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Norway

Princess Astrid opens a new exhibition about royal history in the Art Stable

After being closed for a few weeks, it is now time for a completely new exhibition in the Queen Sonja Art Stable, in Oslo City Centre. On Thursday afternoon, the new exhibition was opened by King Harald’s sister, Princess Astrid. Queen Maud was very fond of dancing, and therefore, Princess Astrid opened the exhibition to the sound of Queen Maud’s old favourite, “Foxtrot.” The guests also got to see how to do the dance. Dancers Caroline Johnsen and Audun Kveberg showed the guests the foxtrot, and the music was played on Queen Maud’s gramophone from 1926.

Her Majesty Queen Sonja had planned to attend the opening of this new exhibition in Queen Sonja Art Stable in Oslo on Thursday of this week. However, on Tuesday, the Norwegian press reported that Queen Sonja, unfortunately, had to cancel a scheduled job, due to an infection. The Queen`s illness also forced her to cancel her participation in yesterday’s event in the Art Stable.

One of the gifts to King Haakon and Queen Maud in 1906. Photo: The Royal Court.

The exhibition is called “The dream of Norway. King Haakon and Queen Maud in the Royal Collections.” The new exhibition shows through photographs, art and other objects, the story of the Danish prince and the English princess who became Norway’s new king and queen in 1905. The new exhibition follows them all the way until the death of Queen Maud in 1938 and King Haakon leaving at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1940.

The royal collections contain hundreds of thousands of small and large individual objects. There are art treasures, artefacts and photography. The exhibition is a tale of the new Norwegian monarchy of 1905, viewed through a small proportion of the many objects that the royal collections contain. Among the items on display are some of the wonderful gifts the new royal couple received for the coronation in 1906.

Royal Central`s Senior Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen was invited to the opening and describes the new exhibition: “Lately, a lot of art has been exhibited here in the art stable. The fact that now royal history also gets its place here is great. In my opinion, it is precisely royal history that belongs here in these royal surroundings. That the exhibition about King Haakon and Queen Maud also can be exhibited in the same stable that the horse-loving Queen Maud often visited is very special. This is a great exhibition. I definitely recommend a visit here.

“Queen Sonja’s Art Stable” was opened in the summer of 2017 on Queen Sonja’s 80th birthday. This gallery is located in the old stable buildings in the Palace Park that have never been accessible to the public before. From now on, the building will be a new arena for art, culture and history in Oslo and is worth a visit by those in the city. It will contain various exhibitions.

The exhibition is now open to the public and ends at the end of January. It will be open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 11 am to 5 pm.

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.