2021 – Dutch State Visit to Norway

9th – 11th
November

Day 1

Welcoming Ceremony

Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands flew to Oslo on November 9th to pay a State Visit to Norway. Sadly, November is not the best of months to organize a State Visit to Norway due to among other things the rather unpredictable weather. And as they landed at Gardermoen Airport it became clear that it was a chilly and wet day in Oslo. First out of the aeroplane was His Majesty. He was followed by Her Majesty who walked under a large black umbrella. This was understandable because she was wearing a stunning green dress by Natan, one of her favourite designers, from 2013. With this she wore beautiful long Emerald earrings and the Emerald Butterfly brooch in the collection of the Dutch Royal Family pinned at the hip. Accessories included beige hat, handbag, gloves and shoes and a shawl in a different tone of green though this she only wore in her hand. His Majesty wore suit and tie.

The official welcoming ceremony took place in front of the Palace. As soon as the King and Queen stepped out of the car they were warmly welcomed by their hosts; the King and Queen of Norway. His Majesty wore his full dress uniform of a General in the Norwegian Army. With it he wore the Sash and Breast Star of the Order of the Netherlands Lion given to him by King Willem-Alexander’s mother, Queen Beatrix, back in 1996. In addition he wore the Breast Stars of the Norwegian Orders of St. Olav and of Merit. Of the latter he also wore the Neck-tie in addition to various medals.

Queen Sonja greeted them next. Because of the recent Covid-19 pandemic they did not shake hands, but instead made a bow. The Norwegian Queen then handed Queen Máxima a bouquet of flowers in the colours of the two countries’ flags: red, blue and white. Crown Princess Mette-Marit was also part of the welcoming committee. She greeted the Dutch King and Queen with a curtsey. Crown Prince Haakon, who had also been scheduled to be present, had had to cancel his engagements due to a cold. The Norwegian Queen wore a pale blue and brown ensemble she had used for at least a couple of previous State Visits; the one to Germany in 2007 and the one from Iceland in 2012.

The Norwegian Queen wore a pale blue and brown ensemble she had used for at least a couple of previous State Visits; the one to Germany in 2007 and the one from Iceland in 2012.

A dais, which is usually used for these occasions, had been erected in the middle of the square in front of the Palace, its base and stairs covered with a red cloth and the roof in blue. The columns supporting the roof had been decorated with sprays of spruce and white flowers. Facing the dais was the Guard of Honour, a company from His Majesty the King’s Guard, and the band, also from His Majesty the King’s Guard. They were all wearing black raincoats over their black full dress uniforms.

After the greetings the Royal party stepped up onto the dais with the two Kings at the front while the two Queens and the Crown Princess remained a step behind. The band then played the two nations’ National Anthems while both Kings stood to attention. As the Norwegian King had not yet fully recovered from an operation of an injured tendon he remained on the dais while King Willem-Alexander inspected the Guard of Honour. Normally either King Harald himself, or his son the Crown Prince, would accompany the visiting Head of State during the inspection. But as both of them were incapacitated the Dutch King was accompanied only by officers.

It was then time for the Dutch Monarchs to meet the rest of the reception committee consisting of both civil and military authorities. These included the President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament), the Chief Justice of the Norwegian Supreme Court, the Chief of Defence, the Governor of Oslo and Viken Counties, the Director of the National Police Directorate, the Mayor of Oslo and the Chief of Police in Oslo. The Norwegian Government was represented by the Minister of International Development Ms Anne Beathe Tvinnereim.

Inside the Royal Palace

Against the Palace façade on both sides of the entrance children stood waving the flags of both Norway and the Netherlands. And after having greeted the officials, the Royal Party took time to speak to a few of the children before they entered the Palace. Here they were greeted by the Palace staff and by Princess Märtha Louise, the daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja. She looked charming in a red Rena Lange dress worn previously by her mother in 2011 (identified by UFO No More on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ufonomore/status/1458124293976567810). Official photographs were then taken in the Bird Room as is the tradition for State Visits.

Another tradition observed immediately afterwards was the exchange of gifts. For Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Netherlands had brought two glass bowls by the Norwegian glass maker Geir Nustad who is based in Leerdam in the Netherlands.  King Harald and Queen Sonja also received a framed signed official photograph of the Dutch Royal Couple. Such photographs were also given to the Norwegian Crown Princely Couple and Princess Märtha Louise. In addition the Crown Princely Couple were given an ottoman made by (recycled?) rope after the design of Christien Meindertsma. Princess Märtha Louise received a clock designed by the Dutch artist Kiki van Eijk.

The main gift to King Willem-Alexander from King Harald was the Collar of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav. The Dutch King had already been awarded the Grand Cross of this Order back in 1996 when the Norwegian Royal Couple paid a State Visit to the Netherlands. The Collar is, however, usually only given to Heads of State and thus it was awarded King Willem-Alexander on this first day of his State Visit. It is rather rarely worn these days, which is a shame really. In older days the Collar was normally worn on State Visits in combination with the visiting or visited nations’ order or other grand occasions. King Harald himself commented when giving the Collar to King Willem-Alexander that he was not expected to wear it at the State Banquet later in the day. The Dutch King then enquired about when it should be worn and King Harald replied “God knows”. One of the very few occasions at which the Norwegian King wears the Collar these days is at the Opening of Parliament each year. Another gift to the Dutch Royal Couple from King Harald and Queen Sonja was a glass sculpture by Vidar Koksvik. Furthermore there were two books, one coffee table book about Norway and one about the Queen Sonja Print Awards. There were also another smaller glass object and a signed official photograph of the Norwegian Monarchs. Or, as King Harald himself said: “a fabulous photo of us”.

The Dutch King and Queen were then lead into the guest apartment where they would stay for the two days they were spending in Oslo.

Wreath Laying ceremony

Next post on the program was the wreath laying ceremony at Akershus Castle and the National Monument to fallen Norwegian Patriots during World War II. The Dutch King and Queen were accompanied by the Norwegian Royal Couple. King Harald had had a change of appearance as he now wore the lesser dress uniform without the Sash of his Dutch Order, though still wearing the Breast Stars of both the Order of the Netherlands Lion and the Order of St. Olav. Queen Máxima had also changed the look a little bit, though instead of “dressing down” she had added an extra layer because it must have been cold in that stunning, though maybe not totally fit for a chilly day with rain, dress. So she had put a thick shawl over her shoulders in the same beige colour as the rest of her accessories.

The ceremony began with the two National Anthems being played after which King Willem-Alexander inspected another company of Guard of Honour from His Majesty the King’s Guard. He was accompanied by his Aide-de-Camp (Chief of Military House?) and the Military Commander of Akershus Castle Arne Opperud. The wreath was made up of white flowers and greenery and had a ribbon in the colours of the Dutch flag.

Visit to the Parliament and Luncheon

From Akershus Castle the Royal cars drove to the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament. Here the two Royal Couples split up. The Norwegian King and Queen drove back to the Palace while the Dutch King and Queen were welcomed at the entrance of the Parliament building by the President of the Parliament and the Director of the Parliament Administration. Here they had a short meeting before returning back to the Palace where King Harald and Queen Sonja hosted a private lunch. Mette-Marit and Princess Märtha Louise also joined them as they enjoyed the meal which included scallop and halibut.

Afternoon engagement

After lunch the two Royal Couples visited the “Fram” museum. Both the Netherlands and Norway have strong ties to the Arctic region, both historically and presently. In fact the Barents Sea and Barents area are named after the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz. “Fram” is a ship used on three polar expeditions and the Fram Museum, in addition to have the ship itself exhibited, tells the story of the Norwegian expeditions to the Polar Regions and the research done there. After having seen the museum they participated in a talk about the present and future for the Arctic region.

State Banquet at the Royal Palace

This first day ended with a glittering State Banquet hosted by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Norway in honour of their Royal guests. The table had been set for 197 commensales in the Banqueting Hall. It has been beautifully decorated with orange flowers and the dinner service used was the one given to Their Majesties on their 60th birthday in 1997.The many large candelabras were gifts received by both King Haakon VII and King Olav V from the Storting at different anniversaries during their reigns.

All the guests were greeted by the Royal Party in an adjoining room to the large Ball Room. The guests then walked through the Ball Room on their way to the Banqueting Hall. All along the way soldiers in their spotless black full dress uniforms from His Majesty the King’s Guard were lined up.

When all the guests had been shown to their seats the Royal Procession began to make its way to the Banqueting Hall to the tones of the “Gammel Jegermarsj” (Old Hunter March). The procession was headed by the Lord Chamberlain Ms Gry Mølleskog wearing the Sash and Star of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

King Willem-Alexander, being the main guest of honour, walked immediately behind with Queen Sonja to his right followed by King Harald with Queen Máxima. Then, after the two Royal Couples, came Crown Princess Mette Marit and Princess Märtha Louise.

The Dutch King was dressed in white tie and His Majesty was wearing both his Dutch and Norwegian Orders: The Sash and Breast Star of the Order of St. Olav and the Star of the Order of William together with various medals in miniature.

King Harald V wore again his full dress uniform of a General in the Norwegian Army. With this he wore the Sash and Breast Star of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, the Breast Star of the Order of St. Olav and the Neck-tie and Breast Star of the Norwegian Order of Merit. Like King Willem-Alexander he also wore several medals pinned to his black uniform tunic.

Queen Máxima looked spectacular in the dress by Jan Taminaiu she also wore for the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in 2018. She glittered in diamonds and sapphires.

Queen Sonja wore a striking evening gown in a lime colour. This was not new either as she had already worn it to the birthday gala for the 80th birthday celebration of King Harald and herself. Keeping with the green theme she wore that historical and amazing emerald parure now belonging to the Norwegian Royal Family.

Also doing a repeat from the 80th birthday celebration of her parents-in-law Crown Princess Mette Marit wore a white Valentino gown with floral motifs embroidered at the top part. Princess Martha Louise was dressed in a very elegant mauve Emilio Pucci evening gown with a bit of a train sweeping the floor behind her. This was not a new gown either as she had worn it in Sweden at Princess Madeleines wedding. She surprised many (pleasantly) by wearing parts of the Amethyst demi-parure that originated with Queen Sonja and not her usual 18th birthday gift tiara.

Queen Máxima

  • Queen Emma’s Sapphire tiara
  • No necklace
  • Large Pending Sapphire earrings (from Q Wilhelmina’s tiara)
  • Queen Máxima’s Diamond Swirl brooch w/ Tanzanite pendant
  • Queen Emma’s Large Sapphire bracelets
  • Sash and Breast Star of the Order of St. Olav

Queen Sonja

  • Tiara from the Emerald parure
  • Necklace from the Emerald parure without the pendant
  • Earrings from the Emerald parure
  • Large brooch from the Emerald parure
  • Sash and Breast Star of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
  • Breast Star of the Order of St. Olav
  • Portrait of King Harald V in Diamonds

Crown Princess Mette-Marit

  • Her own Diamond Daisy Wedding bandeau
  • No necklace
  • Large Diamond Floral earrings w/ small Pearl Drop pendants
  • Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s Order of Victoria & Albert bracelet
  • Sash and Breast Star of the Order of Orange-Nassau
  • Breast Star of the Order of St. Olav
  • Portrait of King Harald V in Diamonds

Princess Märtha Louise

  • Amethyst tiara (converted necklace)
  • Amethyst beads necklace with heart-shaped Aquarmaine pendant
  • Amethyst and Aquamarine earrings
  • Small Diamond brooch
  • Amethyst bracelet
  • Sash and Breast Star of the Order of the Crown
  • Breast Star of the Order of St. Olav
  • Portrait of King Harald V in Diamonds

Another great post about the State Visit can be found here:

http://royalwatcherblog.com/2021/11/10/dutch-state-visit-to-norway-day-2/

Day 2

Deichman Library

Day two of the State Visit started with a visit to the Deichman Library. Opened in 1785 it is Norway’s oldest public library and it consists of a collection currently amounting to about 1,4 million books. In 2020 a new library building was inaugurated and this year it was given the IFLA/Systemic Public Library of the Year award. The Dutch Royal Couple was accompanied by the Norwegian King and Queen as they attended a seminar held there on freedom of expression and countering online hate speech. Ms Anette Trettebergstuen, the Norwegian Minister of Culture, concluded the seminar which had been organized by public authorities in cooperation with the Dutch organization “TMI” (Too Much Information) and the Norwegian campaign “Stop hatprat” (Stop Hate Talk). The Royal Couples listened with great interest to the speakers, Queen Máxima even seen taking notes. Most of the speakers were young, some representatives from the youth organizations of political parties and other youth organizations.  The Royal Party was also oriented about the library by its Director Mr Knut Skansen. Finally, the Dutch Royal Couple answered a few questions from the press before they had to continue with the busy programme.

Meeting the Prime Minister and the Government’s luncheon

Next up was a meeting with the newly elected Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Jonas Gahr Støre. He received the Dutch Royal Couple in the residence of the Commander of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs also attended the meeting as well as members of the Dutch Royal Court.

A luncheon hosted by the Norwegian Government at Akershus Castle followed. In the courtyard a detachment from His Majesty the King’s Guard was lined up and as the newly polished black Royal cars arrived the guard presented arms. As soon as the doors opened a Royal fanfare could be heard bouncing off the thick Palace walls. The Prime Minister stood ready by the entrance to welcome Their Majesties. Crown Princess Mette-Marit had also joined in, arriving to the castle in the same car as the Norwegian King and Queen. They signed the guest book laid out for them and then they greeted the rest of the guests together with the Prime Minister.  The dining room in the ancient Norwegian castle had been decorated with lovely plant decorations. King William was placed between Mr Jonas Gahr Støre and Crown Princess Mette-Marit (she sitting on the King’s right hand side). Queen Sonja sat to the left of the Prime Minister. Opposite them Queen Máxima sat to the right of King Harald, who had to his left the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. Both the Dutch King and the Norwegian Prime Minister gave speeches underlining the close ties between the two nations.

Reception

After lunch the King and Queen of the Netherlands attended a reception for the Dutch community in Norway. It was held onboard the Dutch amphibious warfare ship HNLMS “Rotterdam” which is in Norway due to manoeuvres in the area together with the Norwegian Royal Navy. Their Majesties arrived in a black shining car with the Royal standard flying at the helm and were received by the Dutch Ambassador to Norway and his wife on the pier. As they went onboard the Royal Couple were piped onboard, being the very traditional naval way to welcome distinguished visitors. Here they were welcomed by the Commanding Officer of the vessel.

Following the reception the King and Queen had a meeting with the top officers where the topic was military cooperation between the two countries. Crown Princess Mette-Marit also joined the Dutch Royal Couple for this meeting, probably stepping in for her husband who was still at home due to his cold.

Return Event – Concert

To end the day the Dutch Royal Couple hosted a concert at the MUNCH museum. The museum’s brand new building had in fact been opened by King Harald and Queen Sonja just a few weeks earlier. Knowing especially Queen Sonja’s love of art it was a perfect venue for such an event. It was also a good opportunity for the Dutch Royal Couple to at the same time view Munch’s paintings and to visit this new monumental building by the harbour. Performing at the concert was the Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh accompanied by a small number of other musicians.

It was a black tie event and the two Kings looked very smart in their standard attire for the events with this type of dress code. Queen Máxima had changed into a very, shall we say, different evening gown by Claes Iversen. The baby blue gown was full of perfectly round holes cut out in different sizes. Each of the holes had a golden edge. As they were scattered all over the dress in a seemingly random pattern they left some of the Queen’s skin underneath visible. Or at least that is how it looked like at first. But when taking a closer look, Her Majesty actually wore underneath it another dress in a skin tone colour. A bit contrary to her usual style the only jewellery worn was a pair of Diamond earrings. Pinned to her dress she was seen wearing the pin of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav. Queen Sonja had changed into a blue dress with a colourful and “busy” top in a more red / orange hue. With this she wore elements from her modern gold parure.

Jewels worn by the Royal ladies at the return event:

Queen Máxima

  • Large single Diamond earrings
  • Pin of the Order of St. Olav

Queen Sonja

  • Necklace from her Modern Gold parure
  • Earrings from her Modern Gold parure
  • Bracelet from her Modern Gold parure

Day 3

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