Norway: Princess Ingrid Alexandra's confirmation

Princess Ingrid Alexandra's confirmation will take place in the Palace Chapel in Oslo on Saturday 31 August 2019 at noon.

The princess has received her confirmation instruction at the Asker Church congregation under the direction of Provost Tor Øystein Våland and Vicar Karoline Astrup. The confirmation service in the Palace Chapel will be officiated by the Bishop of Oslo, Kari Veiteberg, and the Praeses of the Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien.

After the confirmation service, Princess Ingrid Alexandra's grandparents King Harald and Queen Sonja will host a luncheon in the Banqueting Hall of the Royal Palace.

Guest list
The Royal Palace released today part of the guest list:

The part of the guest released to the public is limited to members of the royal family, sponsors, other family members of the princess, the official Norway, the Church of Norway, the Diplomatic Corps and various organisations.

The Royal Family

• King Harald (sponsor)
• Queen Sonja
• Crown Prince Haakon
• Crown Princess Mette-Marit
• Princess Ingrid Alexandra
• Prince Sverre Magnus
• Marius Borg Høiby
• Princess Märtha Louise (sponsor)
• Maud Angelica Behn
• Leah Isadora Behn
• Emma Tallulah Behn
• Princess Astrid Mrs. Ferner

Other sponsors

• King Felipe of Spain
• Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark 
• Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
• Marit Tjessem

Other royals

• Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
• Prince Christian of Denmark

The official Norway

• President of the Storting Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen and Per Kristian Trøen
• Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Sindre Finnes
• Chief Jusstice of the Supreme Court Toril Marie Øie and Rune Brekke
• First Vice President of the Storting Eva Kristin Hansen
• Finance Minister Siv Jensen
• Culture minister Trine Skei Grande
• Children and Families Minister Kjell Ingolf Ropstad
• Second Vice President of the Storting Morten Wold
• Third Vice President of the Storting Magne Rommetveit 
• Fourth Vice President of the Storting Nils T. Bjørke
• Fifth Vice President of the Storting Abid Q. Raja
• Parlamentary leader Trond Helleland
• Parlamentary leader Hans Fredrik Grøvan
• Parlamentary leader Marit Arnstad
• Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum
• Plenary leader of Sametinget (Sámi Parliament) Tom Sottinen
• President of Sametinget (Sámi Parliament) Aili Keskitalo
• Permanent Secretary to the Government Anne Nafstad Lyftingsmo
• County Governor Valgerd Svarstad Haugland
• The mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen
• The mayor of Asker, Lene Conradi
• Chief of Defence, Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen
• Commander of His Majesty The King's Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Vegard Flom 
• National Police Commissioner Benedicte Bjørnland
• Police Commissioner of Oslo Beate Gangås
• Chief of the Royal Police Escort, Roy Hagen-Larsen

Diplomatic corps

• Ambassador of Myanmar, Maw Maw, doyen (dean)
• Ambassador of Sweden, Krister Bringéus
• Ambassador of Denmark, Jarl Kåre Frijs-Madsen
• Ambassador of Spain, Maria Isabel Vicandi

The Church of Norway and other religious communities

• The Praeses of the Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien
• Bishop Kari Veiteberg
• Cathedral cantor (domskantor) Kåre Nordstoga
• Provost of Asker Tor Øystein Vaaland 
• Vicar of Asker Karoline Astrup
• Head of the Church Council Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum
• Chairperson of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, Britt Strandlie Thoresen
• General Secretary of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, Ingrid Rosendorf Joys
• Youth Representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities and the Muslim Dialogue Network, Yasmine Fatima Angell Morchid
• Youth representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, board member of Norway's Young Catholics, Martin Bao Anh Vo 
• Youth representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities
• Youth representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, commitee member Norwegian Humanist Youth, Iver Daaland Åse 
• Head of the Church Council's Commitee for youths, Ufung, Silje Håve Smørvik
• Bishop emeritus Gunnar Stålsett and Unn Stålsett

Organisations

• Chief executive officer Ole Erik Almlid, NHO (Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise)
• Chairperson Hans Christian Gabrielsen, LO (Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions)
• Chairperson Rode Margrete Hegstad, LNU (The Norwegian Children and Youth Council)
• Chief agent Are Shaw Waage,  Miljøagentene (The Eco-Agents)

Family

• Juliane Snekkestad (partner of Marius Borg Høiby)
• Espen and Renate Høiby with children
• Christian Høiby
• Ina Høiby and Mads Hvilshøj
• Tuva Høiby
• Per Høiby and Louise Dedichen
• Anette Bastviken
• Susanne K. Dedichen Bastviken
• Julie Høiby and Teodor C-G Teigen
• Joachim Høiby and June Bolme
• Kristin Høiby
• Kamilla Høiby Bjørnøy
• Maria Viig Bjørnøy and Are Hoel
• Anniken Høiby Bjørnøy
• Erling Lorentzen (widower of Princess Ragnhild) and his partner, Ebba Løvenskiold
• Cathrine Ferner Johansen (eldest daughter of Princess Astrid) and Arild Johansen
• Lis Haraldsen (sister-in-law of Queen Sonja)
• Ian Swanstrøm (niece of Queen Sonja) and Carl Christian Dahl
• Tom Ivar Junker
• Janne Cecilie Junker
• Elsie Sargeant

Erling Lorentzen, the widower of Princess Ragnhild, used to be listed in the Royal Family section also after his wife's death, but seems to have been removed 3–4 years ago, probably when he got a new partner.

Updated last time on Friday 30 August 2019 at 00.20 (minor correction).

UK: Foreign royals at York Brooksbank wedding

Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank got married at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on Friday 12 October 2018, and I posted a short blog article later the same day.

In the article I listed the following foreign royals attending the wedding:

• Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece
• Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece
• Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece
• Prince Philippos of Greece (with his partner Nina Flohr)
• Prince Ernst August of Hannover
• Princess Ekaterina of Hannover
• Prince Christian of Hannover
• Princess Alessandra of Hannover

Yesterday (13 October) The Telegraph published the article «Royals, sheikhs, supermodels and oligarchs - what Eugenie and Jack's wedding guest list in full reveals» which adds the following guests:

• Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain
• Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar
• Sheikh Suhaim Al Thani of Qatar
• Sheikh Fahad Al Thani of Qatar

Now, The Telegraph writes that «The inclusion of the Crown Prince of Bahrain is bound to raise an eyebrow after the Duke of York’s friendship with the King of Bahrain has attracted negative headlines due to the regime’s poor track record on human rights.» and «Qatari rulers Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Suhaim and Sheikh Fahad also made it onto the guest list, also a reflection of Prince Andrew’s middle-eastern ties.»

I am quite certain that The Telegraph by Sheik Hamad means the former Emir, but I am not 100 % sure. And there are several sheikhs named Suhaim and Fahad (Fahd), as the genealogy website The Royal Ark demonstrates, so it is not easy to make a well-educated guess. But Fahad (Fahd) might be the elder brother of the current Emir, Tamim, while Suhaim is one of the nephews of Sheik Hamad and thus a cousin to Tamim.

The Telegraphs also adds the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg to the party, i.e. Franz-Albrecht and Cleopatra. They were also present at the Sussez wedding in May.

Not a royal, but Count Nikolai von Bismarck was also present, accompanied by his girl-friend, the well-known model Kate Moss.

Concerning members of the British Royal Family not attending the wedding, I mentioned in my Friday article that the Duchess of Cornwall was absent due to other commitments, while Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy had a broken arm and had cancelled (well, I didn't mention the reason then). It seems that the Duchess of Kent was not present either, for reasons I don't know, even if she was said to be listed in the Court Circular (yesterday's can't be found at the official website as of now as far as I can tell). Very well, I will leave the rest of the more or less complete guest list to Nobiliana and other forums ...

UK: The marriage of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank

The wedding of HRH Princess Eugenie of York, youngest daughter of HRH The Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and Sarah, Duchess of York, née Ferguson, and Jack Brooksbank, eldest child of George Brooksbank and Nicola Brooksbank, née Newton, took place at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle today 12 october 2018 at 11 a.m. local time.

The Dean of Windsor, David Conner, officiated the ceremony. Princess Eugenie's elder sister Princess Beatrix served the role as maid of honour, while Jack's brother Thomas was his best man. The order of service can be viewed here.

Bridesmaids were Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Savannah and Isla Phillips (daughters of Peter and Autumn Phillips, the former the son of the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) and thus a first cousin of the bride), Mia Tindall (daughter of Mike and Zara Tindall, the latter the daughter of the Princess Royal and thus another first cousin of the bride), Maud Windsor (goddaughter of the bride and daughter of Lord Frederick and Lady Frederick Windsor, née Sophie Winkleman, the former a second cousin of the bride) and Theodora Williams (daughter of the artist Robbie Williams and his partner Ayda Field).

Page Boys were Prince George of Cambridge and Louis de Givenchy (son of Olivier and Zoe De Givenchy, friends), while special attendants were Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, who took good care of the bridal party, and Viscount Severn, both children of the Earl and Countess of Wessex and thus first cousins of the bride.

Most members of the British Royal Family attended the wedding, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) and Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke of York (and hs former wife Sarah, Duchess of York), Princess Beatrix of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Also present were the Phillips and the Tindalls and most of the Kents and Gloucesters. Absent were the Duchess of Cornwall, who had other official commitments decided before the wedding date was set (for the tabloids and some royal watchers who think this was a snub: you have won the competion of sillyness) and Princess Alexandra, Lady Ogilvy.

As for other guests, and based on comments on Twitter and Nobiliana, members of the Greek Royal Family included Crown Prince Pavlos, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, Princess Maria-Olympia and Prince Philippos with his partner Nina Flohr, while the Hannovers were represented by Prince Ernst August and Princess Ekaterina and Prince Christian and Princess Alessandra.

Present were also representatives of various charities which Princess Eugenie is associated with as well as many other relatives and friends. 850 people were invited to attend the ceremony and the reception, and judging from the various news reports, lots of celebrities were in attendance. As the wedding took place in the middle of the day while I was at work, I have not been able to watch much, and  will therefore not comment on all the guests. I am sure a list will be compiled at Nobiliana in the near future.

The wedding ceremony was followed by a reception in  St George's Hall hosted by the Queen and later a party at The Royal Lodge.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark's 50th birthday celebrations

HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark celebrates his 50th birthday today, 26 May. The anniversary has been marked by several events and activities, including a «Royal Run», receptions, a gala banquet tonight and a birthday show tomorrow. The program in English can be found here.

Queen Margrethe hosts a gala banquet at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen tonight, with guests from both Denmark and abroad. The main guests are (I have mainly used the court's own list, with some changes):

The Royal Family

• HM Queen Margrethe of Denmark
• HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
• HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
• HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark
• HRH Princess Marie of Denmark
• HH Prince Nikolai of Denmark
• HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark [, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg] 
• HSH Prins Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg 
• HSH Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
• HM King Constantine of the Hellenes
• HM Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes
• HRH Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece
• HRH Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece
• HRH Prince Philippos of Greece
• HRH Princess Theodora of Greece
• HRH Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece
• HRH Prince Constantine-Alexios of Greece

Foreign heads of state and royal dignitaries

• HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
• HM Queen Silvia of Sweden
• HRH Crown Prince Victoria of Sweden
• HRH Prince Daniel of Sweden
• HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
• HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
• HM King Philippe of the Belgians
• HM Queen Mathilde of the Belgians
• HM King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands
• HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands
• HRH Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
• HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg
• HSH Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein
• HRH Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein
• H.E. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland
• Eliza Jean Reid

Other family members

• HE Count Ingolf of Rosenborg
• Countess Sussie of Rosenborg
• HE Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
• Guillaume Bardin
• Guillaume Bardin
• Patricia Bailey

**

Other royals

• HRH Prince Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
• HRH Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Other guests include members of the Government, Folketinget (the Parliament), official representatives of Greenland and Faroe Islands, members of the court and staff and many others. For a full list go here.

Updated on Sunday 27 May 2018 at 20:00 (minor typo corrected).