Our King is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Having a blog about Norway, our culture, traditions and habit without mentioning this would be a disgrace. Most of the Norwegians are happy to have a monarchy, including me, so I’ll gladly provide you with a post dedicated his Royal Highness:
Pic from Aftenposten.no
King Harald ascended the throne after the death of his father, King Olav V, on 17 January 1991. Like his father and his grandfather, King Haakon VII, he adopted the motto “All for Norway”. The birth of a prince is always an historic event. However, it was a particularly special occasion for the Norwegian people when an heir to the throne came into the world on 21 February 1937.
You can of course read a lot about King Harald V on the net. Click here to the Royal familie’s website. As far as I know it was first sat up by IMT in Boston as a gift when he visited the university in mid 90s. No pics from that, but The King and Queen, greeted by Laura and George W. Bush at the White House during the March 2005 State Visit to the U.S:
Btw: The Crown Princess, Prince Harald and his two elder sisters, Ragnhild and Astrid, lived just outside Washington, D.C. during the second world war.
So let me tell you something you may not know: His Majesty has made a name for himself in a number of national and international sailing competitions. As Crown Prince, he represented Norway several times in the Olympic Games, won the Gold Cup Races in 1968, and took first place in the Kiel Week Races in 1972. He was number two in the world championship in the half-ton class in 1982. In the summer of 1987, he won the world championship with his new yacht, the one-ton “Fram X”, which was a gift from the Norwegian business community on his fiftieth birthday. The following year the yacht and its crew won a bronze medal in the world championship in San Francisco. As far as I know, he is the only living King who has been a world champion.
My regularly readers know I normally document my post with pictures from my daily life taken with my Nokia mobile phone. Well, I didn’t bump into His Majesty today. I’ll keep you posted next time I do:-)
Thanks for the history lesson, Renny. Long live King Harald! :-)
Oh that’s too bad that you didn’t bump into His Majesty- I’m sure he’d be happy to pose for you and your Nokia. :)
Very interesting post, I must admit that I knew very little about him.
Happy Birthday to his Majesty! He doesn’t look a bit like 70 ~ WOWED!
Shhh….could it be all the salmons perhaps :)
Happy Birthday to your King!
Happy Birthday to your king. He looks much younger. Wishing him loads of luck and happiness.
Peep into my blog on birthday ecards for some beautiful e-greeting cards and other interesting info.
Happy B-day King Harald!
I think in my next life I would like to be born a Norwegian Princess. :)
of course you should write something about him. coz he’s your relative. you look alike. actually, you look better.
he looks young. and i was amazed coz he joined sports events, even olympics! wow! that’s really something.
we’ll just wait for your picture of the royal dinner. hehehe ;p
Happy birthday to the Kong Harald!
Hi Renny! Interesting post…
Happy Birthday to your king !
He still looks young !
when you bump into the king next time give him my birthday greetings. actually i do remmeber hearing that a norwegian royal had won olympic medals. i did not recall it was your king. i had no idea the fmaily had lived near our capital during the war. very interesting. wonderful post as always!
long live king harald!
@DianeJ: Your welcome!
@Lisa: I do hope so – next time LoL
Glad I could provide you with some interesting stuff from our King then!
@Shionge: Yes, I know he loves seafood.
@Maribeth: Thank you!
@MichaelRingwood: Thank you!
@Balou: I think you’ll do perfect:-)
@Tin-tin: awww, thank you!
I wasn’t at the dinner last night but it was all about it on TV.
@AL: Thanks!
@Grish: Glad you liked it!
@Sidney: Yes he does for a 70er!
@Lime: I’ll sure will do!
Glad you could learn something new today as well then:-)
You didnt bump into him?! What kind of excuse is that?? You go back there and see if that flag is up and get some pics!!!
(clearly we are spoiled for pictures now Renny hehehe)
I find that I am learning more from you than from my friends…another great post :-)
As always, Renny, your history lesson is superb. Glad to meet your King!
Happy Bday to your King!!so,Norway and Japan have one thing in common,we have our Kings!! :D
Thanks for informing the World of Bloggers about this great event: King Harald 70 years.
Excellent entry:)
btw. Where will you be seated during the Grand Galla at the Royal Castle on Saturday? I have seat #21.
Oh you have a lovely King and Queen. As a Canadian I am also proud of having a Queen. It is wonderful to have a Souverein.
Happy happy birthday!!!
@ttfootball: The King is in but rather busy right now – have to be later LoL
I love to learn some from you too!
@Ginnie: Thanks for the compliments and happy to introduce Him you know:-)
@Ghee: Yes we Do!! And now you are hosting the World Championship in skiing too – so there are a lot of ski Kings and Queens from Norway in Japan this two coming weeks:-)
@TorAa: Thanks Tor for complimenting!
I’m not gonna bee there:-( Please keep us posted!
@Lynn: In that way I think we both are lucky to have such great Sovereign.
@Teena: I’ll tell him next time we meet:-)
Wonderful ! You only forgot a very important thing to me ! when your king married a commoner, Sonja Haraldsen, in 1968 and we girls were sooooo disappointed that he didn’t choose us ! and what a mess this event had created in Norway because she was not nobel ! I remember very well all this. First I wanted to marry King Baudouin of Belgium, before he entered into a convent, but then he found his Fabiola. Since then I married a commun Italian and feel very well ! Even without crown.
What an accomplished King! And he does show the “All For Norway” attitude through his sport!
It is funny that I share the same bday as the king!