Speech in connection with the Government’s gift to Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja for their 75th birthdays in 2012

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Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the kick-off of a birthday celebration that will go on for two whole years.
This is only fitting when two of the most respected figures in modern-day Norway turn 75.

King Harald on 21 February and Queen Sonja on 4 July.

It is never easy to find a birthday gift. Especially for two people who already have so many beautiful things.
What is more, these are two people to whom we would like to give the finest of gifts.
But we decided to turn the challenge into an opportunity.
We are giving you something you already have.
And it is without a doubt among the finest of gifts.

Six exhibitions of valuable objects from the Royal Collection.
It will be a journey in space and time.

Royal gowns, exquisite silver, unique photographs and much, much more.
Gifts that have been given to the Royal Family on trips in Norway and abroad over a period spanning more than a century.
Each of these treasures in itself is worthy of individual attention.
Now they can be experienced together, in six exhibitions entitled The Royal Journey.
The exhibitions bear witness to the unique position enjoyed by the Royal Family in Norway.
And they show that this has been the case ever since King Haakon VII and Queen Maud first stepped onto Norwegian soil in 1905.
The exhibitions are about Norway’s history.
In times of crisis and war, during state visits and anniversary celebrations, the Royal Family has been a stable and enduring presence at the centre of events.
The exhibitions bear witness to this.

The whole country is invited to take part in the celebrations and the royal journey.
Today we are opening the main exhibition here in Oslo.
It will be followed by an exhibition in Bergen in May, and exhibitions in Trondheim and Tromsø next year.
There will also be two touring exhibitions that will be shown all over Norway until 2014.

In addition to the exhibitions, there will be a special church service in Oslo Cathedral on 31 May and a party for the general public on the roof of the Opera House the same day.

Dear King Harald,
Dear Queen Sonja,
The Royal Journey is a gift of gratitude.
We are grateful for the way you hold us together as a people.
We are proud of the dignified way in which you represent Norway abroad. 
We are impressed by how well you know every fjord, every mountain and every town and village in your country.
And we are still moved by the warmth shown by the Royal Family as they shared the nation’s grief after the events of 22 July. 

There is another quality I would also like to mention.
You have also set an example as parents.
The King and the Queen have shown in action, not just in words, that it is the children’s best interests that must come first.
Even in cases where the right choice was not clear-cut and there were many voices of caution, you have followed your hearts and made courageous decisions – just as you yourselves did when you followed your hearts nearly 50 years ago.
The King’s decision to agree to Crown Prince Haakon’s wish to marry Mette Marit in 2001 turned a leaf in Norway’s history, and opened a door to the future.  
Your Majesties’ wise decision showed the way for us all.
We would like to thank you for this.

We would also like to thank you for making the The Royal Journey exhibitions possible.
Several generations of the Royal Family have laid the groundwork for the exhibitions, by preserving not only very valuable gifts but also more everyday objects.
King Harald and Queen Sonja have looked over the collections, facilitated the exhibitions, and have been happy to make their private possessions available.
In this sense, the exhibitions are just as much a present from the King and Queen to the people of Norway as the other way round.

At the start of the Coronation Tour in June 1991, the King said,
“We are embarking on the journey ahead for the benefit of Norway and the Norwegian people – a journey that will not end next week, but will last for the rest of our lives.”

We thank you for all the journeys that you have made.
And we wish you all the best for those that are still to come.

We would like to congratulate Your Majesties on your birthdays.

As a token gift, I would like to present Your Majesties with this special edition of the book on the The Royal Journey exhibitions.