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The Nobel Peace Prize for 2016

Their Majesties The King and Queen and Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were in attendance when the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 was awarded to His Excellency President Juan Manuel Santos in a formal ceremony at Oslo City Hall today.

10.12.2016

In October the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that it was awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos. In its statement, the committee said that President Santos is receiving the award “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220 000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process. This tribute is paid, not least, to the representatives of the countless victims of the civil war.”

The ceremony

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time in 1901 and presented in the Storting (Norwegian parliament). Today a formal ceremony is held in Oslo City Hall each year on 10 December – the date of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1895.

The ceremony started with the music of Edvard Grieg, after which Berit Reiss-Andersen, Deputy Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, took the podium to reiterate the committee’s decision. The Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma were then presented to President Santos. Each year the diploma features a work of art by a Norwegian contemporary artist. Following a musical interlude, President Santos gave his Nobel lecture.

Mezzosoprano Désirée Baraula and baritone Yngve André Søberg performed during the ceremony, both with the accompaniment of Markus Kvits on the piano.

Audience with King Harald

In the morning, King Harald received the Peace Prize Laureate in an audience at the Royal Palace. Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were also in attendance during the audience, which included the traditional official photographs taken in the Bird Room.

Save the Children’s Peace Prize Party

In the morning, The Crown Prince and Crown Princess also took part in Save the Children’s Peace Prize Party at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. The children themselves play an important role in the planning and implementation of the event.

This evening, King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will be attending the traditional Nobel Peace Prize banquet in honour of the laureate at the Grand Hotel in Oslo. Tomorrow evening, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess will be attending the Nobel Peace Prize Concert at Telenor Arena.

 

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