On this date: Erling S. Lorentzen’s 90th birthday

Erling S. Lorentzen, businessman, war veteran and brother-in-law of the King, celebrates his ninetieth birthday today.
The son of shipping magnate Øivind Lorentzen and his wife Ragna, Erling S. Lorentzen was born in Oslo on 28 January 1923. During World War II he joined the resistance movement, becoming one of the youngest members of the elite resistance group Company Linge.
When the royal family returned from exile in 1945, Lorentzen became part of the royal protection squad. He was also given the task of teaching the young princesses to sail, and captured the heart of Princess Ragnhild in 1946. Despite initial strong opposition from King Haakon and Crown Princess Märtha, Lorentzen and Princess Ragnhild were eventually allowed to marry. The wedding took place in Asker Church in Asker outside Oslo on 15 May 1953.
Meanwhile, Lorentzen had studied at Harvard Business School, graduating with a Master of Business Management degree in 1948. Following their wedding, Lorentzen and the Princess settled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to take care of the Lorentzen family’s business interests. The initial plan was for them to stay there for two years, but it turned out to be forever.
In 1968 Erling S. Lorentzen founded the company Aracruz Cellulose, which turned out to be a great financial success; Lorentzen was able to sell his share for approximately $ 1.7 billion when Aracruz merged with another company in 2008.
At the age of ninety, Erling S. Lorentzen remains active and apparently healthy. Princess Ragnhild died on 16 September last year.

On this date: The Queen’s 75th birthday

Today is the Queen’s 75th birthday. The official celebrations of hers and the King’s anniversaries took place on 31 May, but today and tomorrow there will be private celebrations, apparently including an event at Oscarshall Palace. The Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark and the King and Queen of Sweden are among the guests.

On this date: Princess Madeleine’s thirtieth birthday - and Prince Philip turns 91

Today is the thirtieth birthday of Princess Madeleine of Sweden. The third and youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, the Princess was born at Drottningholm Palace, the family home on the island of Lovön some 10 kilometres west of Stockholm.
Unlike her eighteenth and 25th birthdays, and the thirtieth birthdays of her older siblings, there will be no official celebrations of the anniversary today. This is said to be in accordance with Princess Madeleine’s own wishes. However, the Princess is on a visit to Sweden these days and is reported to be celebrating her anniversary privately.
Princess Madeleine holds a bachelor degree in the history of art from the University of Stockholm and was as such only the second member of the Bernadotte dynasty to gain an academic degree. Since the break-up of her engagement to Jonas Bergström in April 2010, the Princess has been living in the USA, where she works for Childhood, a charity set up by her mother Queen Silvia.

Today is also the 91st birthday of Prince Philip of Britain. The Duke of Edinburgh is also celebrating privately at home, having been released from hospital yesterday. He was admitted to hospital with a bladder infection on 4 June and thus missed the second half of the diamond jubilee of his wife, Queen Elizabeth II.

King and Queen celebrate 75th birthdays

Today the King and Queen are celebrating their 75th birthdays - the King turned 75 on 21 February, while the Queen will reach her milestone on 4 July, but the official celebrations take place today. This time there is no palace ball or cruise for European royals, but rather events meant to involve the general public.
Earlier today the King and Queen received the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries who came to the Palace to offer their congratulations, and in between these deputations His Majesty the King’s Guard performed their famous tattoo in the Palace Square, with the royal family watching from the balcony. The King and Queen were joined by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, the Crown Princess’s son Marius Borg Høiby, Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn with their daughters Maud, Leah and Emma Behn, Princess Astrid and Johan Martin Ferner, and the Queen’s sole surviving sibling, 90-year-old Haakon Haraldsen, with his wife Liss.
There were particularly many kindergardens in the crowd, and, in a modern-day version of “let them eat cake”, the courtiers were sent out into the crowds ahead of the tattoo to distribute more than 3,000 buns and drinks to the children (and afterwards to pick up the litter from those kindergardens where it is apparently not taught that litter is not to be dropped at the ground where you stand). After the tattoo, the Mayor of Oslo, Fabian Stang, led the crowd in singing the birthday song, while Princess Ingrid Alexandra conducting them from the balcony.
Later in the day there was a service of thanksgivings in the Cathedral, and right now the royal family are attending an open air concert on the roof of the Opera House.