Posted by norwegianne on Feb 9, 2009 in
royal families I am sure that readers of this blog has noticed the infrequencies of posting this past 5 months.
Being in my last year of Grad school, official school things are taking more and more of my time, and keeping up with the royals on my own became difficult. But as the royal interest is still there, I did not want to abandon blog writing completely.
I am therefore happy to announce that along with Sofia of Sofia’s Royal Sweden and Maxie of Toute Royale, I have started another blog. The Royal Twist.
We hope that by cooperating, and eventually also with other writers on the team, to be able to cover the royal sphere in a thorough and enjoyable manner.
I hope you’ll follow me there - it’s been a fun run here, but I imagine it will be even more interesting over at The Royal Twist.
Anne
Posted by norwegianne on Jan 26, 2009 in
Haakon & Mette-Marit Apparently, the Crown Princely residence at Skaugum is in bad shape, due to moisture, and rot. It’s one of the targets in a new emergency funding package from the cabinet - the building will receive 12.6 million NOK for renovations.
You know the work climate is bad when one of the country’s leading republicans isn’t complaining about spending money on the royals, but instead prefer to look at the upside of the renovations - it gets people back into work.
Tags: royal residences, skaugum
Posted by norwegianne on Jan 17, 2009 in
Ari & Märtha Louise,
Haakon & Mette-Marit Se & Hør had the horoscopes for 2009 predicted for some Norwegian celebrities. As for the younger royals.
Read more…
Tags: horoscopes
Posted by norwegianne on Jan 6, 2009 in
Sonja Interested in what the royals are wearing? Have the credentials to back it up?
Read more…
Tags: the court
Posted by norwegianne on Jan 6, 2009 in
Mette-Marit News came out today that Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been nominated for a Spellemann award for the CD she produced of psalms. She’s nominated in Open Class.
According to bookies, she’s got a fair shot at winning.
Tags: awards, norway, spellemann
Posted by norwegianne on Jan 2, 2009 in
Mette-Marit In 2008, news came that Crown Princess Mette-Marit had taken on High Protector duties of the Hamsun year.
Read more…
Tags: hamsun, high protector, literature, nobel, norway
Posted by norwegianne on Jan 1, 2009 in
royal families 1 - Nicolas Mirzayantz (1963)
4 – Karina Medforth-Mills (1989)
5 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1921)
5 – King Juan Carlos I of Spain (1938)
5 - Prince Tomohito of Mikasa [Japan] (1946)
6 - Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela [Tsaritsa Margarita of Bulgaria] (1935)
7 – Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark (1939)
8 - Princess Siriwannawari Nariratana of Thailand (1987)
10 – Princess Chimi Yamgzam Wangchuck (1980)
11 - Count Hans Veit of of Toerring-Jettenbach (1935)
12 – Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1969)
13 – Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria (1933)
13 – Marius Borg Høiby (1997)
15 – Princess Michael of Kent (1945)
15 – Prince Christoph of Liechtenstein (1958)
15 – Iñaki Urdangarín (1968)
15 – Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1982)
15 – Prince Philip of Yugoslavia (1982)
18 - Princess Claire of Belgium (1974)
19 – Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern (1937)
19 – Princess Margriet of the Netherlands (1943)
19 – Princess Kalina of Bulgaria (1972)
20 – Sophie, the Countess of Wessex (1965)
20 – Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant (1973)
20 – Prince Tassilo Preslavski of Bulgaria (2002)
21 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria (1937)
21 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (2004)
22 – Princess Nicole of Hohenzollern (1968)
23 – Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess of Hannover (1957)
23 – Princess Kesang Choden Wangchuck of Bhutan (1982)
27 – Princess Katharina of Liechtenstein (1964)
27 – Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, Prince of Piacenza (1970)
28 – Erling S. Lorentzen (1923)
28 – Princess Ameerah Wardatul Bolkiah of Brunei (2008)
29 – Princess Marie Therese of Liechtenstein (1974)
30 – King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of Jordan(1962)
30 – Felipe, Prince of Asturias (1968)
30 - Prince Hashem bin Al Abdullah of Jordan (2005)
31 – Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938)
Tags: birthday-list
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 31, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family there used to be a published yearbook, detailing the work of the Norwegian royal family, in the year that went by. I’ve no idea what happened to it; I haven’t seen anything like that published for the past couple of years.
I have the 1991/1992 yearbook, and it is interesting to look back at what the family did during the first year as the King and Queen. There were state visits to Denmark and Sweden, attending CPss Victoria’s confirmation, CP Haakon joining the Navy…
Queen Sonja and Icelandic president Vigdis Finnbogadottir visited Washington DC, accompanied by three Viking ships.
I am also fascinated to see how Märtha Louise’s sense of fashion has changed from that year until what we see today. More daring, and more willing to experiment, rather than just going the safe route.
These past couple of years, we’ve got a programme on NRK, where the King and Queen are interviewed and look back on the year. Link to this year’s programme.
Tags: yearbooks
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 30, 2008 in
Media about Royals According to this, parents in Arizona chose royal names for their children.
Isabella tops the list of names for girls. They share the name with Queen Isabella I of Castille, Queen Isabella II of Spain and Princess Isabella of Denmark, the daughter of CP Frederik and CPss Mary.
There is also Sophia in second place. Queen Sofia of Spain, Infanta Sofia of Spain, and a Swedish queen.
Emma is in third, and also a popular name amongst the Dutch royals. (And if Carl-Philip manages to pop the question, also a Swedish royal name). Queen Emma, regent for Queen Wilhelmina.
Elizabeth… ’nuff said.
Camilla was the 18th on the list, and Victoria came in at 20th.
Tags: names
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 28, 2008 in
Carl Philip,
Madeleine,
Victoria We’re looking 2009 in the face, and there may be a sort of wonder if 2009 is going to be the year when we will have loads of anticipated weddings (or if they will prefer to wait until 2010…)
Read more…
Tags: musings, victoria's wedding, wedding speculation
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 25, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family means church for the Norwegian royal family. Haakon, Mette-Marit with two children (Marius was celebrating the holidays with his father) joined King Harald and Queen Sonja in Holmenkollen chapel. Märtha Louise and Ari went to the service in their local church.
Mette-Marit came equipped with paper and colour pens, so Ingrid and Magnus could have something to do, if they got impatient during the service. Understandable - as it might be less than dignified for the Crown Princess, or the Queen, to run about to catch a rampant Prince or Princess during the service.
Read more…
Tags: christmas
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 24, 2008 in
Uncategorized ‘Tis the season to be jolly, be with family, and just in general have a good time. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, it’s also the season to be inside, and look out on the (probably) miserable weather.
I hope all of you have a good time over these next days. I know it can be difficult time of year for some, and sincerely hope that something will come along for you to make it easier to bear.
Merry Christmas!
Tags: christmas
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 23, 2008 in
Alexandra & Martin,
Joachim,
Nikolai & Felix You know the relations between former husband and wife are good, when news came out that Prince Joachim had grown and cut Countess Alexandra’s christmas tree. Or, it could just be that he wanted his boys in the time they spend there, to have the best tree… You never know.
Tags: christmas, christmas tree
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 22, 2008 in
British Royal Family In this time of holidays, many families get together and enjoy board games, card games or other activities that involve spending time together.
Read more…
Tags: games, musings
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 22, 2008 in
Märtha Louise Princess Märtha Louise of Norway is being interviewed in a television documentary, Fairy Tale Princess, which airs on TV2 tonight. In an exerpt out from NTB we get the exciting preliminary report that if she took seriously all the things the press wrote about her… she would have to move out of the country. She says that sometimes she wakes up, like the Princess and the Pea, and gets battered by the press without really knowing why…
Read more…
Tags: interview
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 21, 2008 in
Felipe,
Haakon,
Royal Fashion,
William Evidently, the big topic with Prince William of Wales these days, is that he’s growing a beard. Or can’t find a razor. Whichever you think is likely. The issue seems to be when he will shave it off, as the RAF doesn’t quite see the necessity of beards in their service.
Read more…
Tags: beard, fashion accessories
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 18, 2008 in
royal families 
*giggle*
Originally uploaded by librarian_triumphant
Tina Brown’s Diana is a great gift for “Your Grandma” according to the Borders staff.
I’m not sure what this says about the general perception of royal watchers (that we’re all 80 year olds?).
I do own a copy of it. And I wouldn’t classify myself as an 80 year old or a granny. How about you?
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 16, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family For the people who didn’t spend their education memorizing the Norwegian counties as yours truly did; Norway is divided into 19 counties - which in turn is divided into municipalities. (If you’re interested in random factoids; there are 430 municipalities. )
The royal family has made a habit of making special visits to the counties, so they can meet people who may not normally get a chance to meet the royals. These county visits roughly follow the pattern of a state visit; they’re three days long, usually, and the royals tend to do two of them a year. (Haakon and Mette-Marit does one, and Harald and Sonja one.)
Read more…
Tags: county visit, norway
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 15, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family The Norwegian royals gathered for the yearly holiday photoshoot in the yard at Skaugum, where they grilled hot dogs outside in the snow for breakfast (because of the timing of the session), and made snowmen. The youngest also got a ride on a sled.
Pictures: Aftenposten, VG (picture series) Side2 , NRK
Videos: Dagbladet. NRK
Tags: photo session
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 15, 2008 in
royal families In 2008, I started this blog on the 20th of May (just as I was the busiest with writing a term paper I had to hand in seven days later, and in the beginning of a nasty bout of tonsillitis).
But what happened with the royals in 2008? Here are some tidbits.
Read more…
Tags: 2008, events, looking back
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 14, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family,
Swedish Royal Family Here are some pictures from Norwegian and Swedish newspapers to sum up this year’s Nobel - for the royal watchers.
From Norway: VL
Mette-Marit had a minor accident, so she didn’t come to the Nobel Peace Prize concert until the second half. Her son Marius was there for the first half, so mother and son switched places, then. Probably so Marius could go home for his bedtime.
From Sweden: Aftonbladet & Svensk Damtidning
Tags: nobel
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 14, 2008 in
Victoria Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten have had the chance to interview the Swedish heir to the throne. There were some interesting tidbits as a result.
Read more…
Tags: christmas, education, svalbard
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 13, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family Since their children married, and settled down in their respective residences, King Harald and Queen Sonja have alternated between which of their children the spend Christmas with. The last time they all celebrated Christmas together was 2004.
Read more…
Tags: christmas
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 12, 2008 in
Harry The Telegraph reports that it looks like Prince Harry might be heading back to Afghanistan.
Read more…
Tags: afghanistan
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 12, 2008 in
Albert I’ve been going through a couple of sleepless nights recently (just ask my flatmates; one day, I was so tired I was almost falling asleep when I was leaning against a wall… but falling asleep while horizontal proved impossible, of course.) and what I tend to do then is think about all sorts of things that I don’t normally find interesting.
Case in point: Albert and Charlene.
Read more…
Tags: charlene wittstock, musings
When I was writing this post, about the New Adventures of Queen Victoria, I was reminded of the RPG (role-playing game) Diana the Warrior Princess, by Marcus Rowland.
Read more…
Tags: royal history, rpg
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 10, 2008 in
Norwegian Royal Family A gallery from VG.Wherein it looks like Mette-Marit’s coat is hiding black clothes. It wouldn’t be a shock.
The Royal website also have pictures.
The Save the Children’s Nobel Party: With Mette-Marit on the sidelines.
Watch the ceremony at NRK’s website
Tags: nobel, peace prize
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 10, 2008 in
Swedish Royal Family As it’s not just in Norway there’s Nobel festivities, here’s the Nobel programme for the Swedish royals.
Read more…
Tags: nobel
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 10, 2008 in
Haakon & Mette-Marit,
Harald & Sonja Today, Wednesday December 10, former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari, will receive the Nobel Peace Prize of 2008. A less controversial choice than last year, Martti Ahtisaari receives the prize for his work over 3 decades, on trying to resolve international conflicts.
Read more…
Tags: nobel, peace prize
Posted by norwegianne on Dec 9, 2008 in
Frederik & Mary,
Margrethe Stories have come out that Crown Princess Mary of Denmark may be pregnant again, formed on the basis of only drinking water at public function, and touching her stomach in Thailand. The pregnancy rumours may or may not be true; she has certainly had her share of them before, including when she gave “birth” to a gall stone. If she is, it’s hopefully due after the referendum of the change of the Danish constitution on June 7. (A boy born prior to that may create a bit of a muddle with Princess Isabella…)
Read more…
Tags: rumours