Celebration of The Queen

From Skagenkaien, the Royal Family walked to the city square, where a gift of flowers from Stavanger municipality awaited Her Majesty: The square was decorated with a 100 m2 floral copy of Andy Warhol’s famous painting of Queen Sonja.

Mayor Sevland gave a speech in honour of HM The Queen. President of the Storting (Norwegian parliament), Mr Thorbjørn Jagland and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg also offered their good wishes.

At the Stavanger Cathedral, the Royal party was greeted by Bishop Ernst Baasland and Dean Berit M. Andersen before the service at 10:45. During the service, The Queen was presented with a song composed for her in honour of the occasion. The song, entitled «Livet er en fødselsgave» (“Life is a birthday present”) with lyrics by Eivind Skeie and melody by Harald Gullichsen, was a gift from the Church of Norway to Her Majesty.

Children’s party in Rektorhagen

After the service in the Cathedral, the Royal Family walked to the park pavilion and on to Rektorhagen at Kongsgård. Here, 300 children from local kindergartens had been invited to a birthday party. The children greeted Queen Sonja with song, balloons and paper crowns. Many children had made their own gifts for The Queen.

"For The Queen"

At noon, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg presented the Government’s gift to The Queen: An exhibition of children’s art – a tribute to Her Majesty’s devotion to and support for art and culture. The pictures are the work of children from art schools all over the country.

The exhibition “For The Queen” will be on display at Sølvberget cultural centre this summer. A special website shows all the paintings and drawings – including the surplus that could not be included in the exhibition.

Celebration dinner

At 14:00, Stavanger municipality hosted a luncheon for the Royal Family and guests in the old customs house Hall Toll. In the evening a celebration dinner in honour of Her Majesty was held at the Flor og Fjære restaurant.