2000 - rented
2001 - rented
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2009
2011
2013
2014
2015
2016

Closed car - State Car limousine - Is being replaced every five years:
1993
1994
1995
1996 with open roof
1999
2010
2012

Not sure:
1992
1998
2008

The King and Queen in the A5 (Lincoln Continental) in 2015 and 2016:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/ta9e07f4
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/tb6ee5bd

See them arriving in all the NRK broadcasts in the above post - at 4:50 in the 2015 video and at 4:30 in the 2016 video.

A YouTube video from the 2016 opening - that car is a beauty - watch at 0:40:

A YouTube video from the arrival in 2011:
We are a laid back country and its not usual with large crowds here, but there are usually many people in Karl Johans gate (the main street from the palace to the Storting) to watch it. A bit difficult to see in the two YouTube videos, because we don't see pictures from Karl Johan when they arrives, but you can watch it in the NRK videos in the above post.

Information about all aspects of the ceremony from the Royal House and (a very informative article from) the Storting:
Opening of the Storting - The Royal House of Norway

https://www.stortinget.no/en/In-Eng...ion/the-formal-state-opening-of-the-storting/
 
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Thanks for some great and informative posts RN. You must've been busy for days.
 
:previous: You're very welcome! ?

Actually, I didn't spend that much time on it.

Post 117: I worked 10 min each day from Wednesday to Saturday, so I used about 30-40 min on it.

Post 118: About 20 min.

In other news: Both NRK1 and TV2 News Channel will send it live tomorrow as usual.

From Kjell Arne Totland:
Stil og stemning i Stortinget | Kongebloggen - Kjell Arne Totland
TV2 The news channel sends live from the opening Monday.

The ceremony starts at 13:00, but we are live from the Storting already at 12:00. As a guest in the studio we have Carl I. Hagen (former leader of the Progress Party). And we have our own team in the Storting and at the top at Løvebakken (the place outside the storting)!
 
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