80th Birthday Celebrations of King Harald V and Queen Sonja


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
 
Last edited:
Many thanks, Royal Norway, for the wonderful work you have done - all the links and information you provided have made following this important occasion a very enriching experience for occasional followers like myself.
 
[QUOTE As far as weddings are concerned, the tradition in the English-speaking countries is to have weddings in the morning , which requires morning suit as dress code. White-tie attire is simply incompatible with English weddings.[/QUOTE]


I've never heard of such a tradition. In Scotland weddings always take place in the afternoon, usually around 3p.m. and weddings I've attended in England were also in the afternoon.
 
camelot23ca said:
I've enjoyed watching the royal celebrations in Norway this weekend, and the ones in the Netherlands a short time ago, in part because I can't shake the feeling that we're at the tail end of the time period in which these sorts of grand, all out celebrations will occur. As even the most beloved, seemingly secure monarchies start having to account to the public for every penny they spend, (and this will happen to all of the European monarchies, IMO, Monaco maybe being the exception), I think that royal families will start to be seen as a more functional apparatus of the state, with all the limitations that entails. Some of them won't survive the transition. Others will adapt successfully and that means things will look very different in the coming years.

I also think the generation of royals who are now new monarchs or will be soon have always demanded much more of a private life and fought for less and less public exposure as students, as young adults, and now as middle aged parents of school aged children themselves. They've also almost all made a point of how they want to be "normal" in every way they can - the normal school life they had, the normal people they married, the normal way they supposedly function in their private lives, the normal childhood they want for their kids. On a personal level, I sympathize with them very much. On an institutional level, it's difficult to justify any sort of tax payer funded grandeur for a person a country firstly doesn't feel they know well and secondly wants to be, and more and more really is, just like a normal, albeit, wealthy citizen.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post but I disagree. That the royals have to account every penny is nothing new. The annual reports of most monarchies are examples of transparency compared with many of these reports from Departments and State Agencies.

It is exact this openness, this transparency about the costs, which helps the institution, than being secretive and shielding about it. Yes, monarchies come with a prize tag. But the presidential palaces, guards, ceremonials, state banquets and the whole tralala come with a prize tag as well.

The grandeur of the Quirinale in Rome, the massive number of the Garde Républicaine à cheval in France (rivalling the British Queen's Household Cavalry), the imperial surroundings of the Hofburg in Vienna, all is equally paid by the taxpayer, no difference with monarchies. Yes, we see ladies in grand jewels but often these rare more than a Century old and family heirlooms.

Note that the new French President M Macron and his spouse Brigitte can go hunting in the Fôret de Marly, the presidential hunting estate. That they can enjoy the deep Provence in Borme-les-Mimosas, on an idyllic isle with a fortress overlooking the Méditerannée.

All by all, in terms of State Budgets, little will be saved by swapping monarchies. The "downward trend" in showing-off was more in the 1970's and 1980's but have since returned since people realised that every nation need some "theatre of state", grandeur and ceremony.
 
camelot23ca said:
I've enjoyed watching the royal celebrations in Norway this weekend, and the ones in the Netherlands a short time ago, in part because I can't shake the feeling that we're at the tail end of the time period in which these sorts of grand, all out celebrations will occur. As even the most beloved, seemingly secure monarchies start having to account to the public for every penny they spend, (and this will happen to all of the European monarchies, IMO, Monaco maybe being the exception), I think that royal families will start to be seen as a more functional apparatus of the state, with all the limitations that entails. Some of them won't survive the transition. Others will adapt successfully and that means things will look very different in the coming years.

I also think the generation of royals who are now new monarchs or will be soon have always demanded much more of a private life and fought for less and less public exposure as students, as young adults, and now as middle aged parents of school aged children themselves. They've also almost all made a point of how they want to be "normal" in every way they can - the normal school life they had, the normal people they married, the normal way they supposedly function in their private lives, the normal childhood they want for their kids. On a personal level, I sympathize with them very much. On an institutional level, it's difficult to justify any sort of tax payer funded grandeur for a person a country firstly doesn't feel they know well and secondly wants to be, and more and more really is, just like a normal, albeit, wealthy citizen.
Click to expand...


Royal family events aren't always funded by the taxpayers. If I am not mistaken, King Carl XVi Gustaf's 70th birthday dinner for example was paid for by the king himself.

In any case, the decision to throw a lavish, taxpayer-funded bash on a royal birthday or wedding is made by the government, which is accountable to the parliament and, ultimately, to the voters who elect the members of parliament. If the Norwegian government found it appropriate to have a big public celebration of King Harald's and Queen Sonja's birthdays and pay for it out of public funds, it was probably because they thought that was the right way to thank the royal couple for their service , and also because they thought it wouldn't be controversial, but rather, on the contrary, would actually bring the country together.
 
Last edited:
Duc_et_Pair said:
Thanks for your post but I disagree. That the royals have to account every penny is nothing new. The annual reports of most monarchies are examples of transparency compared with many of these reports from Departments and State Agencies.

It is exact this openness, this transparency about the costs, which helps the institution, than being secretive and shielding about it. Yes, monarchies come with a prize tag. But the presidential palaces, guards, ceremonials, state banquets and the whole tralala come with a prize tag as well.

The grandeur of the Quirinale in Rome, the massive number of the Garde Républicaine à cheval in France (rivalling the British Queen's Household Cavalry), the imperial surroundings of the Hofburg in Vienna, all is equally paid by the taxpayer, no difference with monarchies. Yes, we see ladies in grand jewels but often these rare more than a Century old and family heirlooms.

Note that the new French President M Macron and his spouse Brigitte can go hunting in the Fôret de Marly, the presidential hunting estate. That they can enjoy the deep Provence in Borme-les-Mimosas, on an idyllic isle with a fortress overlooking the Méditerannée.

All by all, in terms of State Budgets, little will be saved by swapping monarchies. The "downward trend" in showing-off was more in the 1970's and 1980's but have since returned since people realised that every nation need some "theatre of state", grandeur and ceremony.
Click to expand...


I suppose Camelot23ca was not suggesting that royal families should be evicted from the royal palaces or that the pomp and circumstance of official state dinners should be toned down (as it has been the case lately in the French Republic BTW). I guess the point he/she was trying to make is that, in the future, there will be a declining willingness to use public money to pay for celebrations of a private nature like birthdays, weddings or christenings.

Using your example, although the president of the French Republic or, for that matter, the president of the United States have many personal perks, we don't normally see dozens of foreign guests covered in diamonds and expensive ball gowns getting together to celebrate their birthdays. In that sense, kings and queens are not yet "ordinary heads of State" like a president for life.
 
Last edited:
always a pleasure watching these royal events drawing royals from all over together. it felt sad when WA didn't release pics of his dinner with the royals, but at least this event made up for it with not only 1 but 2 banquets with gala dresses :)

How absolutely delightful the royal ladies looked. i loved how maxima recycled those two fabulous gowns from prinsjesdag (which i adore). nice to see mabel still taking part in these events and looking radiant too! her friendship with beatrix is undeniable.

haakon shaving his beard mid-gala was a highlight! i think it may have to do with an internal joke. to me, it looks like the king and queen wanted him to shave for some time and he refused but gave them the pleasure during the festivities :) i have to admit, i think the beard looks better on him than shaven.

juan carlos looks very frail. the events in his family lately must have taken their toll on him. him and sofia look rather sad compared to the other royals too. interesting to see how the spanish RF sent their emeritus king and queen, whilst the belgians sent their current, younger king and queen. shows how different these events are seen in two different monarchies. the scandis, on the other hand, were all in full attendance, as it should be :)

ms. kogevinas indeed stole the show (not in a positive way though) on the first night. she seemed in good spirits aboard the dannebrog the day after though, so either a) she didn't see her pictures in the press or 2) she is not easily embarrassed.

did sonja's relatives, the haraldsens, attend this event? they used to be regulars in royal events, but perhaps fell out of favours of the norwegian royals. i know pia is a TV celebrity nowadays so hardly someone desirable in these circles.
 
Last edited:
Where was the Danish Prince Consort,I don't recall seeing him present?
 
An Ard Ri said:
Where was the Danish Prince Consort,I don't recall seeing him present?
Click to expand...

he was not. henrik officially retired from public duties. maybe he decided he wouldn't be attending this sort of events either.
 
He wasn't there. Queen Margrethe arrived for the celebrations in her yacht, accompanied by the Crown Prince couple. Prince Henrik was in Tenerife on holiday the last time I read of him.
 
An Ard Ri said:
Where was the Danish Prince Consort,I don't recall seeing him present?
Click to expand...
Because he doesn't exist. [emoji14] It has been a year now or so that Henrik ceased using the title"Prince Consort" and is simply "HRH Prince Henrik of Denmark".
 
He was better on Holiday.
The funny thing was Queen Margarethe reading her Speech as older Monarch but just behind the King and Queen of Norway !!! She looked happy and joking..
 
Why weren't Prince Joakim and Princess Marie precent at the gala dinner? Carl Philip and Sofia for example were there...
 
carlota said:
he was not. henrik officially retired from public duties. maybe he decided he wouldn't be attending this sort of events either.
Click to expand...

This was a family affair, you would have thought he would have made the effort.
 
Iain said:
This was a family affair, you would have thought he would have made the effort.
Click to expand...

Well, at least he wouldn't have gone on and on about not being king...
Don't know about you, but I didn't miss PH.
 
I miss King Albert II, King Harald's first Cousin. He could have come alone with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
 
maria-olivia said:
I miss King Albert II, King Harald's first Cousin. He could have come alone with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but maybe he's not so fit to travel anymore. It was also rather chilly in Oslo that evening. There was even some snow on the ground on the next day, even though it was already May 10 !
 
maria-olivia said:
I miss King Albert II, King Harald's first Cousin. He could have come alone with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
Click to expand...

Paola is still recovering at the Belvédère so maybe it was just simply out of the question to leave her alone.
 
:previous: Albert and Paola are devoted to one another. I cannot imagine that Albert would have attended without his wife.

When he was in hospital with heart problems years ago she slept in his room and refused to leave his side.
 
Is she still recovering from the fracture in February or has she had another health issue :sad:
 
maria-olivia said:
I miss King Albert II, King Harald's first Cousin. He could have come alone with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
Click to expand...

He and Queen Paola also did not attend the celebrations 10 years ago when they where still in good health so i didn't expect them there this year.
 
An Ard Ri said:
Where was the Danish Prince Consort,I don't recall seeing him present?
Click to expand...

He has retired. Like Prince Philip is going to do. Like the late Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard did. No more doing royal engagements. Simply retreating from general public and royal life, with exceptions so now and then.

When we expect Prince Henrik at every royal event, what was then the point of retirement at all? So leave the good man enjoying is well-deserved old day.
;-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hans-Rickard
Princess Benedikte's 80th Birthday Celebrations: April - Mai 2024
Replies
2
Views
199
iceflower
iceflower
LadyFinn
Queen Silvia's 80th Birthday: December 23, 2023
2
Replies
45
Views
10K
LadyFinn
LadyFinn
iceflower
King Frederik's Birthday: May 26 (2024-)
Replies
0
Views
295
iceflower
iceflower
iceflower
State Visit from Moldova to Norway: May 6 - 7, 2024
Replies
3
Views
585
Muhler
Muhler
iceflower
  • Sticky
Norway: Birthday and Anniversary Wishes 2024
Replies
18
Views
968
doro
doro

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom