State visit from Canada

Between 28th-30th April, Their Excellencies the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond will visit Norway following an invitation from King Harald.

King Harald's last state visit to Canada was in May 2002 when he visited Her Excelency Governor General Adrienee Clarkson and John Ralson Saul.

It is expected that the official programme will include meetings with the Acting President of Parliament and the Prime Minister as well as a visit to Tromsø and the Royal Palace in Oslo.

From kongehuset.no - State visit from Canada

Mette-Marit at the opening of the Norweigan Fashion Institute

Earlier this month, Crown Princess Mette-Marit was present for the opening of the Norwegian Fashion Institute in Norway. The fashion institute was declared open by Sylvia Brustad, the current Norwegian Minster of Trade and Industry.

The Norwegian Fashion Institute has been opened to stimulate and position Norwegian fashion in Norway and abroad. The vision is to make Norwegian fashion a recognised brand.

The institute is tasked with the following objectives:
1. To be a unifying organisation for Norwegian fashion;
2. Organise collaboration with academic departments to be a centre of excellence;
3. Disseminate information on Norwegian fashion and the market;
4. Manage, communicate and manage business development initiatives in cooperation with the relevant state bodies.

The Crown Princess wore a gun-metal grey dress from Norwegian designer FIN for the opening. The fashion house, based in Oslo, uses only organic materias and produced under ethical conditions. Earlier in the week, FIN won the award Nåløyet, a prestigeous design award within the Fashion industry.

From kongehuset.no - Norsk Moteinstitutt opna (Norwegian Fashion Institute opened)
From dagsavisen.no - Skal fremme norsk klesdesign (To promote Norwegian dress design)
From vg.no - Mette-Marit kom i norsk design (Mette-Marit came in Norwegian design)
FIN

King Harald at Skating World Cup

On 6th and 7th February, King Harald attended the skating world cup in Hamar.

King Harald was present for all events with the exception of the women's 500 metrers. As a result of a major accident on the E6, King Harald was late to the start of the event.

In addition to King Harald, other guests included ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta, The Dutch Ambassador to Norway, Ronald van Roeden, as well as many great skaters from Norway.

From kongehust.no - Skøyte-VM i Vikingskipet (Skating world cup in Viking ship)
From vg.no - Kongen forsinket til skøyte-VM (King delayed to the skating world cup)
Speedskating World Cup

Condolences from King Harald to The Australian Governor General

February 2009 has seen widespread devastation across the state of Victoria in Australia as a result of bushfires that started on 7th February. As at 14 February, nearly 200 lives have been lost, and nearly 2000 homes burned to the ground. The towns of Kinglake, Marysville, Narbeghong and Strathewen have been virtually destroyed by fires, leaving nearly 7000 people homeless.

On 13th February, King Harald sent condolences to Australia's Governor General, Ms. Quentin Bryce on behalf of the Norwegian people.

King Harald wrote:

Excellency,

I am deeply saddened by the news of the terrible wildfires that has ravaged parts of Australia, resulting in the tragic loss of so many lives and causing such widespread damage.

On behalf of myself and the Norwegian people I send you my condolences, and ask you to convey my deepest sympathies to those bereaved and to others afflicted by this tragic disaster.

Harald R

At the time of writing, many fires remain burning across the state of Victoria.

On the 8th February, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said "Hell and all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria in the last 24 hours".

From kongehuset.no - Condolences

Haakon and Mette-Marit in Finnmark

On the 5th and 6th February, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit visisted Finnmark. Their visit started in Kautekeino on the 5th, and ended in Karasjok on the 6th.

The visit coincided with the Sámi National Day on February 6th.

After arriving in Kautokeino on the 5th, Haakon and Mette-Marit met with Mayor Klemet Erland Hætta. After the offical welcome and a speech from Haakon, the couple received an introduction to reindeer herding The International Center for Reindeer Husbandry. They also had the opportunity to meet with school children in Arndni-Siida from Kautokeino secondary school. After a traditional Sami lunch of reindeer meat, the couple listened to a talk on climate change, viewed from the Sami perspective.

On the 6th February, the day started with a visit to the Saami parliament, where the couple were welcomed by the President of the Sámi Parliament, Egil Olli. Afterwards, the Crown Prince Couple were shown around in the Sami Collections at Karasjok museum. The collection consists of 4,500 items originating in the Sámi areas in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, comprising mostly of items related to reindeer herding, agriculture, fishing, crafts and religion.

In the afternoon, the couple visisted Karasjok skole, and lastly attended a liturgy celebration at Karasjok Church to celebrate Sami national day.

During the two day visit, the couple wore Sami national dress.

The last Royal visit to Finnmark was in 1969 by Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja.

To coincide with the visit, the website of the Norwegian Royal Family was launched in Sami.

From kongehuset.no - Kronprinsparet i Kautokeino (Crown Prince Couple in Kautokeino)
From kongehuset.no - Hilsen i Kautokeino (Regards to Kautokeino)
From kongehuset.no - Markerer samefolkets dag (Marking the Sami national day)
From kongehuset.no - Samefolkets dag: Tale i Karasjok (Sami national day: Speech in Karasjok)
From samediggi.no - Kronprinsparet besøkte Sametinget (Crown Prince Couple visited Sametinget)
Photogallery from vg.no - Se kronprinsparet i Finnmark (See the Crown Prince Pair in Finnmark)
From vg.no - Hyller Mette-Marit i sameklær (Here's Mette-Marit in the same clothes)
From nordlys.no - Se så like de er! (See how alike they are!)

Crown Prince Haakon at the World Economic Forum

Video of Haakon discussing Dignity at the World Economic Forum

For the past few days, Crown Prince Haakon has been in Davos, participating in the World Economic Forum and promoting Global Dignity.

At the forum, Haakon participated in the panel of Young Global Leaders when they debated "Educating the Next Wave of entrepreneurs". Later the same day, the Crown Prince visited a school in the Swiss alps with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Finland's President Tarja Halonen, the Finnish professor of philosophy Pekka Himanen, as well as founder and director of Operation Hope, John Hope Bryant.

At the school, the Crown Prince discussed dignity with the students to help them get a basic understanding of dignity in society and in their own lives.

Desmond Tutu described Haakon as "amazing". He went on to say that he and others wished there were more leaders like him. He said how very fond he was of Haakon, how it is nothing other than the heart that drives him. He said he takes his hat of to him [Haakon].

The forum will close on Sunday, in a celebration led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in which Haakon will participate.

From kongehuset.no - World Economic Forum
From vg.no - Kronprinsen diskuterer verdighet med verdenseliten (Crown Prince to discuss dignity with the world elite)
From vg.no - Tutu: - Skulle ønske flere var som Haakon (Tutu: - Wish there were more like Haakon)
Global Dignity

Videos of Hakkon, Mette-Marit and the children in Svalbard

The Norwegian Royal Court has released two two videos of the Crown Prince family from their vacation in Svalbard in June 2008.

The videos show the family hiking, and enjoying some hyggelig time together.

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, about midway between Norway and the North Pole.

Click on the below links to see the videos.

Video 1

Video 2