Fit For A .....

The month of June has traditionally been known as the “Month for Brides”, however, this year, June news reports have been featuring people of royal backgrounds. Earlier this month, the Queen of England was honored, as the British celebrated her Diamond Jubilee marking 60 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign .

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The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June! The reason? Official celebrations to mark British Sovereigns' birthdays have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, especially when the actual birthday has not been in the summer. Summertime provides better weather for a parade! July will continue the trend of royal news as Norwegians celebrate a “commoner”, Sonja Haraldsen, who was born in Oslo on 4 July 1937. She grew up at Vinderen in Oslo, later studying dressmaking and tailoring at the Oslo Vocational School. She then earned her diploma from the Swiss Ecole Professionelle des Jeunes Filles, ( Professional School For Young Women), a college in Lausanne which offered social sciences, accounting and fashion design. Later, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oslo, where she studied French, English and art history. Every year, Sonja enjoys long hikes and ski trips in the Norwegian mountains. She is an avid outdoorsman and a very competent regatta sailor, plus being a certified skiing instructor. This is where she was noticed by a young Crown Prince Harald of Norway. The courtship between the Prince and a commoner caused a bit of concern. They dated for nine years, keeping it secret because of opposition to her non-royal status. A rumor states that the prince informed his father, King Olav, that, unless he received permission to marry this woman, he would remain single for the rest of his life, thus ending the hereditary lineage.The King approved their marriage. Sonja Haraldsen , who was born on the 4th of July , in 1937 married Crown Prince Harald in Oslo on 29 August 1968.

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When Prince Harald acceded to the throne on the death of his father, King Olav V, on 17 January 1991, Norway also gained a queen for the first time in 53 years. Queen Sonja became devoted to helping disabled Norwegian children. She is deeply concerned about the plight of refugees and immigrants and frequently visits institutions for the elderly, children and the mentally retarded. In the 1970s she took an active part in several large fund-raising drives for the benefit of refugees. To gain a first-hand impression of the refugee situation, she visited several sites, including a camp for Vietnamese boat refugees in Malaysia.

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The Queen also holds some titles usually thought of as those being held by men, She has the rank of colonel in the Army and the Air Force, and is a commodore in the Navy. In addition, Queen Sonja has completed the Army Signal Corps' staff course and the commanding officer course at the National Defence College.

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Her civic interests include being a patron of a number of institutions associated with classical and folk music. The Queen Sonja International Music Competition was first held in 1988. The aim of the competition was to create an international music arena in Norway that could raise the profile of young musicians and give Norwegian soloists an opportunity to compete at an international level ------------------ With all of these civil responsibilites, the King and Queen have raised two children, Princess Märtha Louise and Crown Prince Haakon. The Queen’s birthday celebration will be held July 4th .

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The Norwegian Birthday Song

Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!
Ja, deg vil vi gratulere!
Alle i ring omkring deg vi står,
og se, nå vil vi marsjere,........
og si meg så, hva vil du mere? Gratulere!

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Hurray for you for celebrating your birthday! Yes, we congratulate you! We all stand around you in a ring, And look, now we’ll march And tell me, what more could you want? Congratulations!
Happy 75th Birthday! Queen Sonja of Norway