Dag Trygsland Hoelseth

15 April 2010

Guest list for Gala performance at The Royal Theatre

In connection with the celebrations of HM Queen Margrethe II's 70th anniversary The Danish Royal Court has published the guest list for the Gala performance at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen on Thursday 15 April 2010.

Excerpts:

The Danish Royal Family (with in-laws)

HM Queen Margrethe II
HRH Prince Henrik
HRH Crown Prince Frederik
HRH Crown Princess Mary
HRH Prince Joachim
HRH Princess Marie

HRH Princess Benedikte
HSH Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
HSH Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Carina Axelsson
HSH Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Alexander Johannsmann

HM Queen Anne Marie of the Hellenes
HM King Constantine of the Hellenes
HRH Princess Alexia

Sweden
HM King Carl XVI Gustaf
HM Queen Silvia
HRH Crown Princess Victoria Daniel Westling
HRH Prince Carl Philip

Norway
HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Luxembourg
HRH Grand Duke Hwenri
HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
(not in the published guest list, but spotted on TV)

Iceland
HE President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Dorrit Moussaieff

Finland
HE President Tarja Halonen
Pentti Arajärvi

Members of the Danish Government with spouses
The President of the Folketing with wife
The President of the Supreme Court with wife

Representatives of the Church, the Royal Court and staff, diplomacy and of Denmark’s political and cultural life.

Others
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte af Wisborg
Countess Gunnila Bernadotte af Wisborg
Count Michael Bernadotte af Wisborg
Count Bertil Bernadotte af Wisborg
Countess Jill Bernadotte af Wisborg

Members of Prince Henrik's French family
Etienne de Laborde de Monpezat (brother)
Isabelle de Laborde de Monpezat
Jean-Baptiste de Laborde de Monpezat (brother)
Gill de Laborde de Monpezat

Jacques Beauvillain
Maurille Beauvillain (sister)
Benoit Beauvillain
Laurie Beauvillain
Claude Bardin
Francoise Bardin (sister)
Guillaume Bardin (nephew)
Laurence Bardin

Descendants of the House of Glucksburg with spouses
HE Count Christian of Rosenborg
Countess Anne Dorte of Rosenborg
HE Count Ingolf of Rosenborg
Countess Sussie of Rosenborg
Charlotte of Rosenborg
Torben Gyldenfeldt Wulff
Feodora of Rosenborg
Morten Rønnow
Countess Dorrit of Rosenborg
Bent Marquard Lund
Count Axel of Rosenborg
Countess Jutta of Rosenborg
Josephine of Rosenborg
Thomas Chr. Schmidt
Camilla of Rosenborg
Mikael Rosanes
Count Carl Johan of Rosenborg

HSH Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe
HSH Princess Lena of Schaumburg-Lippe
HSH Princess Eleonore-Christine af Schaumburg-Lippe

Erik Vind (a grandson of Prince Erik)
Susanne Vind

The full list can be found here. I had originally intended to include all the members of the Danish nobility present, but found out that it would take too much time to go through my copy of Danmarks Adels Aarbog to identify everyone!

Updated with minor corrections on Saturday 17 April 2010 at 11.55. Thanks to Stig Nielsen at the Scandinavian Royals Message Board for additional information.

Royal Theatre gala performance in an ash cloud

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull at Iceland has caused problems also for guests travelling to Denmark to take part in the celebrations of HM Queen Margrethe II's 70th anniversary. Volcanic ash has been spread by wind to most of Northern Europe. Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of rock which may cause serious problems for air planes, and for security reasons air space has been closed or is about to close in several countries, including Norway, United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark.

The original plan was that the King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway would attend the gala performance in the Royal Theatre on Thursday night, while Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit would join them on Friday for the main celebration. But Queen Sonja was not able to fly to Copenhagen and therefore had to drive by car to Oslo. The Crown Prince had intended to preside over the Council of State at the Royal Palace in Oslo on Friday morning before heading for Copenhagen, but he got stuck in London on his way home from Qatar.

King Harald V takes his constitutional duties seriously and has decided to stay behind to preside over the Council of State. According to the deputy information director Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen at the Norwegian Royal Court, the only representative of the Norwegian Royal House tonight will be Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who travelled by car early Thursday morning. She will attend all the arrangements on Thursday and Friday. Her husband will drive from London to Copenhagen and is expected to arrive in time for the gala dinner on Friday night.

Queen Sonja will drive by car to Denmark early on Friday, while the king will join her after the Council of State has taken place. If the weather conditions change to the better on Friday afternoon, the king and queen might take a plane instead, but as it looks now the airspace will be closed the whole Friday and probably also on Saturday. King Harald V's is going to President Lech Kaczynski's funeral on Sunday in Krakow, but that trip might also be cancelled.

14 April 2010

King Harald V to attend President Lech Kaczynski's funeral

The Norwegian Royal Court has confirmed that King Harald V will attend the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria on Sunday 18 April 2010 in Krakow.

President Kaczynski and his wife were together with other Polish top officials killed in a plane crash in Russia last Saturday, 10 April 2010.

According to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, KPRM, a special requiem mass to commemorate the presidential couple will be held at St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow. After the ceremony the funeral procession will proceed to Wawel and the presidential couple's bodies will be laid in the Wavel crypt.

King Harald's participation in Krakow means that he will not be able to attend the reopening of Oslo Domkirke (Oslo Cathedral) together with Queen Sonja and the Crown Prince couple as originally planned. The cathedral was closed in 2006 to undergo a most needed renovation.

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris, France (Part II)

The grave of the Gassion Piaf family, including the last resting place of the singer Édith Piaf (born Édith Gassion) (1915-1963). Her last marriage was to Theophanis Lamboukas, known as Théo Sarapo.

The tomb of Victor Noir (1848-1870), who was killed by Prince Pierre Bonaparte (1815-1881), a cousin of Emperor Napoleon III. The myth says that if you touch the statue at a certain area it will enhance fertility... Prince Pierre himself was interned in the Cimitière des Gonards in Versailles.

The Columbarium. I must say that I like this kind of mausoleum (for cremated remains). Very practical. I would like to see similar arrangements at cemeteries in Norway.

The grave of the author Marcel Proust (1871-1922), famous for "In Search of Lost Time".

The grave of General and Count François Gérard (1772-1832).

The grave of Constance, Countess of Slizien, née Countess of Wollowicz, d. 1841.

See also Part I of this photo article.

Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris, France, can be reached by metro to Père Laichaise (line 3) or Alexandre Dumas (line 2).

References

Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise (Official website)
Père Lachaise Cemetery (Wikipedia article)

Updated on Sunday 18 April 2010 at 12.35.

New rescue boat to be baptized

The baptism of a new rescue boat (Class of Petter C.G. Sundt) will take place on 30 April 2010, I have been told. The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (NSSR) has invited Erling Sven Lorentzen (husband of Princess Ragnhild Mrs. Lorentzen) as well as the war hero Gunnar Sønsteby to the ceremony. I don't know at present whether they have accepted the invitation or not, but I hope to get back to this later. I have been told, however, that Lorentzen is expected to be in Norway at the time the baptism takes place.

Updated on Wednesday 14 April 2010 at 19.45.

13 April 2010

Banquet at Christiansborg Palace

HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark celebrates her 70th birthday on Friday 16 April. Tonight a banquet was held at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen with representatives of the official Denmark.

From the guest list:

HM Queen Margrethe II
HRH Prince Henrik
HRH Crown Prince Frederik
HRH Crown Princess Mary
HRH Prince Joachim
HRH Princess Marie
HRH Princess Benedikte
HSH Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

In addition members of the Government with spouses, the chairman of Folketinget with wife, the President of the Supreme Court, the royal court and many others. You can read the full guest list (in Danish) here.

Other information about the celebrations:

HM The Queen's 70th birthday (official website)

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris, France (Part I)

Grave of composer Frédéric Chopin (Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen) (1810-1849).

Grave of Miodrag Milosavljevic (1917-2000), Commander of the Royal Guard and Chief of the Police Force at the Palace of the King Peter II of Yugoslavia (Serbia).

Grave of the US American rock musician Jim Morrison (1943-1971).

Grave of Elisabeth Demidoff, née Baroness Stroganoff (1779-1818).

Last resting place of the Princely Murat family. Joachim Murat, the brother-in-law of Emperor Napoleon I of France was created Prince of the Empire in 1805. He reigned as King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. His son Prince Achilles became the 2nd Prince of Pontecorvo. According to the Wikipedia entry there is a discussion whether the 1st Prince Murat is actually buried at the Père-Lachaise cemetery. It was not too easy to make satisfactory photos of the grave, though.