2nd – 4th May 1990
It was quite fitting that the last State Visit received by His Majesty King Olav before he died should be from Luxembourg. Not only was it a visit from another small European monarchy. It was also a visit from close family since the Norwegian King was the uncle of Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte. She was after all the daughter of Queen Astrid of the Belgians, who was of course the sister of His Majesty King Olav’s dearly beloved and sadly missed wife the late Crown Princess Märtha. Furthermore it was a gathering of two old veterans from the Second World War. Both His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke had been active in their fight against Nazism during the war. Of course, at the time this visit it was not known that this would be the last State Visit hosted by the Norwegian King. But he was quite an old man by that time, 87 years.
His Majesty had already made a State Visit to Luxembourg back in 1964. The small grand duchy was then still ruled by Grand Duchess Charlotte, although she would abdicate in favour of her eldest son Jean only a few months later. So His Royal Highness Grand Duke Jean had already been on the throne for almost 26 years when he and his wife Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte paid their first State Visit to Norway. It was, however, not their first time in the country. They had been attending many Royal events there already, mainly family gatherings like weddings and birthdays.
The Grand Ducal couple arrived by air onboard the Airlux plane “Marie Astrid”. As soon their flight entered Norwegian airspace they were met and flanked all the way to the airport by four F16 fighters from the Norwegian Air Force. And when they landed at Forebu Airport just outside of Oslo Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were met by a radiant spring sun and a likewise radiant King who would be their host during the visit. His Majesty greeted the Grand Ducal couple warmly as did Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja. Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess greeted the Royal guests with a deep courtesy and a bouquet of lovely red roses which she handed to Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess.
Fornebu Airport was decorated with large flower arrangements in the colours of the flags of both countries; red, white and blue. Together with His Majesty His Royal Highness the Grand Duke inspected the Guard of Honour from His Majesty the King’s Royal Guards and a military band played the National Anthems of both Norway and Luxembourg. The Grand Ducal Couple was then presented to representatives from both civil and military authorities before getting into the cars that would take them to Oslo and the Royal Palace where they would stay during their visit. His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke got into an open car while the rest of the party would follow behind in closed cars.
His Majesty wore the dress uniform of a General in the Norwegian Army with the orange Sash and Star of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, Luxembourg’s highest decoration. In addition he also wore the Star of the Norwegian Royal Order of St Olav and the Neck-tie of the Norwegian Order of Merit. His Royal Highness the Grand Duke also wore dress uniform with the Sash and Star of the Norwegian Royal Order of St Olav. As he had not yet received any Luxembourgish orders His Royal Highness Crown Prince Harald wore his Norwegian orders with the dress uniform of a General in the Norwegian Army. Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sonja had chosen a purple outfit accessorised with a wide brown belt, Pearl necklace and a small brooch on her right shoulder. Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess wore a beige two-piece with a matching hat. She also had selected Pearls to wear around her neck and a brooch pinned at her left shoulder.
At the Royal Palace they were joined by Her Highness Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner. She wore a white dress combined with a white belt and a white hat. As for jewels she had chosen a choker of three rows of Pearls and the Rothschild Bow brooch, an heirloom from Queen Maud. A private lunch was served before the official programme started for full. First post was the wreath laying ceremony at the National Monument at Akershus Castle commemorating those who fell during World War II. The Grand Ducal Couple and the Norwegian Royal Family then spent a few moments in the Royal Mausoleum where they placed flowers on the sarcophaguses of King Haakon VII, Queen Maud and Crown Princess Märtha, aunt of Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Charlotte-Josephine. They then continued to the Resistance Museum, also situated at Akershus Castle, where they were shown around by Major General Reidar Torp.
In the evening His Majesty hosted a glittering State Banquet at the Royal Palace for about 178 guests. It was, as usual, a very colourful and stately event with the gentlemen in either uniform or white-tie with their different orders adding colour. Even more colour was added by the ladies’ elegant evening gowns. And the Royal ladies had selected some of their best jewels:
Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte
Chaumet Emerald tiara
Emerald Peacock tiara worn as necklace
Emerald Pendant earrings
Large Round Emerald brooch
A bracelet (possibly of Gold and Emerald)
Sash and Star of the Order of St Olav
Crown Princess Sonja
Tiara from the Emerald parure
Necklace from the Emerald parure
Earrings from the Emerald parure
Large Brooch from the Emerald parure
Bracelet
Portrait of King Olav V in Diamonds
Sash and Star of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
Princess Astrid,
Mrs Ferner
Queen Maud’s Turquoise coronet
Queen Maud’s Turquoise necklace
Turquoise earrings
Turquoise and Diamond Bow brooch
Bracelet
Portrait of King Haakon VII in Diamonds
Portrait of King Olav V in Diamonds
Sash and Star of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau
The Royal Procession into the Grand Dining Room was headed by the Guest of Honour His Royal Highness the Grand Duke in dress uniform and the hostess Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sonja. She wore a beautiful evening gown in a bottle green colour to complement her wonderful emeralds. His Royal Highness wore the same orders as for the welcoming ceremony. Right behind them followed His Majesty with Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess at his side. He wore his dress uniform and the Luxembourgish and Norwegian orders as he had done for the welcoming ceremony. Her Royal Highness wore a pale turquoise slim gown with the Sash and Star of the Order of St Olav. Third and last couple was His Royal Highness Crown Prince Harald and Her Highness Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner. The uniform of His Royal Highness was the same he had worn during the welcoming ceremony. However, at the exchange of gifts earlier in the day he had been awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau and wore its blue Sash and Star together with the Star of the Order of St Olav and the Neck-tie of the Norwegian Order of Merit. Her Highness Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner – in a pale pink brocade gown with large silk flowers at one of the shoulders and on one side of the skirt.
Representatives from political as well as cultural life were present. The Prime Minister of the day though, Mr Jan P. Syse, was prevented from attending due to an important party conference.
On the menu was clear soup, fruits of the sea, fillet of beef followed by ice cream, cheese and biscuits, fruit and confectionary.
The seating plan:
First on the schedule the second day was a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art. It had been opened by His Majesty only a few months earlier, on January 20th. The building housing the museum used to be the main building of the Bank of Norway, but after the bank moved into new premises the old building had been taken over by the museum. And in fact, when they had finished their visit to the museum the Royal party just crossed the square in front of the building by foot in order to get to the next stop on their itinerary: the new building of the Bank of Norway. Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess had chosen an elegant dark blue suit which looked like it could have been from Chanel for these morning engagements. Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sonja was in red for the occasion.
After the morning visits lunch was served at the Crown Prince Couple’s home Skaugum.
In the afternoon His Royal Highness Grand Duke Jean was accompanied by His Majesty and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Harald to the barracks of His Majesty the King’s Royal Guards at Huseby. Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Josephine and Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sonja on the other hand paid a visit to the Voksentoppen Institute for Children with Asthma and Allergies.
The day ended with a dinner hosted by Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess at the Hotel Intercontinental. It is described as a gala banquet in the news but it has not been possible to find any photos from the event so it is not possible to say at present whether it was indeed a white tie event or just black tie. On the third day the Grand Ducal Couple were to fly to the west coast of Norway. Here they would visit the area in the company of the Crown Princely Couple. But before they made the flight they still managed to pay a visit to the Norwegian Institute for Air Research and Aker Hospital.
REGAL EVENTS 