Queen Sonja will make a poignant visit to Oslo’s National Archives on Monday, her first engagement since the death of her husband, King Harald V.
A little over a month ago, people were flocking to Oslo’s Royal Palace as the news of his grave condition sank in. Many were in tears, leaving flowers and messages of support, hoping the ill King would get well soon. The next day, the Palace announced King Harald’s death, plunging the nation into mourning. Many more tributes and flowers arrived at Palace Square in the days that followed.
Palace gardeners carefully collected thousands of messages throughout the mourning period. They were then transported to the National Archives at Sognsvann, where they will be thoroughly reviewed. Staff are placing a number of messages and tributes in archive boxes and storing them in the National Archives’ secure storage in the mountain. Many were also photographed and will be preserved digitally.
On Friday, the National Archives announced that Queen Sonja will visit and view many of the greetings, drawings, letters, and other expressions of grief and remembrance collected from the Palace Square. Queen Sonja was spotted walking through Palace Park on the morning of King Harald’s funeral, photographing the many tributes left on her own statue in memory of her husband.
The visit on Monday will also be the Queen’s first engagement since King Harald’s death and the end of court mourning on Friday.
The National Archives secures and preserves the state’s and important public archives, making their contents available for research and public use. The agency is under the Ministry of Culture and Equality. Minister of State Lubna Jaffery will also participate in the visit on Monday.
The expressions will become part of the nation’s memory here with us, now & into the future. They will tell their stories to researchers, communicators & future generations about the people’s relationship with the [late] King. It is an honour that Queen Sonja wants to visit us & learn more about this work. —National Archivist Inga Bolstad
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