32 thoughts on “King Harald’s Silver Jubilee”

1. I loved Queen Silvia’s dress for the dinner. It was a beautiful colour. And Happy Birthday to Sophie as well. She looks fabulous for 51!

2. Daisy looks stupendous in that white coat and hat!

   1. Agreed, she stole the whole entire show with that ensemble. Very chic

   2. Daisy looked beautiful in white. Just majestic.

   3. This is one of my favorite Daisylicious outfits – it screams Winter Queen! She debuted it at her 4oth Jubilee celebrations a few years back.

      I’m not impressed by any of the evening gowns though Silvia’s takes the prize for sheer boldness. Sequins and a huge taffetta drape – Silvia does nothing by halves.

      Queen Margrethe and Queen Sonja are very good friends (they used to go on skiing holidays together). The late Queen Ingrid was also a great support and mentor for Queen Sonja (as well as for Silvia). King Harald’s mother was the Swedish princess Märtha. Finally, the current Norwegian RF descends from the Danish RF through King Haakon VII (the former Prince Carl of Denmark), the son of the Danish King Frederik VIII.

      1. ArtHistorian, you’re such a source of information and always a pleasure to read. The European royals are actually one big family (through their ancestors), right?

         1. Yes they are. Queen Victoria are sometimes called the Grandmother of Europe and King Christian IX of Denmark is called the Father-in-Law of Europe.

            Queen Victoria’s descendants were married into the Swedish, Norwegian and Spanish RFs. Christian IX’s descendants were married into the Russian. English, Belgian and Swedish RFs + one of his sons became King George I of Greece. Funny fact, ex-King Constantin of Greeces descends from Christian IX on both his mother’s and his father’s side. His wife Anne-Marie, QMII’s sister, is descended from Christian IX on her father’s side and from Queen Victoria on her mother’s side since Queen Ingrid was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Margaret of Connaught. Norway’s first king of the Danish Glücksborg dynasty, Haakon 7., was married to the English princess Maud, daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra (daughter of Christian IX of Denmark). Haakon (born Carl of Denmark) and Maud’s first son Olav (born Alexander of Denmark) was acutally born at Sandringham!

            In more recent times.
            Queen Margrethe II and King Carl Gustav of Sweden are first cousins since Margrethe’s mother Ingrid was the sister of his father, the late Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf. King Harald’s mother, the late Crown Princess Märtha was born a Princess of Sweden, the daughter of Prince Carl of Sweden and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark – Ingeborg was the daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Queen Lovisa (who was born a Swedish princess). One of Princess Ingeborg’s other daughters, Princess Astrid, was married to the King of the Belgians – she was only queen for 1 year before she was killed in a car accident. Both og her sons, Baudoin and Albert, became Kings of the Belgians.

            1. Wow, thank you for the info. I find genealogies fascinating too!

            2. I used to work at the Royal reception Rooms at Christiansborg in Copenhagen as a guide – so I have amassed quite a lot of info about the royal history.

               I have to say that I find it a bit icky that the children of Constantin and Anne-Marie descend from one person through 3 different lines of descent. Christian IX ruled from 1863 to 1906. That isn’t really that long in terms of genealogy. There really has been a lot of intermarrying among the Scandinavia RFs – so it is good with some new blood. 😉

               When both Frederik and Victoria were single, the tabloids had wet dreams about them marrying. Lol.

3. The picture of the royal family at church all shoved in together on one bench is great. I can see someone saying, “come on, we can all fit.” Marius is the normal teen who refuses to be touched by anyone. Daisy’s smile is radiant as always.

   1. +1 as so often in recent photos they look like a pretty normal family on many levels. You just can’t imagine ever seeing the Windsor’s like this.

4. Love the day time photos especially the skiing ones, but I am not keen on any of the evening dresses. At a push I would say I like the top half of Sonja’s dress. Why does Silvia feel the need to take that tablecloth with her everywhere at the moment?
   Sophie looks radiant, but I would like to see the full dress – the cut outs look a bit too much with just the top showing.
   25 years – it is of course a huge achievement but doesn’t it make you think about QE II?

5. Congratulations King Harold! It looks to like a compromise was made within the CP family, in exchange for Marius attending the church service he was allowed to bow out of the rest of the royal family activities. Gosh, it brings back memories of dealing with two teenagers, the constant back and forth of “if you do this, then you don’t have to do that, etc…” or the ever popular “you’ll do this because I said so”. Oh such fond memories 🙂

   While I’m not a fan of the Queen’s dresses, I have to say I like Daisy’s the best. And I would give my left arm for those sapphires!!

   Happy Birthday Sophie!!! I have to say she is aging wonderfully, her skin looks radiant! I don’t know though if I’m a fan of the nude slip under this lace dress, it almost looks too revealing if you know what I mean. I think a contrasting color underneath would look better, maybe a dark turquoise blue?

   1. I was going to mention Marius, too. I think it’s nice that they include him in the royal family happenings, even though he isn’t CP Haakon’s son. They could easily try to hide him in a back closet or something, and they don’t. I find that very respectable of the Norwegians.

      1. +1

   2. Lauri my comments above on Sophie’s dress reflect your view – but perhaps if we saw the whole dress it would make more sense? It just feels as if we are seeing too much skin, although I am aware it is not skin!

6. KMR, every time that you post something about the Scandanavian royals I find myself liking them more and more!
   I love that they get out and ski and participate. I personally wouldn’t wear any of the dresses that the three queens did, but I loved that they all “went for it”. None of the three is boring and all had an air of celebration.

   Lastly, I think the reason that I’m starting to love the Scandanavian royals (and continental royals generally) more than the BRF is that they all seem to be friends with each other. The BRF only seems to spend time with themselves and I like that the continental royals seem to all participate in each other’s events and truly be friends.

   1. Hi Lindsey, I too enjoy seeing the Scandinavian & continental royals spending time together. It’s especially nice as the CP couples are all about the same ages and have children about the same age too, so when we see photos of them all together you can just bet they’re having a great time.

      1. +1

7. I recently returned from a back king trip through Europe. I found it interesting that in Norway, there were many postcards with official photos of the Royal family. I didn’t see that in any of the other countries I was in that had monarchies. I assume now that it was for the King’s jubilee. Very interesting. Thanks for the post!

8. I am in heaven! I love this family. The skiing and the church service was great. I watched a bit online a few days ago and Sverre Magnus is adorable. At one point, the little dear was yawning and made quite a scene of it. I loved that he was allowed to be a kid in that setting. I always smile when I see Marius. I love that he is included.

   Daisy looked resplendent in white and her blue gown. While I don’t like the gown, I love how she incorporated the sapphires. The only thing that I wished for was tiaras. A girl can dream. I am not a fan of Silvia or Sonja’s dresses. But, they know what works for them. The flourish on Silvia’s gown is a bit overwhelming, but she can wear it. It does not wear her.

   I am loving the coverage of these other families as well.

   Happy Birthday, Sophie! She deserves a wonderful day as she is a huge asset from HM.

   Wonderful post, KMR. You spoil us so.

9. How nice of the Birthday Girl to spend her special day honoring a friend!

   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3408606/A-chic-Sophie-Wessex-spends-51st-birthday-society-figures-Lord-Montagu-Beaulieu-s-memorial-service-Westminster-Abbey.html

   1. I really like Sophie. She appears to love life and is so devoted to helping others. Thanks for the link to the b’day story, Lauri. I loved the fact that she honored a late friend on her b’day. Also, loved the pink hat and her smile in that photo. She really seems to be a happy person.

      Happy B’day, Sophie. wishing you and your loved ones the best of health and happiness.

      Lauri, the photo of Sofia is also beautiful. The dress set off her eyes in an amazing way. Those weren’t photoshopped, I hope.

10. Not wanting to thread jack but here’s a picture of Princess Sofia released by the Swedish court. Imo, very pretty!

    http://40.media.tumblr.com/f16206632fbe7f304955cf32eb4e03ec/tumblr_o19dw6PAPb1r6jme9o1_500.jpg

    1. Very pretty! But, and keep in mind I know nothing about photoshopping, her tiara looks like it was “adjusted” after the fact.

       1. Lovely photo of Sofia, but (oh dear) that tiara does look like it was added later

11. Happy birthday to Sophie, one of my faves!

    Congratulations to Harald and Sonja. Whatever I have heard of them is always good. Ingrid Alexandra is a stunningly lovely girl but always seems mostly so melancholy. Does anyone else get that vibe from her pictures? Especially the Christmas ones last year.

12. KMR thank you for trying to make the dry month of January more interesting. European royals are actually fascinating and thanks to you I think I became a regular royal watcher and a fan of them.

    After I heard the story of King Harald and Sonja I started to like them, they seem a very sweet couple.

    In the every day pictures they look so ordinary and ‘normal’, which is such a misunderstood word by BRF. You can’t really avoid the comparison between the BRF and these royals. It’s ironical that some members of BRF (we know which) are fantasising and striving for a ‘normality’ that the rest European royals have accomplished and actually practice.

    But do the British royals really want to become like their European counterparts?
    My take is: of course not. The burden of history, tradition, wealth and perks in combination with the political stakes in the entire commonwealth make them different. That’s why they have to live, in a way, inside their own bubble. And that’s why it’s so hypocritical when they talk about ‘normality’. Will they ever reinvent themselves? I really doubt it.

    Sorry for the long post/s and to anyone here who reads them, I want to ask apologies since by now you must have figured that english is not my native language. Thank you.

    1. Your English is great Elina. And I totally agree with you that the European royals are far more “normal” (whatever that means) than W&K strive to be. I also agree that the Brits don’t want to be like the European royals. They think they are better than them. W&K just want all the perks and none of the responsibility.

13. I am not sure if ‘relaxed’ is quite the right word, but that is the ‘vibe’ I am getting from all of these photographs – the Scandinavian royals and Sophie (BRF) all appear to be very comfortable in their roles. Sadly, the photos of Kate reveal the opposite. Thanks for posting!

14. Lovely post of Norway’s royals!
    (And I like the closeness between the Scandinavian royals)
    Lovely photo of Sophie (Happy Birthday!). As others have said, she’s a great asset to the British Royal Family.

15. I barely or never seen the british royal family with these royals. Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and others be together all the time!!!

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