Ingrid Alexandra's 18th birthday: 21 January, 2022 & birthday celebrations

[An Ard Ri]

I may have missed it but did the Princess receive the Royal Family Order of Harald V of Norway?

[Kingen]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

I may have missed it but did the Princess receive the Royal Family Order of Harald V of Norway?

Yes she did, as well as the Order of St Olav.

Sent from my SM-A725F using The Royals Community mobile app

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Post 1 of 2:

So let's go through the happenings on January 20 (the day before her birthday):

Ingrid's visit to the Parliament (the Storting):
The President of the Storting, Masud Gharahkhani from the Labour Party (read about him in this English Wikipedia article - link) greeted the Princess outside the building, then showed her the Storting chamber (where he told her about the workings of the parliament and Norway as a parliamentary democracy) before they walked into ''Eidsvollgalleriet'' (''the Eidsvoll gallery,'' which is a room in the Storting flanked with pictures of the so-called ''Men of Eidsvoll,'' who adopted the Norwegian Constitution in 1814). Ingrid and the president then had a closed meeting at his office, which was also attended by two other politicians:
1. The First-Vice-President of the Storting, Svein Harberg from the Conservative Party. The reason why his position is called First-Vice-President BTW is because it's the highest-ranked among five Vice-Presidential positions in the Presidium.
2. The youngest ever serving MP, the 20-year-old Maren Grøthe from the Centre Party (althrogh it should be said that she is not an MP in her own right, she is a so-called deputy MP who replaces Ola Borten Moe while he is a government minister).

When the meeting was over, they walked into ''Eidsvollgalleriet'' again, where Ingrid signed the guestbook with not only her name but also with a little heart symbol (which is a sweet and very typical teenage-girl-thing to do - see a photo of it in the NRK article posted a bit down in the post).
The president then said goodbye to her outside the building after about a 50-min visit.

And when talking to the media afterwards, the president said, among other things, that the Princess was ''curious and interested.'' He also said that ''it was great to receive what could be Norway's first female head of state and that the monarchy has a great future,'' etc (yes, he had to say that, but you could see that he meant it).


Ingrid's visit to the Supreme Court:
Chief Justice Toril Marie Øie (read about her in this English Supreme Court article - link) greeted the Princess outside the building, then took her inside the court's vestibule and introduced her to four of the other 19 justices before telling her about the building. They then walked up the staircase and into the Chief Justice's office where Toril Marie Øie, among other things, told Ingrid about the damages to the building during the July 22 attacks in 2011, before she told her about the King-chair (which stood inside the office) and said she hoped the Princess would take a sit in it (such as CP Haakon did the day before he turned 18 in July 1991) to which Ingrid replied with a smile ''selvfølgelig'' (''of course''), the media was then thrown out and they had a private chat. The Chief Justice then showed Ingrid the two courtrooms (while at the same time telling her about the workings of the court) before they said their goodbyes in the court's vestibule after about an hour-long visit.

And when talking to the media afterwards, Toril Marie Øie said, among other things, that the Princess was ''interested'' (especially in which cases the Supreme Court deals with) and that ''she asked good and relevant questions.''


Ingrid's visit to the Prime Minister's office:
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre from the Labour Party (read about him in this English Wikipedia article - link) greeted the Princess outside the building and took her into his office where they had a private chat. This was followed by a private lunch, which was also attended by the Minister of Justice, Emilie Enger Mehl from the Centre Party and some government staffers. (The 28-year-old Enger Mehl BTW is the youngest member of the current government, although not the youngest ever.) And before the media was thrown out, you could hear that Jonas Gahr Støre told Ingrid about the workings of the government.
The visit lasted almost two hours before the prime minister said goodbye to the Princess outside the building.

Støre then held a press meeting about the visit and said, among other things, that the Princess was ''interested, had many questions and was very exciting to talk to.''

Another thing to mention (which I perhaps will talk more about in the constitutional thread later) is that the prime minister is a personal friend of the CP-Couple, so Ingrid would have met him several times in the past. Støre even said when he became prime minister last year that he will declare himself biased if that should be needed, such as he did when the Stoltenberg government (which he was part of from 2005 to 2013) discussed the CP-Couple's apanage.
And now that he is the prime minister himself, he could easily be accused by the media of raising the apanage because they are friends, etc.


You can both read more about the day and watch the whole NRK broadcast in this NRK article (link). See the visit to the Storting from 38:00, the visit to the Supreme Court from 01:55 and the visit to the Prime Minister's Office from 03:10:00.

You can also read more in this English Royal House Article (link).

My impression of the Princess throughout the day:
A bit shy, but at the same time very confident, friendly and smiley. And as you can see in this short facebook-video (link), she really gave the photographers time to take their pictures (although understandably she didn't take any questions from reporters).

And now to the three people who accompanied the Princess:
1. Leader of the Royal Secretariat at the Royal Court, Olav Heian-Engdal (photo-link). In addition to being in the car with the Princess and accompanying her around, he also attended the private meeting with the President of the Storting and the private lunch with the Prime Minister (althrogh not the private meeting with the Chief Justice, I think).
Not sure about his age, but think he's in his late 30s or early 40s. He was previously assistant-leader of the Royal Secretariat with the responsibility of CP Haakon's official program and has worked at the court since at least 2014. Became leader of the Royal Secretariat in 2017 (and is in that capacity number two in the court after the Lord Chamberlain). The secretariat BTW is responsible for organising and coordinating the public and private engagements of members of the Royal House, i.e. the King/Queen, the CP-Couple and Ingrid. They also take care of the official programme and correspondence of princesses/princes who are not members of the Royal House, i.e Märtha & Astrid and most likely Sverre Magnus after he turns 18 in December 2023.
2. Adjutant (aide-de-camp/equerry) to the Princess since January 1st, Fredrik Ness Engh (read more about him in post 63). In addition to being in the car with the Princess and accompanying her around, he also attended the private lunch with the Prime Minister.
Not sure about his age, but think I read somewhere that he was born in 1982. Not any good work-related photos of the man, but you can see him in the broadcast above (the guy in uniform).
3. Communication manager at the Royal court, Guri Ofstad Varpe (photo-link). She was very much in the background handling the media, but you could notice her.
Not completely sure about her age, but she was 46 in April 2018. Had experience from both politics, journalism and communication before joining the Royal Court as Communication manager in June 2018, where she IMO has been doing a very good job, handling both the princess-title stuff with Märtha and the Epstein stuff with CP Mette-Marit very well.

Should also be mentioned that the Princess used the CP-Couple's official state car, known as A-3 (which is a stretched Binz Limousine from 2012 - here is a pretty good photo of it from Norway's Constitution Day in 2021 - link).

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Post 2:

TV-Coverage:

The state-owned NRK1:
The 5-hour broadcast (posted above in the other post) was presented live from the palace park by news anchor, Ingerid Stenvold (photo-link - and yes, unlike the Princess, she writes her name with an ''e''). She was born in 1977 and has worked at NRK since 2001. Not covered royal events before but has reported on the RF in regular news broadcasts and seems to be pretty pro-monarchy in her presenting style.

For most of the broadcast, she was joined by two so-called experts:
1. NRK's royal reporter/commentator/expert, Kristi Marie Skrede (photo-link). Not completely sure about her age, but she was 52 in January 2021 and has covered the RF for NRK since at least 2005 and has been the main responsible for royal coverage at NRK-News since 2007 (when the now late royal reporter/commentator/expert, Anne Baggethun retired). Skrede, who IMO is very serious/reliable, used to be quite balanced in her royal reporting but has in recent years been pretty pro-monarchy in her style.
2. Former political editor in the liberal-conservative newspaper Aftenposten, Harald Stanghelle (photo of him with the King - link). He was born in 1956 and often comments on the RF, politics and other stuff on both NRK and TV2. Is republican by principle but is actually very pro-monarchy in his style and holds nothing back when he praises King Harald, with whom he had several interviews for his best-selling 2020-book ''Kongen Forteller'' (''the King tells''). And he often refers to the King as ''folkekongen'' (''the king for all'') and ''folkets konge'' (''the people's king'') and says that King Harald's ''enorme posisjon blant det norske folk'' (''enormous position among the Norwegian people'') is due to the way he talks about inclusiveness and equality and the way he handles tragedies and natural-disasters in Norway. He also describes him as more popular than the very popular King Olav V (something most commentators agree with).
The coverage also included appearances by NRK's political commentator, Lars Nehru Sand (photo-link) and NRK's new culture commentator, Inger Merete Hobbelstad (photo-link). And the ultra-pro-monarchy royal author, Tor Bomann-Larsen (photo-link / born 1951), who is often used by the media here for royal events. He is most known BTW for his eighth-part biographical book-series about King Haakon VII and Queen Maud from 2002 to 2019, where he in the second volume (which was released in 2004) came up with a controversial theory that King Olav V was not the biological son of King Haakon VII. But despite this, he is regarded as very serious/reliable.

Talked about? Well, everything from the fact that there is currently high support for the monarchy among young people and that Ingrid looked much more relaxed than the way more serious 18-year-old CP Haakon in 1991 (they added that it was a different time when things were more formal and that he, in contrast to Ingrid, was the main heir, since his grandfather King Olav had died earlier in the year). They also said they were impressed with how Ingrid handled herself, reminding us that she is just 18.

The commercial TV2 News Channel:
News presenter, Elin Ludvigsen (photo-link / born 1971) reported live from the Storting before she moved herself to the Prime Minister's office (while political reporter Stål Talsnes stood outside the Supreme Court). She has always been very pro-monarchy in her style and has together with TV2's late royal commentator/expert Kjell Arne Totland (who died in 2019), covered several Norwegian royal events, including the Regent-Couple's joint 80th Birthday celebrations in 2017.
She was joined by the always knowable royal historian and author, Trond Norén Isaksen (photo-link / born 1981), who has been TV2's royal commentator/expert since Kjel Arne died. He is not a constitutional monarchist by principle but said some years ago that he believes the monarchy is the best solution for Norway.

Talked about: Much of the same as at NRK. However, when you have a detail-oriented historian like Trond Norén Isaksen as royal commentator/expert, the TV2 coverage automatically becomes a bit more nerdy than the one at NRK (something a nerd like me really appreciates).
Norén Isaksen also praised the media for leaving Ingrid alone until now. This is (he said) in contrast to when CP Haakon and Märtha Louise were in their late teens when the media was already speculating about boy/girlfriends and everything.
(I have previously gone through digital newspaper archives, and he's right, they already talked about Märtha's boyfriend by name when she turned 18 in 1989).
He further said that he hopes the media will hold back for a few more years and that they (when the time comes) will have confidence in Ingrid's ability to choose a spouse who is right for her. And that the Norwegian media will not make it a ''hell'' (his word), such as they did with CP Harald & Sonja Haraldsen and CP Haakon & Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby.
(Agree, but if she should end up with a rich American or something like that, the egalitarian Norwegian media is not going to like it. But that is not a discussion for this thread).

The TV2 broadcast BTW is not available online (but you would have needed a subscription to watch it anyway).

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Double-quoted post:

Originally Posted by wartenberg7

I don´t know in which room she was interviewed here-perhaps in Skaugum, I guess - but obviously not her new office at the Palace, but I noticed an old photo of the young british Queen and Prince Philip framed in the background!https://www.instagram.com/p/CMH4X5XHhQB/

I just wanted to say how impressed I was about her "performance" at her birthday-gift-cour! The Princess was dignified and regal, but still charmingly humle and accessible. I think she did tremendously well, great poise!

Yes, the VG interview was conducted in the library at Skaugum, located among the reception rooms on the first floor. And in the background, you can look into the breakfast room. (The CP-Couple, Ingrid and Sverre Magnus, BTW, live in a private apartment on the second floor.)

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Regarding the title stuff that has been discussed here:
Yes, Ingrid is described as ''HKH Prinsessen'' (''HRH The Princess'') on the first page of her profile on the Royal House website (and on the page for her decorations), which in all certainty is due to her being the future heir and Monarch.
Should also be said that the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) since 2015 has been doing the same thing when they have referred to members of the Royal House by only their styles/titles (and not by names) when they have appeared on the palace balcony on May 17th (Norway's Constitution Day). - While Sverre Magnus OTOH (who is not part of the Royal House and therefore not a Royal Highness) was described as ''Prince Sverre Magnus'' (and not just ''the Prince'').

[W.Y.CII]

Thanks ROYAL NORWAY for the details of IA's birthday events!

A question regarding the title: has Harald or Haakon ever being addressed as HRH The Prince before they became Crown Prince and when their grandfather were still alive? Is it a "newly invented" formal title or just an informal one to indicate IA's position?

[Somebody]

Interesting question. One thing that is different in tjis generation (other than the change in the law of succession) is that Haakon's and Harald's siblings were royal highnesses from birth while Ingrid's sibling Sverre Magnus is not.

[ROYAL NORWAY]

And now to the birthday itself, January 21:

11:00 am: The Princess was invited by the King to observe the weekly Council of State meeting with the government at the Royal Palace.
English Royal House article about it (link). Plus an NRK-video (link).
(The poster wartenberg7 BTW also posted a YouTube video of it in post 122.)

And as usual during the State Council meetings, King Harald and CP Haakon were wearing the gala uniforms of the army without medals and the St. Olav sash.

When the King came in, he said ''god dag alle sammen'' (''good day everyone''), to which the government replied with ''god dag Deres Majestet'' (''good day Your Majesty''). Then the Crown Prince came in and said ''god dag statsråd'' (''good day Council of State'') to which the government replied with ''god dag DKH'' (''good day Your Royal Highness''). This was followed by a smiling Ingrid who said the same as her father to which the government replied in the same way as they did to the Crown Prince.
You can also hear the prime minister saying happy birthday to her, to which Ingrid replied with ''tusen takk'' (''thank you very much'').

But why did the King say good dag everyone, while CP Haakon and Ingrid said good day Council of State?
1. Probably just the King being his informal self.
2. Or perhaps since the Council of State (on the paper) is the King's council, he sees himself as part of it in a way (and if that's the case, he would literally have said hello to himself if he had said ''good day council of state'').
The Crown Prince, OTOH, only takes a seat there on a weekly basis (except when he is regent) and Ingrid was just invited as a one-off basis guest, so they were both greeting the council as observers in a way. And it's therefore fitting for them to say as they did.
And we have no other videos to compare it with either since this is the first time the media has been let in to film from the council chamber during the covid-restrictions. Because usually the King and the Crown Prince would have walked around the table greeting all the ministers. Such as they did during the change of government in October last year when Norway was fully opened up before we went into semi-lockdown again in December. Watch this 9-min YouTube video of it (link) where the King and Crown Prince greet the outgoing government from 0:00 - and the incoming government from 6:00.


And now to the constitutional part of why Ingrid was invited:

Article 35 in the constitution (which can be read in English here - link) says:

As soon as the heir to the throne has completed her or his eighteenth year, she or he is entitled to take a seat in the Council of State, although without a vote or responsibility.

''The heir to the throne'' is taken as to mean the first in line, which means that Ingrid will not take a regular seat in the Council of State before the King dies and she becomes Crown Princess.

So why was she attending? Because article 12 in the constitution says:

The King himself chooses a Council from among Norwegian citizens who are entitled to vote. This Council shall consist of a Prime Minister and at least seven other Members.

The King apportions the business among the Members of the Council of State as he deems appropriate. Under extraordinary circumstances, besides the ordinary Members of the Council of State, the King may summon other Norwegian citizens, although no Members of the Storting, to take a seat in the Council of State.

Husband and wife, parent and child or two siblings may never sit at the same time in the Council of State.

So the King just invited her (as the future heir and monarch) on a one-off basis to celebrate her age of majority day.


About the Council Chamber:

Read about it in this English Royal House article (link), which includes information about the throne-chairs used by the King and Crown Prince.
(Ingrid BTW was just using a rococo chair from the white drawing-room.)

And since there are no photos in the article that show how the room used to look like, let's post two pictures of it:
During the reign of King Haakon VII (link).
During the reign of King Olav V (link).
(You can see how it looks like now in the article.)


My coverage of the day will continue later.

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Originally Posted by W.Y.CII

Thanks ROYAL NORWAY for the details of IA's birthday events!

A question regarding the title: has Harald or Haakon ever being addressed as HRH The Prince before they became Crown Prince and when their grandfather were still alive? Is it a "newly invented" formal title or just an informal one to indicate IA's position?

You're very welcome!

And have replied to your question in the title-thread (link).

[Prinsara]

This is tangential, but it’s interesting how the picture of Haakon VII arriving carrying Olav seems to have always been there. In The King’s Speech they had it in the king’s personal quarters so there would be an excuse to show it for the plot. Unless there is more than one copy of the painting...?

[eya]

Princess Ingrid Alexandra's 18th birthday celebrations will take place on 16-17 June

"His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen will host a gala dinner at the Palace on Friday 17 June . The government a party event on Thursday 16 June."

https://www.kongehuset.no/artikkel.h...413&sek=112472

[Tilia C.]

That will be an exciting event to watch. Which foreign guests should we expect? The Scandinavian Royals? Or the godparents?

[An Ard Ri]

Good news that a date has been set for June!

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Tilia C.

That will be an exciting event to watch. Which foreign guests should we expect? The Scandinavian Royals? Or the godparents?

Of the foreign royal guests, I would expect to see Victoria & Daniel, Mary & Fred, King Felipe (as god father, if he can make it). I would also like to see her peers (Elizabeth of Belgium, Catherine-Amalia of Netherlands and possibly, Leonor of Spain) attend, possibly with a parent to guide them.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Tilia C.

That will be an exciting event to watch. Which foreign guests should we expect? The Scandinavian Royals? Or the godparents?

I certainly hope that her royal godparents will attend but as it is on a Thursday and Friday i have my doubts that King Felipe will come.
And it would be nice if King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima and Queen Mathilde will attend and bring perhaps Amalia and Elisabeth but that depends probably on school/university holidays

[An Ard Ri]

The Scandinavian Royals are thankfully still quite close knit , I hope King Felipe as one of her godparents attends but not sure about queen Letizia.

[polyesco]

Love that the celebrations could be rescheduled. Would be great to see royals attend, especially her god parents. Christian attended her confirmation so he might go too. It would be really nice to see the younger generation (Elisabeth, Amalia, etc)

[Blog Real]

Originally Posted by muriel

Of the foreign royal guests, I would expect to see Victoria & Daniel, Mary & Fred, King Felipe (as god father, if he can make it). I would also like to see her peers (Elizabeth of Belgium, Catherine-Amalia of Netherlands and possibly, Leonor of Spain) attend, possibly with a parent to guide them.

Yes I would also like the heirs of Ingrid Alexandra's generation to be at the celebrations (Christian, Estelle, Leonor, Catharina-Amalia and Elisabeth). But I don't know if it's possible.

[amaryllus]

Estelle is just child and Leonor doesn’t really have the ties those teens have to each other so I can’t see that. Christian almost certainly and Probably CA and Elisabeth.

[Blog Real]

Originally Posted by amaryllus

Estelle is just child and Leonor doesn’t really have the ties those teens have to each other so I can’t see that. Christian almost certainly and Probably CA and Elisabeth.

Leonor will have to create bonds with the heirs of her generation. But Eleanor already knows the princesses of the Netherlands.
But yes, most likely Leonor will not be in these celebrations.
Catharina-Amalia, Christian, Elisabeth and perhaps Estelle are more likely presences.

[amaryllus]

Precocious and well behaved as she is Estelle is way to young to be at gala dinners and won’t have anything but being born a Royal heir in common with Ingrid , Christian ETC. Anyway.

[muriel]

I agree with a number of posters in that Estelle is probably too young to attend. It is difficult to know if Felipe will attend, but he may come to the dinner on the Friday night.