Opening of the Parliament (Stortinget) 2004 - 2023


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
She is not present and is not likely to be as long as the King is alive. Sonja was either NOT present when she was a Crown Princess and King Olav was alive. Traditionallly it was the King and the Heir who went to the opening but after King Olav died there were alot of commotion and it was decided that the Queen could be present together with the King.
 
There was a lot of commotion on Sonja's attendance, because the only real precendent was Queen Maud, who, while she was precent on several occasions, usually spent the autumn in England because of her health. Thus there hadn't really been a queen to the opening of Parliament since long before her death in 1938.

During all the years in which Crown Princess Märtha was the first lady of the country she never attended Stortinget. It's simply not customary. (Probably a bit like why there's no coronet for the Crown Princess...)
 
Sonja also didn't wear other colour suits.She wears like Silvia of Sweden.How about other Queens?What do they wear on the Opening of Parliarment?I only know that Queen Elizabeth wear cldress and crown on her head.
 
Opening of Stortinget 2006

Oslo, NORWAY: King Harald of Norway (C), flanked by Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon, delivers 03 October 2006 a speech to the 151st official session of the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) in Oslo

from getty

 
Larzen ............. why doesnt the crown Princess never attend???
 
sm1939 said:
Larzen ............. why doesnt the crown Princess never attend???

Maybe they don't have a throne for her? ...

;)
 
Question:
did ever Crown Princess Sonja attended to Royal opening for Parliament? Or did any Norwegian CPss do that? If not than why MM should do that?!
 
Sophus said:
Maybe they don't have a throne for her? ...

;)
I was gonna say the same thing;) but they did mange to get a throne for Sonja when she became Queen (she never attended as Crown Princess) after it had only been two men attending for years and years.
I think it is a very dignefied ceremony with suprisingly much "oomph" for such a unpompous country.

Pictures from Paul Weaver, side 2. Everyone, also the Royals bows to the President of Stortinget (King Harald just barely a nod). Some of the ministers needs to brush up on their skills though, it looked like one of them was gonna take a fall and some like it was more of an accident. Lots and lots of pictures here
http://www.nettavisen.no/innenriks/politikk/article757959.ece

th_96893_36_122_522lo.jpg
 
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magnik said:
Question:
did ever Crown Princess Sonja attended to Royal opening for Parliament? Or did any Norwegian CPss do that? If not than why MM should do that?!

As far as I know, the tradition of the Queen being present at the opening of the Parliament (Storting) was started when Harald and Sonja became King and Queen (that is in 1991). Constitutionally, it's only mandatory for the King (or the Crown Prince Regent if the King is ill/absent). I guess that's why CP Mette-Marit wasn't there, because she doesn't need to constitutionally. But if CP Haakon and CP Mette-Marit (and Princess Ingrid Alexandra when she's 18) want to carry on this tradition when they become King and Queen we just have to wait and see.

I don't think CP Märtha attended the opening of the Parliament either, but I don't know for sure.

I only know, new King and Queen = new traditions.
 
CP Martha did before of the king Haakon VII. I dont know why Mette Marit dont go to Storting in this time.
 
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Opening of Parliament (Stortinget) 2/10-07

The 152nd gathering of the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) will be opened by HM the King on October 2, 2007.

It can be presumed that he will be accompanied by the Queen and the Crown Prince, as he has been the previous years.
 
Will there be a Gala in the evening?

There will be a lunch after the opening, where the King, Queen and Crown Prince will participate - but not a gala in the evening just now. It usually comes later in the month, I believe.
 
No there never is, there will be a lunch.

Before Queen Sonja the last woman to attend the opening was Queen Maud who attended 5 times. The Crown Princess never attends for some reason, maybe because they just have three chairs;)

Stortinget has a story about the chairs used, the Throne is belived to be from 1847, made by an artis called Wilhelm Heinrich Hoffmann in Stockholm. Some historians thinks it is originally made for the coronation of Oscar I.

the two other chairs are stylistically so different that they are not belived to be from the same time as the throne. They are in empire style and belived to be from the early 1800.

Queen Maud was the first woman to sit on the podium next to the King, before that the Queen, the underaged Princes and female members of the court sat in a lodge where the diplomats sit today. Whils the Heir and Princes of age accompanied the King, the chairs was therefor called "the Prince chairs"

For the swearing of the oath in 1905 they had no available chair for the Queen so they had to borrow one from the National theatre:lol: in 1906 one of the "Prince chairs" was turned into a "Queen Chair" Both Prince chairs got the Norwegian Lion carved in and and the new Queen chair got a closed coronet to symbolise the Queen, whilst the Prince chair has an open crown.

The Queen chair was always placed in Stortinge even if Queen Maud did not attend, the last time she attended was in 1922. The Queen chair was the brought out again 69 years later for the swearing of the oath of King Harald in 1991 when the new Queen Sonja accompanied him for the first time.
www.stortinget.no > tronstol

Picture from the opening of Stortinget including the chairs
http://www.kongehuset.no/aim/kongehuset/20/89/storage/file.image.jpg/Scale?geometry=766>x241>

about the opening in english
kongehuset.no - Opening of the Storting



Here you can see the Queen Crwon over Sonjas monogram
kongehuset.no - Hennes Majestet Dronningen

and the crown of the Heir
kongehuset.no - H.K.H. Kronprinsen

which is the same as Ingrid has
kongehuset.no - H.K.H. Prinsessen

whilst Sverre Magnus has an completely open Crown without the pillow inside or what you want to call it
kongehuset.no - Prins Sverre Magnus

Queen Sonja usually wears suits in black and red, though I belive she wore black an purpel once.
 
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Thanks for your answers, Norwegianne and Larzen!
I just thought there would be a gala because I saw threads about a "Gala for Stortinget" .
So I thought this gala might belong to the Opening ceremony. .. well; now I see it doesn't . ;)


Larzen said:
The Queen chair was always placed in Stortinge even if Queen Maud did not attend, the last time she attended was in 1922. The Queen chair was the brought out again 69 years later for the swearing of the oath of King Harald in 1991 when the new Queen Sonja accompanied him for the first time.
Around the time of Queen Sonja's birthday I was reading somewhere that some members of the parliament were against an attendance of the Queen during the Opening of the Parliament.
Aftenposten reported a "broad feeling" among politicians that Sonja's "strong personality" would overshadow King Harald and detract from his role.


IMO it's really a strange tradition that the Crown Prince attends this event, but the Crown Princess doesn't... maybe you are right, Larzen , and they REALLY just have 3 chairs :D .
 
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I just love queen Sonja...

Where is Mette-Marit???
 
Could you explain why?

It is simply customary that the Crown Princess doesn't. When Sonja became queen, there was a lot of noise about whether or not the queen should make appearances as she has no official role according to the constitution - points were made that Queen Maud attended some of the openings when she was queen, and the debate died down regarding Sonja's appearances. But no Crown Princess has ever attended the opening of Stortinget.

One supposes it could be because Norway didn't have a crown princess from 1905 to 1929, when a lot of the formalities in the monarchy came about (like the gala-dinner at the Palace later this month). When Norway got a Crown Princess, the Queen had already ceased her attendances at the openings (last one was in 1922.) and I suppose there wasn't any thought to bring her into it on her own.
 
I think everyone looked very nice. Queen Sonja, always so lovely to see. This is quite interesting to observe the pictures of the different Parliament openings and as it appears the Norwegians and the Dutch seem to have the most traditional custom. They are the only ones if I'm not mistaken that had the men in their uniforms!

I also pointed out a few weeks back the Norwegians were the only ones of the Scandinavian royal houses that greeted the Brazilian president in their uniforms as well. Not sure how important that is or anything just something I picked up on!
 
I really love to see the King, Queen and Crown Prince during the opening of the Parliament.

It's great to see the guys wearing their uniforms. Especially Haakon looks so extremely good in it. :wub:..
It's always funny to see Queen Sonja following her self-written rule to wear black-red only .
Well, the colors already belong to this event. ;) Sonja looked really elegant! She always does!
 
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