Happy Constitution Day!

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess and their family start the day at Skaugum Estate, where they greet the Asker municipality children’s parade.  

Linderud school will be leading the bicentenary parade, which is expected to be the largest ever. Next in line are Kastellet school and Akkarfjord school, followed by 114 other schools.

Schools celebrating major anniversaries are given the honour of heading the Norwegian Constitution Day parade on May 17th. Linderud school is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The eight pupils from Akkarfjord school in Hammerfest in North Norway have been specially invited to participate in the parade. It is the first time children from a school outside the Oslo district have marched in the Oslo parade.

Tradition

It was King Haakon and Queen Maud who introduced the custom of greeting the children’s parade from the Palace Balcony in 1906. The custom has been upheld ever since. The only exceptions were in 1910, when the Royal Family was in England for the funeral of Queen Maud’s father, King Edward VII, and during World War II from 1940 to 1944.

Celebration of the Constitution at Eidsvoll

In the evening the bicentenary of the Norwegian Constitution will be celebrated with festivities at Eidsvoll, where it all began. Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja will be in attendance. They will be joined by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe and His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark and Their Majesties King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.