Harald & Sonja Visit the United States 2005

[pdas1201]

February 28, 2005: King Harald and Queen Sonja met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his wife Nane at the Secretary's residence in New York.


Anp and Getty Images

 

[norwegianne]

King Harald and Queen Sonja visit the US

King Harald and Queen Sonja have begun a nine-day official visit to the US. The background for the visit is this year's centennial celebrations of Norway as a free and independent nation.

The US was one of the first nations to give diplomatic recognition to Norway.

On Sunday the Royal Couple visited the Norwegian Seamen's Church in New York, where they also met many members of the Norwegian community in the city.

On Monday Queen Sonja opens an exhibition at Scandinavia House, which includes paintings from her own private art collection.

The King and the Queen will also have lunch with UN Secreatary General Kofi Annan and his wife Nane.

The Royals will also visit Ground Zero. The Norwegian architect firm Snoehetta has been awarded the task of designing part of the Memorial Musseum on the site.

On Monday evening there will be a concert by the Oslo Cathedral Choir at the St. Thomas Church on Manhattan, while the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at the Kennedy Centre in Washington at the end of the visit next Monday.

(NRK)

http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?cluster_id=27303&folder_id=1

 

[pdas1201]

King Harald and Queen Sonja in New York

UK Press

 

[GrandDuchess]

From Aftenposten yesterday:

Royals launch US tour

The Norwegian Seaman's Church in New York was packed Sunday evening to welcome King Harald and Queen Sonja. The royal couple was starting a weeklong visit to the US, to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

The US was the first country to recognize Norway's sovereignty when it broke out of a rocky union with Sweden in 1905. That's why it's among the countries getting royal visits this year, as members of the Norwegian royal family travel around the world in their homeland's centennial year.

Queen Sonja has been in Antarctica and London in the past two weeks, while Crown Princess Mette-Marit headed for Malawi and Crown Prince Haakon to Sierra Leone. Haakon will travel to Japan in mid-March.

Eleven countries will be visited in direct connection with Norway's centennial: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia, China, South Africa, India, Canada and the US.

The king and queen are starting out in New York before heading on to Houston and Washington. Sunday evening's event at the Seaman's Church highlighted young Norwegian and Norwegian-American artists, part of a cultural theme that's especially important to Queen Sonja.

She took 75 of her own paintings by Norwegian artists to New York, for an exhibition to be called, simply, "Norway." The exhibition features 13 contemporary Norwegian artists including Mariann Heske, Kåre Tveter and Ørnulf Opdahl.

The Norwegian royals were officialy welcomed to New York by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday morning. A visit to Ground Zero was on the program, along with a concert in St Thomas Church and lunch with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

While most of the centennial events planned within Norway are based on a historic and nostalgic theme, those overseas are meant to promote the modern-day Norway. Norwegian officials and the royals are keen to present Norway as a partner for peace and as a resourceful, knowledgeable and high-tech oriented society.

 

[Mandy]

Article in Norwegian
http://www.aftenposten.no/kul_und/article968008.ece

 

[Anita]

There was a ball given yesterday evening in New-York in honour of the King and the Queen .
Here is an article in Aftenposten ... + photo

http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/kongelige/article983669.ece

 

[Larzen]

More pictures from the ball at Scandinavian House and From the art exhibition and the Queens lecture.

I really think the Queen looks very good theese days, she looked so depressed when the King was sick and in the months after but now she really looks very happy. However I think that when you have passed 60 its time to stop with the strapless gowns, and I wish she would not blond her hair quite as much

 

[Mandy]

More pictures from the ball at Scandinavian House and From the art exhibition and the Queens lecture.

I really think the Queen looks very good theese days, she looked so depressed when the King was sick and in the months after but now she really looks very happy. However I think that when you have passed 60 its time to stop with the strapless gowns, and I wish she would not blond her hair quite as much

Thanks for the photos Larzen. Yes, Sonja does look very happy. Is she wearing a new gown?

 

[Larzen]

No she has worn it atleast 3 or 4 times before, birthday of Erling Lorentzen and Dinner for storitinget in 2003 and prewedding dinner for Felipe and Letizia, its by the palace seemstress Anna Bratland

 

[Genevieve]

I really think the Queen looks very good theese days, she looked so depressed when the King was sick and in the months after but now she really looks very happy. However I think that when you have passed 60 its time to stop with the strapless gowns, and I wish she would not blond her hair quite as much

I think Sonja looks really good on this trip too. Everything she is wearing seems pulled together and she seems to have life and spirit back in her face again. Back at Christmas time in the pictures with her grandchildren I noticed how good Sonja was looking and how back to her spirited self she seemed again.

I don't agree about the strapless gowns though. I think the Queen looks pretty good for her age (who would've thought she's a grandmother?) and as long as she feels comfortable in them why not wear them? It would be one thing if Sonja felt self-conscious about them but she doesn't seem to be. She seems to be quite enjoying herself with that dance. It's really just a bit of bare shoulders and arms, we're not talking about exposing more of her chest or extreme cleavage or anything so what's the big deal?

She also had a cover up for part of the evening. So it looks like she took off the cover up for just part of the evening, like when dancing, so nothing even "disrespectful" about her appearance.

 

[Dennism]

I don't agree about the strapless gowns though. I think the Queen looks pretty good for her age (who would've thought she's a grandmother?) and as long as she feels comfortable in them why not wear them? It would be one thing if Sonja felt self-conscious about them but she doesn't seem to be. She seems to be quite enjoying herself with that dance. It's really just a bit of bare shoulders and arms, we're not talking about exposing more of her chest or extreme cleavage or anything so what's the big deal?

I second that. Well said, Genevieve. Sonja looks great and happy.

 

[sara1981]

both looks great!

what about see the zero of 9/11 pictures? or not! and both will meet President Bush and Lauren Bush?

Sara Boyce

 

[servingsophie]

I love Her Majesty's fur coat! It makes her look so refined and regal.

 

[Mandy]

Polfoto 01-03-2005 Aaron Marcial, 5, of New York, right, presents Queen Sonja of Norway, front center, with a bouquet of flowers, as her husband King Harald V, left, looks on during a kick off event of the New York Road Runners Foundation and Norwegian Consulate in New York at Public School 161 in New York Tuesday March 1, 2005. The royal couple met with NYRR Foundation student athletes who have been selected to visit Norway as part of an exchange program organized by the New York Road Runners Foundation and Norwegian Consulate in honor of 100 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Norway. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

 

[Mandy]

Polfoto 01-03-2005 King Harald V of Norway, second from left, and Queen Sonja of Norway, second from right, pose with Ashley Stephenson, 11, left, and Ebony Claxton, 11, both of New York, during a kick off event of the New York Road Runners Foundation and Norwegian Consulate in New York at Public School 161 in New York Tuesday March 1, 2005. Stephenson and Claxton were two of five children participating in the New York Road Runners Foundation running program selected to visit Norway as part of an exchange program organized by the NYRR Foundation and Norwegian Consulate in honor of 100 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Norway. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

 

[Mandy]

Polfoto 02-03-2005 Queen Sonja of Norway, center, officially opens with a ribbon cutting ceremony the "C for Courage" touring exhibit at the Children's Museum in Houston, Wednesday, March 2, 2005. "C for Courage" made by the Norwegian Children's Museum in Stavanger is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child. (AP Photo / Michael Stravato)

Polfoto 02-03-2005 Queen Sonja of Norway, center, is greeted by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center President John Mendelsohn, right, and Vice President Dr. Thomas Brown, left at the new Ambulatory Clinical Building in Houston Wednesday March 2, 2005. (AP Photo / Michael Stravato)

 

[bct88]

I have heard on the Scandinavian Royals Message Board that H.M. Queen Sonja will be on CNN. Has anyone else heard this? If it is true, will it be on in the United States?

 

[Lyonnaise]

Polfoto 02-03-2005 King Harald V of Norway, left, received the keys to the city and a cowboy hat from Houston Mayor Bill White at the Houstonian Hotel Wednesday, March 2, 2005, at the U.S. - Norway Oil and Gas Industry Summit in Houston.

 

[Lyonnaise]

Polfoto 03-03-2005 Queen Sonja of Norway receives flowers and a greeting from Mathias Fosse, 5, as King Harald V, left, looks on upon their arrival at the Norwegian Seaman's Church in Pasadena, Texas Thursday, March 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

 

[Lyonnaise]

Polfoto 04-03-2005 President of the Carnegie Institution, Richard Meserve, center, laughs with Norwegian King Harald V and Queen Sonja after a press conference at the Carnegie Institution on Friday, March 4, 2005 in Washington.

 

[Mandy]

Thanks for all the great pictures Lyonnaise. I specially like the one with Harald wearing the cowboy hat. I wonder if he remembered this picture?

 

[Mandy]

New Yorkers spellbound (www.aftenposten.no/english/)

Queen Sonja made a deep impression on American business journalists with her presentation of "This is My Norway" at Scandinavia House in New York on Tuesday.

I get the urge to go out on the town with her," said one enthusiastic American journalist after the meeting with the queen."She is a perfect spokeswoman for Norway. I wish more national leaders did what she does," said journalist Evelyn Kanter after the queen's speech.

Kanter was most surprised by the queen's apparent accessibility, far from the pompous image that many Americans have of European royalty.

Elinor Garely from women's travel magazine Tango Diva was especially pleased by the queen sharing photographs from her family album with the public.

"She gives us the most wonderful stories," Garely said, and added that she had learned a great deal about Norway from the queen's presentation.

Queen Sonja would not be drawn on the question of what sport in Norway lay closest to her heart, and diplomatically preferred to promote the entire country.

"Norwegian nature is so varied and beautiful, I have many favorite places. I hope that you will come and see for yourselves," the queen said.

In security conscious times there was particular interest in chance meetings with Queen Sonja during her hikes in the wilds. The queen related several anecdotes on the subject, where her subjects seemed to take the occasion with the greatest calm, even inviting her to coffee on a lonely mountain top.

King Harald and Queen Sonja are having an active tour of New York, giving speeches and taking part in various activities linked to Norway's centennial celebrations. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced at a 5th Avenue charity ball on Tuesday evening that he was declaring Wednesday March 2 to be Norway Centennial Day.

On Wednesday the royal couple flew on to Houston, where the king was to open the oil and energy conference INTSOK.

Aftenposten's Norwegian reporter
Kristin Nilsen
Aftenposten English Web Desk
Jonathan Tisdall

 

[Alexandria]

New Yorkers spellbound (www.aftenposten.no/english/[url="http://www.aftenposten.no/english/"][/url])

Queen Sonja made a deep impression on American business journalists with her presentation of "This is My Norway" at Scandinavia House in New York on Tuesday.

Great article Mandy; thank you for sharing it.

Queen Sonja seems so down to earth and humble from the anecdotes here. (Not that I ever thought she was pretentious -- but this story certainly confirmed my beliefs about Sonja as being someone without airs about her despite her role and social status.)

I really like, too, how she has personalized this visit with personal pictures and personal stories and experiences of Norway rather than making it seem like a PR pitch for Norway. That she added a personal touch to it and made references to her favourite places makes the visit more interesting and Norway alluring in a deeper way.

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

Some photos from AAP Image:

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

Will Their Majesties have any Meeting with President Bush?

 

[Mandy]

Norwegian article in dagbladet
http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2005/03/04/425185.html

Lovely picture with the article.

 

[Dennism]

Cute little girl there. She´s handing the flowers to the minister of culture by mistake. Funny. As for CNN, I read that too. I thought they meant CNN International because the show they said isn´t on domestically as far as I know. Thanks for the photos. Sonja and Harald are doing great PR work indeed for Norway.

 

[norwegianne]

Article Summary: The little girl who was supposed to give the Queen the flowers, had a case of "wrong queen." She gave the flowers to the Norwegian Culture Minister instead.

Me: And behind Sonja's head, you can see Harald smiling widely at the mistake...

 

[pdas1201]

OMG, they are in Houston, does anybody know where they will be or how long they'll be staying in the city???

 

[Dennism]

King Harald and Queen Sonja visit the White House

King Harald and Queen Sonja are nearing the end of their official visit to the US, and will on Monday have lunch with President Bush at the White House.

King Harald lived in Washington as a boy with his mother Crown Princess Märtha and his two sisters, Princess Astrid and Princess Ragnhild during World War II.

- For me it is therefore like coming home, when I come to Washington, the Norwegian King said.

He has several times during the visit underlined the strong ties between Norway and the US.

Prior to the lunch at the White House, the King and the Queen will also visit the Arlington Cemetary, and place a wreath at the memorial.

Washington is the third stop on the official visit. The Royal Couple have also spent three days in New York and two days in Houston, Texas.

(NRK/Aftenposten/Vaart Land)