NordenBladet – After being postponed due to the pandemic, the date is finally set for the celebration of Princess Ingrid Alexandra reaching adulthood.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s official celebration day will be on 16 and 17 June.

The Princess turned 18 on 21 January 2022. The planned gala dinner at the Royal Palace as well as the government’s celebration of the day of authority was indefinitely postponed in December due to the infection situation and the virus restrictions.

King Harald and Queen Sonja will host a grand gala dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo on Friday, 17 June on the occasion of Government Day. The Norwegian government will host a party event on Thursday, 16 June. It is expected that a large number of royals from all over Europe will participate in the celebration. The 18-year-old milestone birthday was celebrated privately on 21 January.

The Norwegian government’s planned gift to the Princess is a gala dinner at Oslo’s new library, Deichman Bjørvika, with music and other cultural elements. Broad participation from all over the country was planned, especially by young people. This dinner will also be held later this year.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas G. Støre recently stated: “The day of adulthood is a major event in the lives of all young people. This applies not least to an heir to the throne who is to represent Norway and the Norwegian people. I had looked forward to celebrating with Princess Ingrid Alexandra on the day of her coming of age, but unfortunately, the infection situation does not make it possible now. I still hope she has a nice celebration with her loved ones.”

Ingrid Alexandra was born on 21 January 2004 at Oslo University Hospital as the first child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Due to a change in the laws of succession in the 1990s, she has been second in line to the Norwegian throne from birth.

NordenBladet – King Harald of Norway has been on sick leave for almost two weeks, but on February 10th 2022, he returned to work. The Norwegian monarch received three new ambassadors in a solemn audience at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

The ambassadors from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bakir Sadović, from Australia, Kerin Ann Ayyalaraju and from Rwanda, Diane Gashumba, handed over their credentials to King Harald, and thus the three can act as their countries’ ambassadors to the Kingdom of Norway.

The credential is the letter that presents the ambassador and the assignment. It is a very solemn occasion. The ambassador is picked up with one of the Royal Court’s cars. They drive slowly up in front of the Castle where soldiers from His Majesty the King’s Guard stand. The Royal Guard sounds a fanfare as the ambassador arrives at the Palace.

It is not common for photographs from these meetings to be printed and sent out in separate press releases. However, from these meetings, three photographs were published through the royal family’s website. This is to give a clear sign that the King is healthy. In the recent months, the King has used a crutch to lean on, otherwise the Norwegian press is in unison in their interpretation that the King looks quite healthy. The news has received a great deal of attention in the Norwegian media, both in newspapers and on television. It is clear that the Norwegian people are very pleased that the King is back in full force.

On February 11th 2022, the King will also lead the council of state and receive a number of people for an audience at the palace in Oslo. So far, no official events have been set up outside the palace where people have the opportunity to see the monarch.

King Harald began his sick leave on January 28th 2022 when he developed mild cold symptoms. The sick leave was extended twice after this date.The announcement came the day after minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, tested positive for coronavirus just hours after an audience with the King, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon. Fortunately, no one after the meeting has tested positive for corona.

NordenBladet – Crown Prince Haakon has revealed some details about his daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s, possible military career.

In connection with his visit to the National Logistics Operations Centre at Sessvollmoen Camp on 7 February, the Crown Prince confirmed that Ingrid Alexandra had not yet completed the initial military surveys conducted by all Norwegian 18-year-olds.

His Royal Highness said: “She has not yet, but she has already visited the Armed Forces on two different occasions. She thought it was very interesting.”

In November 2021, the Princess visited the Armed Forces Special Command, where she got to greet special soldiers from the Hunter Troop and practice parachuting. A few weeks later, she visited the Air Force, where she was flown in an F-16 fighter jet. For her 18th birthday on 21 January, the Princess received the gift of three days in the Armed Forces by Chief of Defence, Eirik Kristoffersen.

In connection with Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday in January, a number of questions have been asked about her military future. In Norway, the monarch is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Princess will one day be the Queen of Norway. Her father, Crown Prince Haakon, and grandfather, King Harald, both have an education from the Naval Academy and the War Academy. However, the Crown Prince has been clear that his children can choose their own education.

The initial military surveys conducted by all 18-year-old Norwegians are usually their first physical encounter with the Armed Forces and where the Armed Forces finds out whether a person is physically and mentally fit to serve. During the survey, the Norwegian youth go through physical exams, theoretical tests, health checks and a conversation.

Surveys are usually taken during the last year of high school. It is expected that Princess Ingrid Alexandra will take part in the military survey in the autumn or next spring.

When the Princess turned 18 in January, she also received her military adjutant and adviser, together with her new office at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

NordenBladet – On this day, 17 January, it is exactly 31 years since King Olav V died and his son took over as Norway’s new monarch. On the evening of 17 January 1991, at 10.20pm, King Olav V died at the royal cabin, Kongsseteren, in the outskirts of the capital, Oslo. Olav was King of Norway from the time he took over from his father, King Haakon VII, on 21 September 1957 until his death on 17 January 1991.

When King Olav died at Kongsseteren outside Oslo he was 87 years old and the world’s oldest monarch. Throughout the evening and in the days that followed the death, tens of thousands flocked to Castle Square in Oslo to remember King Olav and show their support for the Royal Family. The castle square was full of flowers and candles.

The official announcement of King Olav’s death was given by the King in an Extraordinary Council of State at the Palace at midnight. On January 18, King Harald gave his first speech as monarch, in which he remembered his father and asked for the support of the people in the deed that now lay before him.

King Harald later said that he thought his father, King Olav, was the first victim in the Gulf War. King Olav died of a heart attack while watching an extra news program on CNN on TV about the Gulf War. In an interview with TV2 in 2001, King Harald said that King Olav thought the Gulf War was the beginning of the Third World War and was so scared that he had a heart attack. King Harald was present when it happened and revealed that King Olav was annoyed with the Norwegian government which could not better inform him about what happened shortly before he died.

King Harald has on several occasions expressed his gratitude for the support of the people. In King Harald`s New Year’s speech in 1991 His Majesty said: “The great participation and all the sympathy we received, gave a strong feeling that the Norwegian people stood with us in a common grief. The condolence protocols from all over the country, together with the lights and all the greetings from the castle square warmed and comforted us in the most difficult days.”

In the days following the king’s death, it was not uncommon to see people crying in the streets as they passed the castle. Young children drew pictures for King Olav which they put in front of the castle. People said they could not understand that King Olav was gone. He had somehow always been there. Since 1905 he had been Norwegian Crown Prince and since 1957 King.

When a Norwegian monarch passes away, the next takes over at the same moment. Hence the expression “The King is dead – Long live the King”. Nevertheless, the transition is also accompanied by a number of ceremonial elements, of which the King’s oath to the Constitution is the most important. This took place on 21 January. King Harald and Queen Sonja also chose, like King Olav, to be blessed by the church in Nidaros Cathedral on June 23 1991.

After the blessing, the royal couple completed a ten-day round trip in southern Norway, and the following year a 22-day trip in the four northernmost counties. The custom of such a journey in connection with a royal accession dates back to the Middle Ages, when the kings allowed themselves to be praised in the various courts around the country.