Queen of Norway
When His Majesty King Harald ascended to the Throne upon the death of King Olav in 1991, Her Majesty Queen Sonja became Norway's first queen in 53 years. By that time, she had served as Norway’s First Lady since the wedding in 1968.
On 17 January 1991, King Olav V passed away at the Royal Lodge Kongsseteren in Oslo, and Crown Prince Harald became the new King of Norway. Queen Sonja accompanied King Harald when he swore his oath to uphold the Constitution in the Storting on 21 January 1991. This marked the first time in 69 years that a Norwegian Queen had been present in the Storting. Subsequently, the Queen has accompanied the King to the formal opening of the fall session of the Storting and the reading of the Speech from the Throne.
In accordance with their own wishes, King Harald and Queen Sonja were consecrated in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 23 June 1991. In connection with the consecration ceremony, the King and Queen conducted a 10-day tour of Southern Norway. The following year, the entire Royal Family conducted a 22-day tour of Norway’s four northernmost counties.
Official duties as Queen
The Queen accompanies the King on official state visits abroad, and she participates when foreign heads of state pay official visits to Norway. Every year the King and Queen pay a visit to a county in Norway, during which they pay visits to several municipalities. They often use the Royal Yacht Norge to travel along the Norwegian coast.
The Queen carries out a multitude of different tasks including participation at events in Norway and abroad, audiences, receptions and meetings at the Royal Palace.
In addition to her many official duties the Queen also takes active part in following up internal activities relating to the Palace and the other Royal Residences.
She takes active part in the planning of the Palace's cultural outreach activities, open for the public at the Royal Palace, Oscarshall Summer Palace, ant the Queen Sonja Art Stable. The Art Stable was opened on the Queen’s 80th birthday, eight months after King Harald surprised her with a birthday gift of the Royal Stables.
Visits to counties in Norway
Social engagement
Queen Sonja has a strong sense of social engagement. She has been patron of and has played an active role in a variety of large-scale fundraising initiatives. Queen Sonja was a member of the committee for the first nationwide humanitarian telethon campaign in 1974, which raised funds for refugees, and served as patron in 2024 – celebrating 50 years of telethon. Queen Sonja served as Vice President of the Norwegian Red Cross from 1987 to 1990. Her Majesty was awarded the Nansen Medal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for her efforts.
The Queen seeks to follow up her interest in social issues to the greatest extent possible, attending conferences and key events for organisations dealing with relevant issues. Every year before Christmas Queen Sonja pays visits to institutions for various social groups such as children, vulnerable women, elderly people, the homeless and substance abusers. The Queen is also concerned with conditions for immigrant women in Norway. She has met with representatives of women with minority backgrounds on many occasions, in connection with conferences, seminars and receptions at the Palace as well as through visits to private homes. Queen Sonja is patron of the MIRA Centre for for immigrant and refugee women.
The Queen has a strong commitment to schooling and education. In 2005, she took the initiative to establish Queen Sonja’s School Award. The award is presented every other year to a Norwegian school that has demonstrated excellence in its efforts to promote inclusion and equality.
Until 2023, Queen Sonja presented the award herself. In 2023, Crown Prince Haakon took over this role.
Social engagement
Cultural interests
Queen Sonja has many interests that she combines with her duties as Norway’s First Lady. The Queen is particularly interested in art and culture, and attend art exhibitions and cultural events both in Norway and abroad as her programme will allow. She is also concerned with monuments of the past, and is patron of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments.
In 2011, the Queen established Her Majesty Queen Sonja’s Art Award in cooperation with artists Kjell Nupen, Ørnulf Opdahl and Ole Larsen. The award was initially presented to Nordic artists working in a paper-based format. In 2014, the prize became an international distinction and was renamed the Queen Sonja Print Award.
The Foundation behind the Queen Sonja Print Award seeks to generate interest in and promote the development of graphic art. The prize is currently believed to be the world’s largest graphic art award.
In recent years the Queen herself has become a graphic artist and ceramicist, and her works have been on display in a number of exhibitions in Norway and abroad.
Another of the Queen’s major interests is music. She is patron of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, the Norwegian Traditional Music and Dance Association, the Norwegian Youth Orchestra Association and Elverum Music Festival. She is also actively involved in the Queen Sonja Singing Competition. This competiton is held every other year and attracts outstanding young singers within opera and classical music from all over the world. Her Majesty follows the competition and presents the prizes to the winners.
