I don't know if I like Queen Sonja's boots in the opening pictures. I can't decide if it's the brown boots that look out of place or the ill-fitting suit on the Queen that I don't particularly like.
Apparantly Haakon made a blunder and said that Portugal was located by the Mediterranean instead of by the Atlantic in his speach at the banquet. Very embarrassing
From expressen.se
Norges kronprins Håkon dålig på geografi
Portugal ligger vid Medelhavets varma stränder. Så sade Norges kronprins Haakon, för tillfället vikarierande regent, i ett hyllningstal till Portugals besökande president Jorge Sampaio i tisdags kväll. Norska hovet rodnar över fadäsen.
På onsdagen beklagade hovet att kronprinsen placerat Portugal vid Medelhavet.
- Han menade nog att Portugal ligger långt söderut, vid Medelhavets inlopp, försökte hovets presschef Sven Gjeruldsen skyla över misstaget.
Vad den portugisiske presidenten tyckte om att hans land flyttats från Atlantkusten till det soliga Medelhavet ville presschefen inte säga, inte heller om kronprinsen bett den höge gästen om ursäkt eller om kronprinsen hade skrivit talet själv.
- Norge och Portugal ligger i var sin ytterkant av Europa. Ni finns vid Medelhavets varma stränder, sade kronprinsen under galamiddagen på Slottet.
Talet finns fortfarande utlagt på hovets webbplats.
Svenskar bör dock inte sätta sig på alltför höga hästar. Kung Carl XVI Gustafs tal i Arboga är bevingat:
- Kära örebroare!
When I saw Haakon's mistake on VG I thought: Big deal, he's kind of busy being up in the nights with Ingrid Alexandra, and so on. I reacted more on the Palace advisors who's either written the speech, or read through it on beforehand. They ought to have caught it.
Nice pictures, but a reminder not to post images directly to the forum, but as links instead. We don't want to exceed our bandwidth again this month.
Location: East of the sun and west of the moon, United States
Posts: 6,408
Maria Jose Ritta, wife of Visiting Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio, confers with Ari Behn, husband of Norwegian Princess Maertha Louise, during the Norwegian Government luncheon at Akershus Castle in Oslo, 04 February 2004.
I have to add, I was just laughing at the media too. I don't think it's a big deal! (But I do think that the speachwriters should have known where Portugal is located...)
Wow! Martha Louise looks amazing in her gala dress. The colour, the cut - perfect for her.
As for Haakon's remark, it is a little funny, but my job has an international focus and if I ever made a mistake like that, my colleagues would NEVER let me live it down. Of course, I never make mistakes and if I were to, the media would never know it was me to blame...
Norwegian Prince Misplaces Portugal
Wed Feb 4,11:38 AM ET
OSLO, Norway - Norway's Crown Prince Haakon caused a stir in his debut as royal host by placing Portugal on the Mediterranean Sea in a speech delivered in honor of that country's visiting president.
In fact, Portugal's entire coastline is on the Atlantic Ocean, and the blunder forced a public apology from the palace on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old prince was filling in for his father, King Harald V, by hosting an official visit Tuesday by Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio. It was the first time Haakon hosted a state visit.
In his speech at a palace banquet for the president, Haakon said, "Norway and Portugal lie at opposite ends of Europe. You are placed on the Mediterranean's warm beaches. We are as far north as it is possible to be."
Palace spokesman Sven G. Gjeruldsen apologized for the error. He told the Norwegian news agency NTB that the prince had meant to say that Portugal was far to the south, near the entrance to the Mediterranean. He refused to say whether the prince apologized to Sampaio or who had written the speech.
The text of the prince's speech, including the error, was still posted in Norwegian on the palace Internet site in the late afternoon Wednesday.
___
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's royal palace apologized on Wednesday after Crown Prince Haakon made a geographical blunder by telling Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio his country was on the Mediterranean Sea.
The whole of Portugal's 1,120 mile is on the Atlantic Ocean. "We regret that the Crown Prince mentioned this incorrectly in his speech last night," a palace spokesman said.
Haakon, acting as regent because his father King Harald is recovering from an operation, told Sampaio at a banquet in Oslo:
"Norway and Portugal both lie on the outskirts of Europe. You are placed by the Mediterranean's warm beaches. We are as far north as it is possible to be." The text of the incorrect speech was still on the palace Web Site Wednesday.
The text also misspells the name of 1960s and 1970s Portuguese soccer star Eusebio as "Ausebio."
Linear Mode
