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Norway

Eleven men cross mountains on skis to get Queen Sonja’s attention

Queen Sonja of Norway

In a very original attempt to invite Queen Sonja to western Norway, a group of men have decided to cross the southern Norwegian mountains on skis to catch the queen’s attention. Eleven men are now on their way on a 350 kilometre long ski-trip from Lofthus in Hardanger to the Royal Palace in Oslo.

When they get to Oslo, they hope to have an audience with the Queen so that they can invite her to visit Hardanger Music Festival, which has its 25th anniversary this autumn. Their goal may not be entirely unattainable. The Queen herself opened Hardanger Music Festival during the 10th anniversary in 2005. Therefore, she has been there 08before.

The expedition’s members are dressed in winter clothes from the 1930s that are decorated with their own embroidery, to try to capture the Queen’s attention as it is well known she is also fond of art. Norway’s flag is faithfully sewn to the left shoulder. The expedition began on March 5th and is expected to take 10 days. Arne-Kristian Glück-Teigland is the leader of the festival and is himself part of the special expedition. He says: “Of all those with blue blood, she is the coolest. Sorry to the rest of the gang, but she is the best of them”.

Hardanger Music Festival should actually have been in the spring of 2021, but due to the pandemic, it has been postponed until November. When it does go ahead, it will mark the 25th time the festival has taken place and if the Queen comes it is the second time she herself participates in the festival. The festival has in recent decades been an important arena for classical music in Western Norway and has organised concerts in many historically important places.

The royal court has so far not issued an official statement on whether the Queen will meet the expedition participants after their original idea to get the Queen`s attention. The expedition was first mentioned by Norway’s state TV channel NRK’s daily news broadcast. Queen Sonja herself has said she always watches this news broadcast, so it will be exciting to follow next week if the Queen grants them an audience.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.