Royal birthday gifts for King Harald and Queen Sonja

"It is difficult to give something away to somebody that has so many beautiful things from before," said Stoltenberg when he opened the first of six exhibitions - "The Royal Journeys" - at the Museum of Industry and Design in Oslo on Wednesday.

The six exhibitions are a birthday surprise to the King and Queen for their 75th birthday. They feature a total of 46,000 artifacts and 200,000 different photographs from and of the Norwegian Royal Family, including the carriage that was used at the crowning of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud in 1905.

"It’s been like a treasure hunt," curator Nina Høye tells NRK. She describes how they’ve had to ask the Royal Palace to borrow items without telling them what they were to be used for. The Prime Minister was also impressed with the idea. "We give you something you already have, at the same time as it is one of the nicest things there are," he said.

In addition to the King and Queen, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Martha Louise and the King’s sister, Princess Astrid, also attended the opening.

(NRK)

Julie Ryland