80th Birthday Celebrations of King Harald V and Queen Sonja

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Here are the guestlists (that I posted in post 34) for their 70th birthdays in 2007:

The King's 70th in February:
Royal Encyclopedia: Guestlist for HM King Harald V's 70th Birthday
Queen Margrethe was not present due to a operation, King Albert and Queen Paola canceled (as I said in my previous post) due to illness and King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were only present at the privare dinner at Skaugum, but the guestlist was still impressive.

The Queen's 70th in July:
Royal Encyclopedia: Guestlist for HM Queen Sonja of Norway's 70th Birthday

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Does it? What a strange article.

Queen Sonja’s 80th birthday celebrations bring back memories of the children she lost – Royal Central

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by ROYAL NORWAY

Does it? What a strange article.

Queen Sonja’s 80th birthday celebrations bring back memories of the children she lost – Royal Central

Strange? - It's downright poor taste!

[ROYAL NORWAY]

I agree! She talked about it in 2012 and 2016, but it has not been mentioned at all this year. And I don't understand what Oskar Aanmoen (Europe Correspondent, Royal Central) meant with ''Queen Sonja's 80th birthday celebrations bring back memories of the children she lost''. Did he mean that it brings baack memories to her or the Norwegian people? That is what I meant with 'strange' article.

He describe himself like this, so he should know better: (but Royal Central is becoming more and more ridiculous with their factual errors and copies of other articles, so I'm not surprised)

Oskar Aanmoen
I live in Oslo, Kingdom of Norway, where I am a master's student in history at the University of Oslo. My specialty is the Scandinavian royal houses as well as political and military history of the Nordic countries. In addition to being Europe correspondent for Royal Central I am a writer and an active contributor of professional historical articles in Norway.

[Madame Verseau]

Sweden will be represented by CG, Silvia, Victoria, Daniel, CP & Sofia. Madeleine and Chris are not going. Who acts as regent in Sweden when the Royal, Crown Princess and Prince Couple are in another country? It's certain not Estelle, or Madeleine comes to Sweden to act as regent.

[Kingen]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

Sweden will be represented by CG, Silvia, Victoria, Daniel, CP & Sofia. Madeleine and Chris are not going. Who acts as regent in Sweden when the Royal, Crown Princess and Prince Couple are in another country? It's certain not Estelle, or Madeleine comes to Sweden to act as regent.

Probably none officially. According to the Constitution is it not clear who acts as regent if everyone in the Line Succession is unable to act as regent, however it is not impossible the Speaker of the Riksdag unofficially. I saw on the website of the Royal Court that the Crown Princess and other members in the Line Succession only act as regent if the King is at a distant place and/or difficult to reach. In conjunction with the King and Queen's trip to Brazil and the event in Stockholm, it was said from the Royal Court that the Crown Princess is regent if the King is outside Europe.

[ROYAL NORWAY]

When the King and Queen celebrated their 60th birthdays in Trondheim in 1997, a short service was held in Nidarosdomen on June 21. When they turned 70 in 2007, the royals attended a service in Trefoldighetskirken (the Trinity Church) on February 21th (for the King's 70th) and a service in Stavanger Cathedral on July 4th (for the Queen's 70th).

A friend asked me today: Why doesn't that happen this time? What I answered was that it could have something to do with the fact that after May 21, 2012, the King is no longer the head of the Norwegian church.

Then he said, but they did it in 2012 and 2016. Yes (I answered), the royals attended a non-televised service at Oslo Cathedral for the King and Queen's low key 75th birthdays celebrations on May 31, 2012.

And yes, they attended a service at the Palace Chapel on January 17 last year, but that was to mark the 25th aneversary of King Olav's death. They also attended a service at Nidarosdomen on June 23, but that was to mark the 25th aneversary of the Consecration.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

Sweden will be represented by CG, Silvia, Victoria, Daniel, CP & Sofia. Madeleine and Chris are not going. Who acts as regent in Sweden when the Royal, Crown Princess and Prince Couple are in another country? It's certain not Estelle, or Madeleine comes to Sweden to act as regent.

Good question! I believe the Instrument of Government says (Chapter 5, Art. 7) that, when no one in the line of succession is available, the Speaker of the Parliament (or, in his/her absence, the Deputy Speaker) serves as regent ad interim under a government order.

[LadyFinn]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

Sweden will be represented by CG, Silvia, Victoria, Daniel, CP & Sofia. Madeleine and Chris are not going. Who acts as regent in Sweden when the Royal, Crown Princess and Prince Couple are in another country? It's certain not Estelle, or Madeleine comes to Sweden to act as regent.

There is no need for a regent when the king is in Europe, according to what the royal court told during the king's trip to Brazil in the beginning of this month. It is just like Kingen wrote.
Expressen wrote about it:
Margareta Thorgren said that it is routine that crown princess Victoria is a regent when the king is abroad and can't act as the Head of State. Formally, it is said that Crown Princess Victoria is the regent and thus has the duties as the Head of State. She gets that role when the king travels overseas - but usually only when he is outside Europe, as otherwise, the king can act as the Head of State if something unforeseen would happen.
Kungen bortrest – då är kronprinsessan Victoria vikarie _ Kungligt _ Expressen

Aftonbladet's royal expert Jenny Alexandersson wrote about this also at her blog:
Victoria was a regent because the king was abroad. Usually, the king does not need a deputy when he is traveling within Europe, but on such long-distance trips, Victoria takes her father's place.
Så agerade kungafamiljen vid attentatet i Stockholm _ Hovbloggen

Next week, when king Carl Gustaf will be in the United States, a regent is needed.

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Tilia C wrote this in another thread:

Originally Posted by Tilia C.

Instead we are rapidly nearing the big birthday bling in Norway. I wonder who might attend from the lower profile Royals. Do you think that someone from the Greek RF will attend? I don't hope for any Berleburgs, not after their recent sad loss. Any Rosenborgs, perhaps?

1. According to Aftenposten (very serious newspaper), 30-40 royal guests are expected.

2. Only 11 (5 from Denmark and 6 from Sweden) have so far confirmed that they are coming.

3. That means there are still 20-30 unconfirmed royal guests who will be present in Oslo. I (for one) doubt that there will be so many.

4. We also know that the presidents of Finland and Iceland are invited, so I guess they will come.

[Madame Verseau]

I didn't know CG will coming to the US next week. That means he would be meeting Trump.

[LadyFinn]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

I didn't know CG will coming to the US next week. That means he would be meeting Trump.

King Carl Gustaf is going to USA with Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' Royal Technology Mission, it is not an official visit of the Head of State. The king attends at the trip as the patron of the Academy.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by ROYAL NORWAY

Tilia C wrote this in another thread:
1. According to Aftenposten (very serious newspaper), 30-40 royal guests are expected.

2. Only 11 (5 from Denmark and 6 from Sweden) have so far confirmed that they are coming.

3. That means there are still 20-30 unconfirmed royal guests who will be present in Oslo. I (for one) doubt that there will be so many.

4. We also know that the presidents of Finland and Iceland are invited, so I guess they will come.

Philippe/Mathilde and Willem-Alexander/Maxima don't have any scheduled events on those days. I would expect the Belgians and the Luxembourgish GD couple to attend because Harald is after all a first cousin of both King Albert II and the late GD Joséphine-Charlotte. I am not sure about the Dutch royal couple though; they normally attend events like that, but they don't seem to be particularly close to the NRF.

The Spanish royals probably won't attend , but I still hope Charles and Camilla might show up representing QEII as they are close to Harald and Sonja.

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

Philippe/Mathilde and Willem-Alexander/Maxima don't have any scheduled events on those days. I would expect the Belgians and the Luxembourgish GD couple to attend because Harald is after all a first cousin of both King Albert II and the late GD Joséphine-Charlotte. I am not sure about the Dutch royal couple though; they normally attend events like that, but they don't seem to be particularly close to the NRF.

The Spanish royals probably won't attend , but I still hope Charles and Camilla might show up representing QEII as they are close to Harald and Sonja.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are actually known as some of the Crown Prince Couple's closest royal friends, and they often meet each other (according to Kjell Arne Totland and other royal commentators).

The 4 of them were observed during a private visit in Tromsø (City in Norway) in April last year:
http://www.itromso.no/nyhet/article1...e/DM7P4305.jpg

The Dutch royal family in Norway during past royal celebrations:

Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1993: Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince Constantijn and Prince Johan Friso.

60th Birthdays in 1997: Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.

The King's 70th birthday in February 2007: Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Maxima, Prince Constantijn, Princess Laurentien, Prince Friso and Princess Mabel.

The Queen's 70th birthday in July 2007: Queen Beatrix and Princess Maxima.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also attended Haakon's 40th birthday at Skaugum in 2013

[Lee-Z]

I hope P.Beatrix of the NL will attend, i think she is quite close to K.Harald and Q.Sonja (at least from what i can judge from public appearances), but i don't think anything is confirmed about it (yet)

[ROYAL NORWAY]

After I and others feared that NRK would not bother to send the celebrations live, I wrote about it in post 80:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...ml#post1977898

I wrote this in post 83:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...ml#post1978365

Here are some of what I wrote:

What has the Royal Court said? I have seen the clip with communications manager Marianne Hagen (from February 21) again, where she said the following: The official celebration in Norway will be in May. Then it's the government who invites to a great dinner in the opera on May 10th. There will be a gala dinner at the palace for family and friends from home and abroad on May 9th, and we hope that we can take the Norwegian people to a part of that celebration as well.

It's poorly translated, but that's because I'm using exactly the same words as she did (so people can read it the way she said it).

What she meant: She hoped that the Norwegian people were allowed to take part (through television) in the gala dinner on May 9th as well.

This meant, according to people I spoke to, that NRK could send what they wanted.

I also wrote this:

Yes, the king is more popular than ever, and the monarchy has record high support, but the crown prince couple has weakened the institution considerably in the media and in the political elite. And It's therefore unlikely that NRK will spend a lot of money on a large television broadcast after spending a lot of resources and funds on the Silver/Consecration Jubilees last year.

The television coverage for the Silver Jubilee on January 17, 2016 was large and NRK1/2 broadcasted throughout the day.

The television coverage for the Consecration Jubilee on June 23, 2016 was even larger and NRK1 broadcasted throughout the day. (It must have been one of the longest television broadcasts in Norway's history) See post 34/35.

The reason that I refer to my previous posts now is because we have received more information from the court and NRK today:

From the court - There has been no information in English today, so this is translated by me: (I hope people appreciate that I bother to spend time on this)

Bli med på feiringen - kongehuset.no

Join the celebration

Would you like to sing the birthday song for the royal couple? Their Majesties The King and Queen are both 80 years old and on May 9th and you are all invited to the Palace Square.

King Harald turned 80 years in February and Queen Sonja will be 80 in July. There will therefore be a big celebration for them both in between. 9th and 10th of May: It is expected between 30 and 40 guests from the European royal houses, as well as the Icelandic and Finnish presidents.

Sing the birthday song for the royal couple

The celebration starts at the Palace Square on May 9th at 5.30pm. There will be a drill show with His Majesty the King's Guard, and song and music with Soul Children.

It will be served ice cream.

Actor Bjarte Hjelmeland concludes it all by reading a monologue to the royal couple.

In the evening there is a gala dinner at the palace. The guests will arrive at the Palace between 19:00 and 19:15.

May 10th

The celebration will be a highlight in Oslo. The government invites to a dinner in the Opera for the King and Queen and 300 guests. There will be a party atmosphere when the Royal Family travels with guests in cortège from the palace, down the entire Karl Johan to the railway station and onto the Opera.

His Majesty the King's Guard will lead the way. They will march from the Palace to the Opera at 18.15. From 18.30, the royal guests from home and abroad will follow.

There will be song and music along the route. A children's and youth choir will sing at Universitetsplassen, Högbråten school band will play where Kirkegata crosses Karl Johan and Ullevål school band will play on the Railway Market.

Karl Johan will be closed for traffic between 17:00 and 19:00. It's important to include the calculation if you are going to travel in the area at this time.

Opera roof

The royal guests arrive at the Opera from 18.40, with the royal couple as the last to arrive at 19:00. There they are welcomed by the host of the evening, Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Outside the opera there will be dance and music. 1 000 peoples will be alloved into the opera roof from 16:00. All must be in place until 17.30, and all must go through security checks.

Later in the evening, after the banquet is over, there will be fireworks outside the Opera. It will take place at 22.30.

Honnørbrygga

You also have the opportunity to see the royal couple and the royal guests earlier in the day as they travel to the royal yacht. It will take place from Honnørbrygga at Rådhuskaien on 10 May at 11.00.

The Danish royal yacht, KS Dannebrog, is the base for the Danish royal family during the celebration, and will lay by the dock at Akershus. It is not often you can see the two ships together at the same time.

Watch TV

Anyone who does not have the opportunity to take part at the Palace square or at Honnørbrygga, along Karl Johans gate or at Opera roof, can follow it all on TV. NRK will send directly on both days from 17.20.

There will be full coverage of the entertainment at the Palace square and when the guests arrives at the gala dinner. Inside the palace we will see when the King and Queen greets the guests, the procession until the gala dinner, and the speeches inside the Great Dining Room.

NRK also follows the guest's arrival to the Opera the following day and also sends highlights from the government's dinner.

From NRK:

May 9th: NRK1 sends live from 17:20 to 18:55 and from 19:35 to 21:00. Yes, there will be live coverage of the galla dinner with the King and Queen greeting the guests, the procession and the speeches inside the Great Dining Room.

May 10th: NRK1 sends live from 17:30 to 1905 (the cortège) and from 21:20 to 23:00 (highlights from the dinner in the opera). The dinner is (for a strange reason) not sent live.

Coverage will not be nearly as large as in 1993, 1997, 2007 and 2016, but it will be much to look forward to.

TV2 news channel will send all the events live.

[Tatiana Maria]

I appreciate very much your translations and your posts.

[Curryong]

It all sounds absolutely wonderful. What a spectacular celebration. I hope lots of people sing the birthday song. Is it 'Happy Birthday' (to you) or something else? Thank you Royal Norway for the translations.

[Countessmeout]

I must say I was intrigued by the question so I looked

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EeXfePNHG9w

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Here people sing the Norwegan version (that you posted) to the King and Queen at a concert on the opera roof in May 2012 to celebrate their 75th birthdays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4u5G4OklU4

Here people sing the English and Norwegian version of Happy Birthday on the occasion of the King's 80th birthday in February:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmW5iw03xpc

Originally Posted by Tatiana Maria

I appreciate very much your translations and your posts.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Curryong

It all sounds absolutely wonderful. What a spectacular celebration. I hope lots of people sing the birthday song. Is it 'Happy Birthday' (to you) or something else? Thank you Royal Norway for the translations.

You're very welcome!

Slik kan du selv ta del i feiringen av kongeparet | Kongebloggen - Kjell Arne Totland

According to Kjell Arne Totland, the royals will appear on the balcony in grand gala with orders, decorations and tiaras. The same happened for the King's 70th birthday in 2007:

At 6.30 pm, the royal couple comes out on the balcony with many of their royal guests - all in glittering galla.

Kjell Arne Totland writes about TV2's coverage: (I wrote about NRK's coverage in post 139)

TV2 and TV2 News Channel will of course have a broad coverage of all the events in Oslo both Tuesday and Wednesday.

There will be full coverage of the entertainment at the palace square and when the guests arrives at the gala dinner.

Inside the palace we will see when the King and Queen greet their guests, the following procession until the gala dinner - as well as the speeches in the Great Dining Room.

Likewise, TV2 News Channel follows the guests' arrival to Honnørbryggen and to the Opera the following day - and will also send the highlights of the Government's dinner.