Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Annual report shows royals getting busier

A kind soul at the Royal Palace has sent me the royal court’s annual report for 2011, which was released two days ago. The report as usual contains a wealth of information about what the royals and the court have been up to during the previous year and the calendar of the public engagements carried out by members of the royal family reveals that most of them keep getting busier.
For 2011 the King is listed with 204 engagements, which may be compared to 169 in 2010 and 159 in 2009. The Queen carried out 99 engagements, compared to 69 in 2010 and 60 in 2009.
The Crown Prince had 194 engagements, which is almost twice as many as the 102 he carried out in 2009 (with 122 in 2010). However, the Crown Princess had a less crowded schedule, carrying out 59 engagements in 2011, compared to 74 in 2010 and 67 in 2009.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra is listed as having been present for five engagements (compared to eight in 2010 and four in 2009) and Prince Sverre Magnus at four engagements (the same as in 2010, but four times as many as in 2009). However, the calendar curiously fails to mention the children’s presence at several events at which they were actually present, meaning that the numbers for them are incomplete.
Princess Märtha Louise was present for 24 functions, which is a significant increase from seven in 2010 and thirteen in 2009 (the increase is mostly due to her having been present for several events during the World Ski Championship).
Princess Astrid, the oldest active royal, carried out 36 engagements in 2011, compared to seven in 2010 and ten in 2009. For her, too, much of the increase is due to her presence during the World Ski Championship.
Members of the royal family carried out engagements in Norway, Switzerland, Ghana, Mali, Britain, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Brazil, Italy, Azerbaijan, USA, Monaco, South Sudan, China, France, Finland, Sweden and Poland.
The report also reveals a decline in the number of visitors to the palaces. During the summer season of 2011 (23 June-13 August) the Royal Palace had 22,994 visitors (compared to 27,165 the previous year), while Oscarshall Palace was visited by 9,969 persons between 1 May and 25 September, compared to 19,359 in 2010.
In 2011 the King awarded one Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav and one Grand Cross Collar. No one was made a Commander with Star, while six men became Commanders. 22 people were made a Knight of the First Class.
Fifteen Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit were given out and eleven people became Commanders with Star. Thirty persons were made Commanders of this order, while 55 became Knights of the First Class and twelve were made Knights.

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