State visit to Australia: February 23 - 27, 2015


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
dazzling

dazzling

Former Moderator
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
22,963
City
-
Country
France
Their Majesties The King and Queen conduct a state visit to Australia
23 - 27 February 2015


The royal website has some information on the visit and brief program click here

Source: www.royalcourt.no​
 
Last edited:
That's great news!
I wonder how much CP Mary has been talking up Australia :whistling:
 
CrownPrincessJava said:
That's great news!
I wonder how much CP Mary has been talking up Australia :whistling:
Click to expand...
It's a State Visit from Norway, so CP Mary can hardly have influenced it ;). But it's great news, one more SV on the calendar.

Does anyone here know which dress code the Australian government uses for their State Banquets?
 
Tilia C. said:
It's a State Visit from Norway, so CP Mary can hardly have influenced it ;). But it's great news, one more SV on the calendar.

Does anyone here know which dress code the Australian government uses for their State Banquets?
Click to expand...
I think it'll be black tie.
 
Is there to be a State Banquet though? The programme I saw has them having discussions with the GG and the PM and then opening some stuff. No mention of a state banquet. If there is one it would be black tie at best and rather informal in many ways. The only time I can remember anything like a State Banquet in Australia has been when The Queen of Australia has attended and once when the US President was here and that did the republicans a lot of good as the toast was to The Queen of Australia - who of course wasn't present - how we can have a State Banquet when the Head of State is in London I really don't know.


I just went to the Australian Government Website and did a search for 'King and Queen of Norway - State Visit' and got '0 matching results'. I have found no mention of this in any Australian media outlet either. Prime Minister of Australia's website also returns 'no result' as did the GG's website.
 
Last edited:
dazzling said:
Their Majesties The King and Queen conduct a state visit to Australia
23 - 27 February 2015


The royal website has some information on the visit and brief program click here

Source: www.royalcourt.no​
Click to expand...

I was wondering: How could this be a "state visit" when the King and Queen of Norway are NOT heads of state? Aren't they merely figureheads? I can't imagine them visiting the U.S. and being feted at the White House with a state dinner. Of course, the British royals are an exception. When the Queen visits on official business she is ALWAYS given a state dinner.
 
The King of Norway is most certainly the Head of State of Norway.


Not every country has a political Head of State. Nor does every country have a Head of State who is also the Head of the Government. That is the situation in the US of course where the Head of State is both political and the Head of the Government.


In constitutional monarchies - the monarch is the Head of State - a figurehead - with political power resting in the elected politicians with an elected Head of Government such as a PM.


Germany and Ireland are republics with a figureheads as Heads of State as they aren't part of the actual political process. The Chancellor of Germany is the Head of the Government and there is a PM (can't remember the Irish term for this person) who Heads the Government in Ireland.


A better question is why is this a State Visit when the Head of State of Australia lives in the UK?


I would expect the US to treat the Head of State of Norway - the King - with a State dinner - just as they would the Queen of Denmark, the King of Sweden, the King of The Netherlands, The King of the Belgians, The King of Spain or the Emperor of Japan - all of these people are Heads of State but not involved in the day to day government of their country in a political sense although some have more involvement than others, depending on the actual constitutions.
 
In 2009 the King and Queen of Spain (Juan Carlos & Sofia) paid a state visit to Australia I think the dinner was black tie and at the dinner they toasted Her Majesty the Queen of Australia, as did The King and Queen of Sweden when they paid a state visit to Australia in 2005
 
I can't find anything about the visit on our federal government's web site.

But perhaps Their Majesties are actually going to be visiting Austria.
 
But the Head of State of Australia wasn't actually present was she? A great argument for us to become a republic so we don't have these sorts of embarrassments. The fact that this event will probably receive no coverage in the mainline Australian press is the reason why most Australians won't cringe - they won't know it is happening.
 
Iluvbertie said:
But the Head of State of Australia wasn't actually present was she? A great argument for us to become a republic so we don't have these sorts of embarrassments. The fact that this event will probably receive no coverage in the mainline Australian press is the reason why most Australians won't cringe - they won't know it is happening.
Click to expand...

I agree. I find it hugely embarrassing that we don't have our own Head of State who can host dos like this. They will be toasting a foreign woman who lives on the other side of the world.

Why on earth are the Norwegian Royals coming here for a State Visit anyway?
 
To promote Norwegian economic and business interests in Australia.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community
 
The King and Queen of Norway are coming here on a State Visit because they have been invited by the Australian Government. It is perfectly normal for the Governor-General to host a State Visit to Australia (as, in recent years, it is for the Governor-General to make State Visits to other countries). The last one was from the President of Ukraine in December. If there is a State Dinner for the King and Queen of Norway, the Loyal Toast will be to "The Queen and the people of Australia". Nothing embarrassing about that, particularly as it is probably safe to assume the King of Norway understands our constitutional framework.

The State Dinner for the King and Queen of Sweden in 2005 was black tie with orders, and Queen Silvia wore a tiara. While the setting of Government-House at Yarralumla is not particularly grand, there does seem to be a degree of formality on such occasions.
 
Chubb Fuddler said:
If there is a State Dinner for the King and Queen of Norway, the Loyal Toast will be to "The Queen and the people of Australia". Nothing embarrassing about that, particularly as it is probably safe to assume the King of Norway understands our constitutional framework.
Click to expand...

I reserve the right to be embarrassed. Australia will not be truly independent until we rid ourselves of the final shackle to our colonial past and have a Head of State who owes his/her primary loyalty to Australia.

The State Dinner for the King and Queen of Sweden in 2005 was black tie with orders, and Queen Silvia wore a tiara. While the setting of Government-House at Yarralumla is not particularly grand, there does seem to be a degree of formality on such occasions.
Click to expand...

Yarralumla is as grand as our Government House needs to be.
 
Looking forward to seeing some photos


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community
 
In Norway, the monarch is head of state, while the prime minister is head of government.

When the Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Belgian and Spanish monarch etc has been on a state visit to each other's countries or to the UK and Japan a State Banquet has always been held.

When they have been on a state visit to countries that are republics, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Ireland etc a state banquet / dinner have been held for them. They meet the monarch / the president and the prime minister.

It's not called a state visits when they are visiting the United States and it's not always they get to meet the president. It is not a priority for the US government to meet constitutional monarchs from small countries.

When they are on state visits / visits to others countries, they sometimes meets the monarch, the president, the prime minister and a Banquet may be held.
 
I think it's quite exciting that the Norwegian King and Queen are coming here for a State visit and will have a State dinner in their honour. I understand this is the first time we have had a State visit from the Norwegians and I hope they are shown a very good time. I understand they will be visiting Canberra and Sydney and Perth, which will certainly give them an idea of the size of this country. They will fly over the vast outback and should have a good view of it. If they take the route we flew to Perth, they will fly over the Southern Ocean and get a good view of the Great Australian Bight.
 
King Olav V made a State Visit to the United States in 1968, but King Harald V has not.

Office of the Historian

Interestingly, the visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India in 2009 is listed as an Official State visit. That fits in with the theory that "Head of State" was originally a diplomatic term to describe a function, rather than the constitutionally or legally defined Head of State.

Some Australian monarchists have painted themselves into a corner by insisting that the Governor-General is The Head of State, as it begs the question of what then is the Queen? The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia does not mention a Head of State, so I don't see the point of getting bogged down in establishing beyond doubt who is and who isn't. I prefer to call the Queen the Queen, and the Governor-General the Governor-General. Either of them can be described, if necessary, as functioning as a head of state depending on the circumstances.

If there are any cheap flights I might pop up to Sydney for the day to see the King and Queen of Norway.
 
Hope you get one. Have fun if you get there


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community
 
Roslyn said:
I reserve the right to be embarrassed. Australia will not be truly independent until we rid ourselves of the final shackle to our colonial past and have a Head of State who owes his/her primary loyalty to Australia.
Click to expand...

The republican argument is a clear one. Just a pity that not enough Aussies seem to buy it.
 
Chubb Fuddler said:
Some Australian monarchists have painted themselves into a corner by insisting that the Governor-General is The Head of State, as it begs the question of what then is the Queen? The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia does not mention a Head of State, so I don't see the point of getting bogged down in establishing beyond doubt who is and who isn't. I prefer to call the Queen the Queen, and the Governor-General the Governor-General. Either of them can be described, if necessary, as functioning as a head of state depending on the circumstances.
Click to expand...

There is an argument that the G-G is our Head of State, but I have not wrapped my brain around it fully yet. I need to do so. I think it would be rather nice if it could be decided, and accepted, that the G-G is our Head of State, and that the British Monarch is our ... something else. It would save so much money if we could avoid changing all the paperwork.
 
Why not call the GG something else - like President - and not have anything to do with a woman who lives on the other side of the world? Then we would truly have an Aussie as our Head of State.


Fortunately there will probably be minimal coverage in the mainstream Aussie press as they rarely report on the visits of foreign royals other than the Windsor's and the Danes or even the leaders of any other nation except maybe the US and China.
 
The argument that the Governor-General is the head of state, while the Queen is the sovereign, is strongly based on Section 61 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, which states that the "executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor‑General as the Queen's representative". If the Queen moved to Canberra permanently, we would still need a Governor-General to carry out the functions assigned to him by the Constitution, such as his role in the Federal Executive Council.

I like the eccentricity of our odd constitutional set up, it adds a bit of colour to a world dominated by dull republics and even duller presidents. I like colonial relics; the country is full of them (state parliaments, universities, hospitals, railways, sporting clubs, wonderful architecture etc. etc.) If people are fixated on the title Head of State, all it would take is an act of parliament to give it to the Governor-General, but I don't see the point really.

The visit by the King and Queen of Norway probably won't get much coverage in the press, but I can't see what is so fortunate about that. I'm sure the King and Queen will come here with the intention of making a positive contribution to Australian/Norwegian relations. It's a bit of an insult to our guests to say it is fortunate if their visit is ignored.
 
The invitation came from the Governor-General so this sort of official announcement should be made by the Governor-General, not the Prime Minister. It's one of the problems of our system that Prime Ministers, Labor and Liberal alike, will always upstage the Governor-General. Unfortunately I still can't find a detailed itinerary so a day trip to Sydney is not likely.

Here's a funny clip from an interview with the King and Queen in which they discuss their upcoming activities.

The Queen Troll?
 
I hope there will be more later today after the official welcome by the Governor-General and, I assume, a visit to the Australian War Memorial. It's a shame a detailed itinerary was not released, and that the Governor-General's website doesn't include upcoming engagements (and is so slow on updating).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LadyFinn
Swedish State Visit to Singapore: November 19-21, 2024
Replies
0
Views
346
LadyFinn
LadyFinn
iceflower
State Visit from Moldova to Norway: May 6 - 7, 2024
Replies
12
Views
3K
Annine
A
LadyFinn
State Visit from Finland to Norway: October 15-17, 2024
Replies
27
Views
3K
LadyFinn
LadyFinn
LadyFinn
Finnish State Visit to Sweden: April 23 - 24, 2024
Replies
25
Views
5K
LadyFinn
LadyFinn
doro
State Visits paid by King Carl XVI Gustaf since 1974
Replies
0
Views
945
doro
doro

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom