Two of our favorite classic Norwegian royals have recently celebrated birthdays. On February 21st King Harald is 83, and his sister – the wonderful Auntie Astrid – was 88 on February 12. Let’s celebrate all the joy they have brought to royal watching by spamming our favorite photos.
My favorite Astrid is in full Norwegian mode, striding off to view the Nordic World Cup. Rock on with your winter self, Astrid.
I suppose this is a day early, what with the hearts and all, but what do you suppose is going on here? No one seems overly surprised to see him wearing oversized, blue lensed, heart glasses. Is it “his thing”? The world may never know. Post your favorite photos of royals in glasses below in the comments!
Thank you to our community member and Norwegian expert Ween for this fun post on Queen Sonja. Read on and enjoy!
Ween’s Thesis
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, I’m writing about Sonja and her favorite color, yellow. Ever since she made her formal debut on the royal scene in 1968, Sonja has been a prolific wearer of the sunshine color. From suit jackets to yellow gold tiaras to opera gloves (but seemingly no jewels – Harald, buddy, if you read this: get your wife some nice canary diamonds), Sonja has worn this with every combination possible. In a category that’s almost impossible to narrow down, I present three choices of yellow that are so very Sonja.
Second Runner Up: Big Bird
There is no dress that is more iconic Sonja than her yellow dress designed by the late Erik Mortensen, affectionately (or not) known around these parts as Big Bird. First worn during her and Harald’s joint 60th birthday party in 1997, this dress has been worn to death and then some. Fun fact: when it made its debut, it had a matching yellow hair ornament!
Pulled out for state visits, royal weddings, and every other event in between, worn with every single tiara in her collection and quite a few state orders, I’m not sure why Sonja loves this dress so much. Maybe she had such a great 60th birthday that she wanted to keep the good memories going. Maybe she loves to show off the fact she can still fit into a dress that’s over 20 years old. Maybe it’s just comfy. Whatever the reason, it’s a dress that has forced its way into icon status.
First Runner Up: 1968 Molstad
Making history as the first Norwegian commoner to not only marry into the royal family, but obtain titles and one day become consort, was a tall order. Sonja couldn’t come into the family without some form of pizzaz, so she entered the pre-wedding reception held at Askerhus Fortress on August 28, 1968 wrapped head to toe in her favorite color.
This yellow dress from Molstad, the same fashion house which designed the wedding dress she would wear the following day, comes with a matching yellow floor-length coat, mustard opera gloves, and a removable beaded orange and pink overlay. The dress was worn during formal portraits released in 1969, the British State Visit that same year, and continued to be worn into the mid-1970s. A simple and versatile dress which, in my opinion, was the perfect debut for a commoner-turned-princess.
Winner: 1989 Birthday Party Dress
With the pleathora of yellow dresses, it’s nigh impossible to figure out which dress is the best dress. Which is why I was just as surprised as you are when I came to my final conclusion that this is my favorite of all of them. Created by an unknown designer, Sonja broke this dress out to celebrate Princess Martha Louise’s 18th birthday at the palace. And ho-ly crap, she brought the big guns (and I’m not just talking about her biceps).
Sonja doesn’t just look good. She looks hot, and she knows it. I’m normally not a fan of 80s fashion, or fashion that steals the show, but this is the exception. It has both the sleek lines of her youth and the ruffles she would come to adore in her later years. It fits her like a glove. It’s one of the few times that the Norwegian Traffic Light (red Order of St. Olav, yellow dress, Queen Josephine’s Emerald Parure) actually works. Notably, this dress was pulled out once and never seen again. Why? Who knows. Maybe it wasn’t considered “queenly” enough. Maybe she decided she just wanted to use it to commemorate the biggest event in her baby girl’s life at that point. Whatever the reason, it certainly did its job in making a big impression.
Thank you to our community member geogirl for this excellent quiz!
Below is the wedding of Maud of Wales, (born November 26, 1869 – died November 20, 1938). She was the youngest daughter of the British King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. On July 22, 1896, she married Prince Carl of Denmark, her first cousin. In 1906, Prince Carl become King Haakon VII, and Maud become Queen of Norway.
Wedding portrait; Princess Victoria of Wales, Maud of Wales (the bride), Alexandra, Princess of Wales(later Queen Alexandra), Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, Lady Alexandra Duff. 1896. Public domain
February is already upon us. In my neck of the woods it’s a consistent cold and gray season, but here’s hoping the royals bring a little sunshine into your life.
HM King Abdullah II with his son HRH Crown Prince Hussein at the oldest light cavalry regiment in the British Army ” light Dragoons”. pic.twitter.com/0cvSOV2818
There is some speculation that Sophie will be busier now that the British royals are shuffling duties around. She has been highly visible in the last few weeks, so let’s take a look. Here she stepped out the next generation event at the London Stock exchange.
Anne-Marie and Theodora were recently seen attending Celia Krithiatori’s fashion show. Word is the Greek designer has been chosen by Theodora to design her wedding gown. If you are like me, that wedding had completely fallen off your radar. I am glad to put it back on. Here is a link to the designer’s wedding gown collection for 2019. It appears we are in for a dramatic time!
Queen Anne-Marie and Princess Theodora attended the fashion show of the Greek designer, Celia Krithiatori, at the British Museum of London on 29th January. Celia Krithiatori is the one chosen by Princess Theodora to make her wedding dress. pic.twitter.com/wGRMU26jAK
I feel we should drop by and check out some relatively recent “Looks of Laurentien”. We featured one last week, but she is always interesting, if not always conventional. I don’t think we focused on her during the Prince Claus Award ceremony in December, but her ruby (well, orange) slippers and earrings are deserving of a deep dive.
LIteracy is one of Laurentien’s pet causes, and in that vein she opened an event supporting those with reading disabilities at the Amsterdam Public Library. I like the colorful scarf against the stark black pantsuit, which from these photos looks like it fits like a dream.
