Queen Sonja's 70th birthday

The official guest photo from Queen Sonja's 70th birthday celebration taken on the deck of the ship 'Kongeskibet Norge' in the Stavanger harbour, Norway. From left to right front row: Grand Duchess Maria Theresa, Prince Henrik, Queen Margrethe, Queen Sonja, King Harald, Queen Silvia, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Beatrix. Left to right middle row: Princess Astrid, Johan Martin Ferner, Crown Princess Maxima, Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mette Marit, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde and Crown Prince Guillaume. Left to right back row: Prince Felix, Queen Anne Marie, Princess Märtha Louise, Ari Behn, Duke Christian, Princess Alexandra S-W-B, and Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth.

Today the celebrations for Queen Sonja of Norway's 70th birthday started in Stavanger, and will continue with a cruise along the coast of Southern Norway, terminating at the King and Queen’s holiday retreat at Mågerø.

Day celebrations in Stavanger


Luncheon at Hall Toll


Guests arriving to Flor and Fjære on Sør-Hidle for dinner



Celebration of The Queen's 70th birthday (programme)
Guest list for HM The Queen's 70th birthday (pdf)
VG Nett photo gallery
NRK.no photo galleries

Christening anticipation just grows and grows...

The neo-classical Christiansborg Palace Church, Copenhagen, left.

Just an update on news about the christening. New details are being released as the day draws closer. More guests are confirmed and today so are details about music to be played at the christening. Some of the royal guests are new mothers themselves and will have their children with them while visiting Denmark. They include CPss Mette-Marit, Pss Märtha Louise and CPss Mathilde.

• As reported previously the Donaldson family will be attending and so will Mary's friend and bridesmaid, Amber Petty. Presumably there will be other Donaldson family members and friends in attendance, but a complete guest list is not yet available. Addendum15/1/06: Confirmed, Amber Petty is in Denmark and staying with Mary at Fredensborg Palace, while Mary's friend from university days and Sydney financial advisor, Hamish Campbell, will be at the christening with his partner Genevieve Taubman.
• Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway will attend and so will Haakon's sister Princess Märtha Louise and her husband Ari Behn. Princess Märtha Louise was among the group of European royalty mixing it with the locals when Frederik and Mary met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
  Link: Royal House of Norway
• Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden will be a guest. Link: Swedish Royal Court
• Also Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium. Link: The Belgian Monarchy

From The Copenhagen Post

New music for royal baptism

The royal baptism next Saturday will offer a mix of traditional church classics as well as new compositions.
Danish composer Fuzzy has become a favourite for Crown Prince Frederik when it comes to music for the royal household.
Fuzzy, who composed the crown prince's march four years ago, was also invited to create a piece for next Saturday's royal baptism. His 'Fanfare' will accompany Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, and their - as yet - unnamed heir to the Danish throne as they exit the Christiansborg Palace chapel, reports national daily Berlingske Tidende.


Danish broadcaster DR has reported that over 500 journalists, photographers and other media have been accredited to cover the christening, with representatives from various European countries, Australia, the USA and Japan. That's alot, but it was 2000 accredited for the May 2004 wedding of Frederik and Mary!

Here at DRWs we will post a link to the webcast of the christening which is expected to last three hours. See also the Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth Message Board. Here is a link to the World Clock so you can calculate what time the christening will be in your time zone. This is a time zone converter. The christening broadcast will go from 10am to 1pm Denmark time. You might need to rearrange commitments to watch: for instance it will be 4am US east coast, 8pm Saturday night east coast Australia..... check out the converter.