Following the big tiara-filled gala dinner on May 9, the royals came out for Day 2 of the 80th Birthday celebrations of King Harald and Queen Sonja, which was a government-hosted black tie dinner at the Opera House in Oslo. It was rainy and wet so the royals had to cover up with umbrellas and outerwear.
King Harald and Queen Sonja arrived under coats and wraps, which means we didn’t get a good look at Sonja’s custom dress as she walked in.
However, Sonja took her wrap off once inside and we did get a look at the dress when she and Harald were giving a speech. Sonja designed the dress based on her graphic prints, and the Opera House staff made it. Harald referenced this during the speech, and Sonja gave a twirl – you can see the clip here.
Crown Prince Haakon (who for real shaved his beard during the gala dinner) and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were both in navy. Haakon wore a navy suit while Mette-Marit wore a navy blue embellished dress from Marte Krogh.
Princess Martha Louise and Sophie, The Countess of Wessex walked in together.
Martha Louise wore a repeated Ingunn Birkeland gown, which isn’t my taste, but I am loving the shoes.
Sophie wore a custom Suzannah gown which looks great on her – but I still like the green from the gala dinner better.
Princess Astrid had no fear in hiking her dress up to get it out of the rain.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, who repeated her Prinsjesdag 2016 gown from Claes Iversen but replaced the plain blue top with a matching embellished top. I much prefer this version of this outfit than the 2016 version. Also the sapphire jewelry is gorgeous.
Princess Beatrix and Princess Mabel looked like they were having a great time on the carpet.
But King Carl Gustaf did not look like he was having a good time as he held an umbrella over Queen Silvia.
Crown Princess Victoria, in a repeated floral dress from Acne which I don’t like, and Prince Daniel.
Lace, ruffles, and flared sleeves – oh my! Princess Sofia tripled-down on fashion elements I hate with this white Alexis Liliane Long Dress. Prince Carl Philip was is nice accessory, though.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were quite adorable posing on the carpet.
Sisters Queen Margrethe and Queen Anne-Marie walked in together.
Crown Prince Frederik was another dude in a navy suit. And Crown Princess Mary wore a new Erdem “Agnes Belted Floral Print Silk Gown” ($1,795). This is not the worst Erdem I’ve seen – that honor goes to Kate’s 2015 Erdem and Meghan’s 2017 Erdem – but it’s still floral and I just don’t like floral.
Prince Joachim and Princess Marie joined the birthday festivities for day 2 (they were not there on day 1). Marie’s Rikke Gudnitz repeat reminds me of Kate’s Lela Rose dress from Cornwall last year because of the color and sleeves.
Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal in an eyesore Valentino. I’m now rethinking Sofia’s dress because Marie-Chantal’s dress is so much worse.
Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana in an ice skater dress.
The Spanish royal family were not represented at all on day 1 at the gala dinner, but King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia came out for the day 2 celebrations.
Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa in a sage green gown and emerald jewels.
Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie is my best dressed for day 2, not only because I love the color of her Paule Ka gown but because she had the best jewels – opting for the Luxembourg Aquamarine Parure.
I also love Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume‘s glasses.
This is a lovely treat, to get big jewels (oh those aquamarines) and long gowns (loving Maxima’s dress).
It’s raining here and been grey all day ( there’s a storm coming) so it’s nice to see this post, thanks KMR
Queen Sonja’s dress is gorgeous.
Maxima has just good taste, she loves fashion.
I also like Silvia’s black outfit, I hope it’s not real fur she’s wearing.It’s sad that King Carl-Gustaf never smiles, there will be a lot of grumpy photos for his grandchildren to look at.
It’s a nice gesture of the danish royals that Marie and Joachim also attended, I would feel honoured if someone made such an effort for my birthday.
This is one of my favorite Marie evening gowns. Simple, flattering, doesn’t overwhelm her petite frame. We see her, not the dress. Reminds me of a vintage Halston.
Yes, I also love her dress.Simple, but truly elegant.
Marie has some awful evening gowns, so I feel the need to praise her when she gets it right!
I’ve loved all three of Sophie’s outfits on this trip. Suzannah seems a perfect match for the Countess and it’s nice to see her promoting a small(ish) British designer. Some of her other recent hits were by Suzannah, including that amazing green dress she wore: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/78/33/b0/7833b073c79822f403ef89bf3918e51d.jpg
Sonia’s dress is beautiful, too
I had a fun afternoon looking at the Susannah website in relation to Sophie’s style.
It’s a good find.
Perhaps the label will be her Catherine Walker.
+1
All her outfits were regal lovely. And she fits right in representing HM.
Wonderful posts with marvelous blings. Thank you KMR.
Queen Sonja, looks beautiful. I do love her 4 strand of pearls with the drop pearl (I think it is 4 strand) Princess of Wales from memory had one similar, but I am thinking maybe she had a couple of extra strands, liked hers then and I love this one now.
Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie, WOW! Her gown is gorgeous, the color is unusual and suits her. The jewels are incredible. Her complexion is beautiful, she has impeccable skin. I wonder how old she is?
Queen Maxima looks beautiful. Love her jewellery, she is a stunning lady.
Countess of Wessex looks lovely that evening gown suits her.
Just love to see the various styles of evening wear and jewels.
Thank you KMR this is fantastic.
Hi, Sophia,
I’m replying to your post on the other thread I am glad your son will be visiting you for Mother’s Day and I hope you, your daughter and he enjoy the time together. Have a special day.
I am sure you are experiencing challenges as you care for your daughter, but I am glad to hear that you have her involved in programs that are helpful to her — and to you, too. I hope she is adjusting well and that all will continue to work out in the best of ways.
And, I don’t believe you woulldn’t look elegant and just over all terrific in a tiara. Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend. So are other gems!
Glad to be able to send warm wishes to you and your family. Have a Happy Mother’s Day.
Thank you Jenny, I do hope your M, Day is lovely.
Lets see the next thread, the Duchess of Cambridge in Luxembourg. I think it is going to be very interesting.
Take care Jenny
Dear Sophia: Thanks so very much!!!
Mary looked awesome. She never gets it wrong!
I generally do not like beards on men, but in the case of Haakon, he needs to grow that beard again.
I totally agree! It made him look…erm… exceptional.
Both he and Felipe are in the Beard Required club.
+1 million
I’m not usually into facial hair but find Felipe truly sexy with his beard!
I think he looks so much better without! Harry and Felipe too.
I think Haakon looks better without the beard as well. Harry’s beard looks better than when William had the beard. William just looked well very unWilliam like. Felipe looks better too without.
I have a preference for facial hair on men – regardless, I agree: He needs to grow that beard back asap.
Yea CP Haakon needs to grow that beard back- he looks handsome with it! And Mette Marie kind of reminds me of Amy Poehler (sp?) with far less humour and personality.
Totally agree!
Both he and Prince Harry – PH beard recently better kept and is looking very sexy and grand as grandad in his days.
As I said previously, it’s lovely to see happy, shiny royals for a change. They actually look like they’re having fun. And oh, Max, could I be any more in love with this striking woman, the amazon of amazons.
Sophia and Marie-Chantal’s respective dresses rise to Kate level atrocity. I love the sage colour of Maria Theresa’s gown. Hands down Trixie and Mabel cutting up and looking fabulous while doing it, is my favourite pic.
The bling is *so* satisfying.
Kate has never worn anything as terrible as Marie-Chantal’s dress.
That Marie-Chantal dress is ghastly. I have to refresh my memory, however. I am sure Kate has worn something that rivaled it. She has worn some horrible stuff, too.
The worst thing Kate has ever worn is that Erdem monstrosity. Yet that pales in comparison to M-C’s dress.
How about the red and white doiley dress in Canada? To add to it’s awfulness it was very crushed at the back by the end of the day from Kate sitting on bunched up fabric. Smooth out the back of your skirt, or dress, when you go to sit down Kate and you won’t look like you haven’t ironed your clothes?
Hi, Cathy, I agree with you regarding the red and white doily dress. And, KMR, the Erdem was horrible, too.
For some reason Marie-Chantal’s dress made me think of a rooster.
Do you ever wonder what they’re thinking when they look in the mirror? Like, I miss my chickens at home so this will give me comfort?
Lol
Beautiful and different – I like!
Sophia looked awful. Oh, my. Just terrible.
I thought the blue dress and the aquamarine necklace were gorgeous,. Acqaumarine is my birthstone and I am partial to it. It’s my engagement ring, too.
So sad it rained, but everyone looked so happy and seemed to enjoy themselves.
Maxima nailed it – again. Love her dress and accessories and her smile! Princess Mary’s Erdem is lovely as well.
Sofia…oh, Sofia. If she got rid of the bell sleeves, it wouldn’t be so bad.
LOL at Princess Astrid showing off her knee highs!
Thanks so much for covering all this, KMR. Love seeing the European royals out and about. Maxima and Victoria! Love them! And what they’re wearing.
I had some odd reactions. Even though I don’t like lace or mesh, Beatrix and Mabel were having so much fun, that I liked Mabel’s dress. Maybe the black color…
I did not like MM’s fussy navy, but I don’t mind beardless Haakon, and I like beards. Please MM get a new hairdresser; you are a beautiful woman who doesn’t take advantage of your looks.
Also disappointed by Victoria’s flower festival dress, but I liked Princess Mary’s. Go figure. I really hated Sofia’s lace, but baby bumps and evening dresses are hard. I loved Max, and thank goodness she finds a place for those huge bling pins.
Thanks KMR for all these great posts!
First and foremost, I love your photo commentary. I, for one, would have loved to sit with Beatrix and Mabel. There is noting more gorgeous in the world than seeing two friends laughing and having a good time. Max steals the show for me. I loved the gems at her waist. She is perfection. Outside of that, there were a whole lot of ugly dresses in my opinion.
Thanks for a glittery post, KMR!
Yikes there are some truly ugly dresses here and some truly lovely baubles!!
Agree Stephanie for the win with the aquamairenes but disagree about her dress.
Margarethe with her sapphires and Ann Marie with her peal and emeralds round out my top 3 with honorable mention to maxima and her bling. I could switch her out for margarethe’s sapphires since I love how she uses brooch (stomacher?) in a true maxima style.
Worst dress (could be many) but the wins for me are Sofia and her trifecta of ugliness dress and the biggest sin of all is not having beautiful baubles to distract from all that blah. She just needs Vic’s ugly earrings to complete the lamp shade look and Marie Chantal in ugly Valentino.
The best dresses I’m hard pressed to choose but think the lady in silver with Astrid looks quite lovely and Marie in her simple but elegant dress are my favs.
Some of the I couldn’t tell becuase all of that fur they’re draped in.
Even my fav Vic let me down with ugly dress and ugly earrings?
Things I loved: Astrid not afraid to show her knee highs =)
Beatrix and Mabel having fun in the rain
And best couple pic is Marie and jochim, I mean he’s holding two umbrellas for them
I thought I was the only one that disliked Stephanie’s dress. The fit seems…odd. She reminds me of my grandmother, poor dear, she tends to dress like her mother-in-law. I wish she would find a proper tailor/stylist.
The aquas are beautiful *Full Swoon*
Stephanie’s dress was all kinds of awful for me.
There was something off about it and I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.
I feel like she never dresses properly for her body shape. Or maybe it’s her posture. Or that she likes matronly clothing? I can’t tell. Maybe it’s all of these.
Tatiana looks like a bride, beautiful if different color.
Agree about the fit. I can’t tell if it’s something simple as bad bra or something else, like the rouching under the breast/side is throwing it off.
I don’t follow Luxembourg royals so don’t know what she normally looks like
The dress in the stock photo looks like it’s supposed to be loose fitting and draping.
Agree with all on Sofia and Marie-Chantal’s gowns- do not like. Also did not like Maria Teresa’s dress. The color does just nothing for her *or* the emeralds. I quite liked what the rest of them had on though, all very flattering and very fancy.
I like Sofia’s dress. I know maybe not the weather for that dress but Sofia can wear it and get away with it. Victoria’s dress and Stephanie’s dresses along with that necklace are my favourites. I like Sophie’s dress and that she pairs up with who she is with. Can we honestly imagine Kate buddying up with one of these women and having a good time. I actually prefer the dress that Princess Mary is wearing today.
I looked on Wikipedia and Stephanie is 33 years old.
Just got looking at what the DM had to say about this party, and wow! New favorite gown- Tatiana of Greece is my actual win for that night. Dress, hair, tiara, make up- sooo elegant.
And for the yacht party in the rain the next day, I loved the color of Victoria’s coat especially on her. Very fresh and springlike. But Maxima knocked it out. of. the. park! I would wear that exact entire outfit for a day in town. I love it! AND, the coat is Zara not even haute so totally obtainable for her adorees 😉