Norwegian state visit to Burma

Interestingly, the King and Queen will pay a state visit to Burma from 1 to 3 December. This would have been unthinkable only a few years ago, but should be seen as part of the normalisation of relations with Burma after the retirement of the military junta and the slight improvements in the country's human rights situation. State visits are decided by the government, and the King and Queen will as always be accompanied by the Foreign Minister.
President Thein Sein of Burma paid an official visit to Norway at the end of February 2013. The visit was hosted by then Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, but the President was also received by the King and the royal Palace.
Before packing their bags for Burma the King and Queen will play hosts to President Pranab Mukherjee of India, who will pay a state visit to Norway on 13 and 14 October. This will be the first state visit ever between Norway and India, and will also be the fourth incoming state visit this year, compared to none in 2013 and only one in 2012.

President Peres on controversial state visit to Norway

President Shimon Peres of Israel is currently on a two day state visit to Norway, which has, unsurprisingly, caused some controversy because of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and related issues. The fact that Prime Minister Erna Solberg and all other officials in order to please the Chinese dictatorship refused to meet another former Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the Dalai Lama, during his visit to Norway last week has added to the controversy.
State visits are decided by the government, so it is the current coalition of the Conservative Party and the far right-wing Progress Party that has initiated this state visit, but the fact that state visits are officially on the invitiation of the King, who plays host, has seen some criticise the King for receiving President Peres, while others have been deluded into believing that the state visit means that the King supports and endorses Israel. Both views are obviously nonsense, as the King, as a constitutional monarch, is bound by the government's decision in such matters.
The King yesterday hosted a state banquet at the Royal Palace (for which President Peres made the odd choice of wearing a starched white shirt and a white bow tie with an ordinary grey suit), while the governments holds a dinner at Akershus Castle tonight. The President, who is ninety years old and will retire next month, have also called on the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. Having shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late Yitzhak Rabin and the late Yassir Arafat, President Peres also gave a lecture at the Nobel Institute.
Strangely the Queen, who was until the start of the state visit yesterday listed as attending all events, is not present during the state visit, which the Palace explains with her being on a "longer, planned foreign trip". As no such foreign trip is listed this must be a private visit and it seems odd that the Queen, who is known to be duty conscious and has never missed a state visit before, should be on a private holiday during an incoming state visit. Nevertheless her absence left the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Astrid to do the honours together with the King.

Israeli state visit to Norway

The President of Israel, Shimon Peres, will pay a state visit to Norway on 12 and 13 May. The news has already sparked some controversy in Norway and is likely to lead to further protests related to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. While state visits are undertaken on the invitation of the King it is of course the government which actually makes the decisions about state visits.
It will be the first state visit ever exchanged between Norway and Israel, although there were plans for the King and Queen to pay a state visit to Israel in 2000, a trip which was cancelled due to the outbreak of the second intifada.
It will also be the first incoming state visit to Norway since the visit of President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and his wife Jenni Haukio in October 2012. While there used to be on average two state visits abroad and two incoming state visits per year recent years have for unknown reasons seen a decline in the number of state visits.
The King and Queen will receive another foreign head of state on 30 April, when King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians make a so-called introductory visit to Oslo, but this will not be a state visit.

Turkish state visit to sombre Sweden

Yesterday the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, and his wife, Hayrünnisa Gül, arrived in Sweden on a three-day state visit hosted by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. It is the first Turkish state visit to Sweden ever, but the King and Queen of Sweden made a state visit to Turkey in 2006.
There are old links between the two countries, as Sweden and the Ottoman empire saw a mutual arch-enemy in Russia and thus had a common cause. Following his defeat at Poltava in 1709, King Carl XII of Sweden spent the next five years in the Ottoman empire, the first four of them in Bender (now in Moldavia).
In 1885, King Oscar II and Queen Sophia of Sweden and of Norway visited Constantinople, where their son, Prince Carl, had fallen gravely ill. This was a private visit and the circumstances meant that the King and Queen wished to be incognito. However, it was only very rarely that foreign monarchs came to the Ottoman capital, and Sultan Abdulhamid II made much out of the visit and showered King Oscar and Queen Sophia with gifts.
The state visit to Sweden, which began yesterday and ends tomorrow, has a sombre touch because of the death of Princess Lilian, which happened on Sunday, when it was probably too late to postpone the state visit. King Carl Gustaf has decided that the flag should be flown at full mast on the Royal Palace during the state visit, but flags on other public buildings and along the Northern Bridge were on half mast when the state visit commenced yesterday. The King was wearing a black armband on his uniform and all the members of the royal family were wearing black, including at the state banquet last night. For the daytime events as well as for the banquet Crown Princess Victoria wore in a prominent position a small brooch which was a present from Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil.

Finnish state visit to Norway in October

The Norwegian royal court and the office of the President of Finland today announced that the new Finnish President, Sauli Niinistö, and his wife Jenni Haukio will pay a state visit to Norway from 10 to 12 October. There will be the usual welcoming ceremony in the Palace Square, followed by lunch and a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Monument at Akershus Fortress. President Niinistö will then call on the First Vice-Speaker of Parliament, Øivind Korsberg, and the Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, while his wife will open an art exhibition. The King and Queen will give a state banquet in the evening, which will also be attended by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Princess Astrid.
The next day the President will give a lecture at the House of Literature and then attend a conference, while his wife, who is herself a poet, will remain longer at the House of Literature together with the Queen in order to get a presentation of Norwegian poetry. The Prime Minister will host a luncheon before the guests visit a school at Stovner. The day ends with a reception at the Opera House, hosted by the President and First Lady of Finland.
On the third and final day, the Finnish guests will visit Tromsø and attend engagements focusing on mutual Finnish-Norwegian issues concerning the Arctic area. Unusually, the King and Queen will not accompany their guests on the final day, as they always do, but delegate this task to the Crown Prince.
Sauli Niinistö was elected President of Finland in February, in succession to Tarja Halonen, and sworn in on 1 March. In keeping with Finnish tradition he made a state visit to Sweden shortly after his inauguration.

Norwegian state visit to Poland and Finnish state visit to Sweden

The Norwegian royal court has announced that the King and Queen will pay a state visit to President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland from 9 to 11 May, spending two days in Warsaw and one in Cracow.
The King and Queen last made a state visit to Poland in 1996, when they were hosted by the then President Aleksander Kwasniewski and his wife Jolanta Kwasniewska.
The Kwasniewskis paid a state visit to Norway in 2003, while President Lech Walesa and his wife Danuta paid a state visit to Norway in 1995. The King was supposed to have attended the funeral of President Lech Kaczyński in April 2010, but was forced to cancel because of the ash cloud which grounded planes all over Europe.
It has also been announced that the new President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, who was elected a month ago and sworn in on 1 March, will pay a state visit to Sweden on 17 and 18 April, accompanied by his wife Jenni Haukio.
It is customary that a new Finnish President makes a state visit to Sweden very shortly after his or her inauguration, reflecting the close relationship between the two countries which were one state for centuries until 1809.

President Zuma honours victims of terrorism on state visit to Norway

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and his most recent wife, Tobeka Zuma (who seems to be the flavour of the month among his wives), today began a two-day state visit to Norway. The ties between Norway and South Africa are particularly close thanks to Norway being one of the few countries which stood by the ANC throughout the fight against apartheid (and not only through the last few years like Britain, the USA and many other countries did).
Between the usual events of the state visit’s first day – ceremonial, political talks and museum visits, the President and his wife found time to stop outside Oslo Cathedral, where they each laid a bouquet of flowers in honour of the 77 victims of the right-wing extremist terrorist attacks on Oslo and Utøya on 22 July. In the days following the attacks Oslo was literally covered in flowers and the largest sea of flowers was to be found outside the Cathedral, where people still continue to place their tributes. The King and Queen, who have been justly praised for their conduct after the attacks, accompanied their guests to the Cathedral.
Right now the King and Queen are hosting a state banquet at the Royal Palace. The state visit will conclude tomorrow afternoon, but the King and Queen will receive another head of state already on Friday, when the Queen of Denmark comes to Oslo to take part in the celebrations of the bicentenary of the University of Oslo, which was founded by King Frederik VI of Denmark-Norway on 2 September 1811 (the University carried his name until 1939).

South African state visit to Norway

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and one of his wives, Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma, will make a state visit to Norway on 31 August and 1 September.
Norway was one of the countries most closely involved in the struggle against apartheid and King Harald and Queen Sonja paid a state visit to President Nelson Mandela in February 1998, a visit President Mandela returned in March 1999. President Zuma hosted the King and Queen for a state visit in November 2009.

Luxembourgian royals welcomed in Oslo

Today the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg began a three-day state visit to Norway, where they were welcomed by the King and Queen at the usual ceremony in the Palace Square. Grand Duke Henri later laid a wreath at the National Monument at Akershus Fortress and called on the Prime Minister at the Government Building as well as the Speaker of Parliament. Tonight there is a state banquet at the Royal Palace.
During the day the Queen has also accompanied the Grand Duchess on visits to Oscarshall Palace and the nearby Queen’s Chalet (Sæterhytten) at Bygdøy, which was inaugurated in the presence of three mutual ancestors of the King and the Grand Duke in 1862 (Queen Lovisa, her daughter Princess Lovisa and her mother Princess Louise of the Netherlands) and has recently reopened after restoration works. On Wednesday the grand ducal couple, accompanied by the King and Queen, will travel to Trondheim, where Nidaros Cathedral is among the sites to be visited. However, the Grand Duchess may cut short the visit as her brother is reported to be in a coma in a hospital in Florida.
The Grand Duke has been awarded the Collar of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav (he already had the Grand Cross), while Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Märtha Louise have been given the Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau.
The Norwegian and Luxembourgian royal families are closely related and the ties between the two families have long been close. Grand Duke Adolphe, the first monarch of Luxembourg following the secession from the union with the Netherlands, was the older half-brother of Queen Sophia and something of a father figure to her.
Furthermore, the current Grand Duke’s mother, the Belgian-born Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, was a first cousin of King Harald. This means that Grand Duke Henri is the European monarch most closely related to King Harald except for the King of the Belgians, who is King Harald’s first cousin and Grand Duke Henri’s uncle.
Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, who lost her mother, Queen Astrid of the Belgians, when she was only eight years old and had a rather traumatic childhood during World War II, was always close to her Scandinavian relatives and rarely missed a family event. The death of this regal, yet charming lady in 2005 was much regretted by the Norwegian royals.
Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa have themselves paid a number of visits to Norway following their accession to the throne in 2000, attending several family occasions and also a skiing event some years ago.
There have on the other hand been rather few state visits between the two countries and, coincidentally, none of them has ever been returned. King Olav made a state visit to Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Félix in 1964, shortly before her abdication. In 1990 Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte became the last to pay a state visit to King Olav, who was taken seriously ill later that spring and never resumed the reins of government before his death in January 1991. In 1996 King Harald and Queen Sonja paid a state visit to Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, which they again did not return before Grand Duke Jean’s abdication in favour of his son Henri in October 2000.
This week’s state visit will by the way be the last to Norway by a reigning European monarch for the foreseeable future. The Queen of Denmark was here in 1992, the King of Sweden in 1993, the King of the Belgians in 1997, the Queen of Britain in 2001, the King of Spain in 2006 and the Queen of the Netherlands in 2010, while the sovereign princes of Liechtenstein and Monaco do not habitually pay state visits. As it is customary for monarchs to pay only one state visit to each country per reign the next state visit from a reigning European monarch will probably not be until a new reign has begun in at least one of the European monarchies.

Symbolically important British state visit to Ireland

There is something special in seeing the Court Circular in today’s British papers being dated “FARMLEIGH, DUBLIN, IRELAND”, reflecting that Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, yesterday began a four-day state visit to Ireland.
No British monarch has set foot in Ireland since King George V came there in 1911, at the beginning of his reign. During the long and violent struggle for Irish independence the Crown became a symbol of British oppression and it was therefore a symbolically strong moment when the Queen of Britain yesterday laid a wreath at the Memorial Garden in Dublin and bowed her head in respect for the fallen. Although there have been protests and demonstrations against the state visit, opinion polls indicate that it is welcomed by some 4/5 of the Irish.
President Mary McAleese has supposedly been very keen on hosting this symbolically important visit before her second and last seven-year term expires this autumn. For Elizabeth II, who has undertaken more than 300 foreign visits during her 59 years on the British throne, it is of course also significant that she has at last been able to visit Britain’s closest neighbour towards the end of her reign.

Luxembourgian state visit to Norway next month

The Norwegian royal court yesterday confirmed that the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg will pay a state visit to Norway on 30 May-1 June. They will spend the first two days in Oslo before travelling on to Trondheim for the final day.
The last Luxembourgian state visit to Norway was by Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte in the spring of 1990, while the King and Queen visited Luxembourg in 1996.

Princess Astrid unearthens “forgotten” tiara

The President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, today began a two-day state visit to Norway and at the state banquet at the Royal Palace tonight Princess Astrid made a surprising choice of tiara. Photos from the banquet (external link) show the Princess wearing a diamond diadem across her forehead in the style which was fashionable in the 1920s.
This is the tiara which was the wedding present from King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria of Sweden to Princess Astrid’s mother, Crown Princess Märtha, in 1929. The Crown Princess wore it on a couple of smaller occasions in the early years of her marriage and occasionally as a bracelet in later years.
Since Crown Princess Märtha’s death in 1954 it has only been seen once, i.e. when Princess Astrid’s eldest daughter, Cathrine Ferner, wore it across her forehead at the banquet celebrating the then Crown Prince Harald’s 50th birthday in 1987.
When I asked Princess Astrid about this piece of jewellery a few years ago and why she never wore it, she explained that the way it should be worn “is not my style”. At the age of 79, the Princess tonight demonstrated that it is never too late to change one’s style.

Queen Silvia drops out of state visit to Botswana

Tomorrow the King and Queen of Sweden were due to embark on a four-day state visit to Botswana, but it has been announced today that Queen Silvia has had to pull out of the trip because of influenza. The state visit will thus go ahead, but King Carl Gustaf will travel on his own.
The King and Queen have been holidaying privately in France, where Queen Silvia on Sunday consulted a doctor in Paris, who recommended her to rest and not to embark on the long flight to Botswana.
This is the third time in 35 years that Queen Silvia will miss an outgoing state visit. The pregnant Queen stayed at home when King Carl Gustaf travelled to Australia in 1982 and she also missed the state visit to Poland in 1993.
King Carl Gustaf will be received by President Ian Khama, whose predecessor Festus Mogae made a state visit to Sweden in 2006.

President Obama to pay state visit to Britain

Buckingham Palace and the White House today announced that US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will pay a state visit to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Britain on 24-26 May. The state visit will take place in London, where the Queen will be in residence at the time (state visits take place in Windsor if they fall during a time of the year when she is in residence at Windsor Castle). The President will continue on to the G8 summit in France.
It is not very common at all that US Presidents make state visits to Britain. The first President to do so was actually George W. Bush in 2003, at a time when it was important for Britain and the USA to stress their “special relationship” following their joint attack on Iraq. The last US President before Bush to stay at Buckingham Palace was Woodrow Wilson in December 1918, but that was not labelled a state visit.
But there has of course been plenty of less formal presidential visits to London and Queen Elizabeth II has during her 59 years on the throne met every American President except Lyndon B. Johnson. President Eisenhower visited her in 1959, Kennedy in 1961, Nixon in 1969 and 1970, Carter in 1977, Reagan in 1982, George Bush in 1989, Clinton in 2000, and Bush Junior in 2001, 2003 and 2008.
Barack and Michelle Obama met the British Queen during the G20 summit in London in 2009 and Mrs Obama and her daughters also met the Queen during a private visit to Britain later that year.
Queen Elizabeth II has paid state visits to the USA in 1957, 1976, 1991 and 2007 and also visited the country in 1983 and 2010.

Scandinavian state visits to Central Europe

Earlier this week the Norwegian Royal Court announced that the King and Queen will pay a state visit to Slovenia and its President Danilo Türk on 9 and 10 May. The King and Queen will also make a state visit to Croatia and its President Ivo Josipović on 12 and 13 May.
Yesterday the Swedish Royal Court also announced that King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia will make a state visit to Poland between 4 and 6 May. They will be received by the new President, Bronislaw Komorowski.
Meanwhile the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark are currently in Bahrain (3-6 February) as the guests of King Hamad, but this is an official visit and not a state visit.

Norwegian state visit to Slovakia this autumn

The Royal Palace in Oslo today announced that the King and Queen will pay a state visit to Slovakia from 26 to 28 October, where they will be hosted by President Ivan Gašparovič and his wife Silvia. In addition to Bratislava the King and Queen will visit Modra and Banská Štiavnica. The photo shows the Great Square in Bratislava.

Queen Beatrix on state visit to Norway

Spring and early summer are the high season for state visits and Oslo showed itself from its best side on what was perhaps the first real summer day when the Queen of the Netherlands arrived on a state visit today.
As befits a former naval power like the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix arrived on a Dutch naval vessel, “Tromp”. This meant that the official welcoming ceremony for the first time in nearly twenty years took place at the Quay of Honour in front of the City Hall rather than in the Palace Square, and that the King and Crown Prince for once donned their naval rather than army uniforms.
Crown Prince Haakon went out to “Tromp” to welcome Queen Beatrix and escort her to the quay, where she was also greeted by the King, the Queen and the Crown Princess and a selection of notables led by the Speaker of Parliament, Dag Terje Andersen.
Following the welcoming ceremony the royals drove to the Royal Palace where the King and Queen hosted a lunch which was also attended by Princess Astrid and a somewhat frail Princess Ragnhild. It was particularly nice to see the latter, who had not appeared in public since the war hero Gunnar Sønsteby’s 90th birthday in January 2008 and who will herself celebrate her 80th birthday next week.
Later in the day Queen Beatrix, escorted by King Harald and Queen Sonja, laid a wreath at the National Monument at Akershus Fortress, where His Majesty The King’s Guard was again on parade. Following that ceremony Queen Beatrix called on the Speaker of Parliament, something she had to do alone as the King is not allowed to enter the Parliament Building while Parliament is sitting.
Tonight followed a gala banquet at the Royal Palace, which was also attended by Princess Märtha Louise, who lived in the Netherlands for some years in the 1990s and is said to speak fluent Dutch.
Queen Beatrix will stay in Norway for three days and spend the final day in Bergen. She last paid a state visit to Norway in 1986, when she was welcomed by King Olav, who did not live to return the visit. King Harald and Queen Sonja made a state visit to the Netherlands in 1996, which Queen Beatrix has now returned – this also means that she has now paid state visits to most European countries.
Through the Dutch-born Queen Lovisa of Norway and Sweden Queen Beatrix is a fourth cousin of the late King Olav and through Queen Sophia of Norway and Sweden she is also a fourth cousin of Crown Prince Haakon.

President Medvedev in rainy Oslo

President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana Medvedeva today began their two-day state visit to Norway. The Crown Prince and Foreign Minister met them at the airport and escorted them to the official welcoming ceremony in the Palace Square.
Following lunch with the royal family, the President met the Speaker of Parliament and attended a business seminar together with the Prime Minister. Wreaths were laid at the National Monument at Akershus Fortress (where these photos were taken) and at Russian war graves. The President also visited the Defence Museum, where he decorated war veterans. The Queen and Mrs Medvedeva also found time to visit the Vigeland Park and the National Gallery and now the state banquet at the Royal Palace is about to start.
At the end of this visit the President and his wife will continue south to pay a state visit to Denmark.
Few countries have had such impact on the history of Norway as our northeastern neighbour. President Medvedev is the fifth Russian leader to visit Norway, following Nikita Khruschev, Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.

Dutch state visit to Norway in June

Last April I mentioned that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was expected to pay a state visit to Norway soon. Today the Norwegian Royal Court has announced that the state visit will take place from 1 to 3 June. The first two days will be spent in Oslo, the third day in a location not yet decided.
King Harald and Queen Sonja made a state visit to the Netherlands in 1996, while Queen Beatrix and the late Prince Claus paid a state visit to King Olav in 1986.

Press release:
http://www.kongehuset.no/c26950/artikkel/vis.html?tid=83535&strukt_tid=26950

Norwegian State Visit to South Africa in November

It has now been confirmed by the Royal Court that the King and Queen of Norway will pay a State Visit to South Africa this autumn (as I mentioned in April). The visit will take place between 24 and 26 November. The King and Queen last paid a State Visit to South Africa in 1998, when they were received by President Nelson Mandela. This time their host will be President Jacob Zuma, who was sworn in on 9 May following the ANC’s election victory in April. The Royal Court’s press annoucement:

http://www.kongehuset.no/c26950/artikkel/vis.html?tid=80522&strukt_tid=26950