Prince Sverre Magnus was indeed wearing a flowing new bunad during the official celebration of his official day today. The King and Queen had invited them to lunch at the Palace to celebrate their grandson Prince Sverre Magnus’s 18th birthday, which is on Sunday. Dressed in a black and white bunad from Eastern Telemark, the prince himself welcomed the guests at the Castle. Prince Sverre Magnus has got a new outfit for his 18th birthday. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Bunaden he helped to design himself, in close collaboration with his grandmother. – And as you know, it also contains a little secret, said Queen Sonja in her welcome speech and address to the prince. The other grandchildren of the royal couple have also received bunad. Then the queen has embroidered the bag that belongs to the bunad. – But bags don’t belong in men’s clothing… So what do I do? You came to my rescue and suggested: Can you embroider something I can wear on the inside of the jacket? As said, so done. Now you have an embroidered pocket on the inside which I think goes with a bit of everything, said the Queen to laughter. The prince nodded and smiled contentedly, and held up his jacket and showed off the embroidered inner pocket – for the occasion with a mobile phone in it. – I hope the bunad, and especially the embroidered inner pocket, will always be a small memory of grandmother’s efforts, said the queen smiling. The prince showed off the inner pocket, which his grandmother Queen Sonja has embroidered. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Plunges from the Royal Ship and jumps from the second floor Queen Sonja also highlighted several of the prince’s interests and qualities in her speech. Queen Sonja spoke to “dear Magnus”. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – You have a good and solid life foundation, dear Magnus. Everything is in place so that you can make good choices for your own future. You are technically gifted and have opened your eyes to photography, which makes me very happy, said the queen, who is herself a keen photographer. – And not least, you are interested in hunting, to grandfather’s great delight. Grandfather King Harald is himself an experienced hunter. It is tradition that a moose that has been shot by the king’s hunting team is severed during the parliamentary dinner held at the Palace every autumn. Queen Sonja also described a fearless prince. – We all hold our breath when you fearlessly plunge from the Royal Ship, or when you jump onto the trampoline from the second floor at home in Skaugum, she said to laughter from the guests. – A nice guy with a really good sense of humor There were around 70 guests at the table during the celebration of Prince Sverre Magnus’ 18th birthday. – It is a wonderful young man we are celebrating today, said uncle and godfather Espen Høiby on the way into the Castle. – He is a very warm and nice guy with a really good sense of humour, says Høiby. Prince Sverre Magnus turns 18 on Sunday, but the big day was officially celebrated today. Because as number three in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, after elder sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra and father Crown Prince Haakon, there will be a certain official framework also around the prince’s official day. As a gift from the Storting, the prince receives a painting by the artist Cassius Fadlabi, which the president of the Storting is showing here. Photo: Peter Mydske / Stortinget / NTB While Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra was celebrated with both a government dinner and a gala dinner at the Palace when she came of age, it is a somewhat scaled-down celebration of the prince’s 18th birthday by comparison. In addition to the family, representatives of official Norway, youth organizations and sponsors were among the guests today. – It is a milestone for Norway when the prince turns 18, Storting President Masud Gharahkhani told news on the way into the Palace. People in Karl Johans gate come with good wishes and good advice in connection with Prince Sverre Magnus’s 18th birthday – Magnus must find his own way Prince Sverre Magnus is now in his final year of information technology and media production at Elvebakken upper secondary school in Oslo. What he will do after high school is not yet known. – I imagine that he has to find his own way, said Crown Prince Haakon when he appeared for a 50-year interview this summer and was asked what role Prince Sverre Magnus will have when he grows up. – It is Ingrid who will take over the role. – Magnus will probably be involved in something, but I probably don’t think he will have an official role as a full-time position. That’s not the plan. So he has to find something he wants to do in life, said the crown prince. photo: The royal court, NTB, news / Graphics: Lene Sæter photo: The royal court, NTB, news / Graphics: Lene Sæter Prince in joy and sorrow Youth has been sheltered. The Crown Prince couple have said several times that they are concerned that the children should have as normal an upbringing as possible. The day after the prince was born on 3 December 2005, the Royal House published the first pictures of the little boy. Photo: HRH The Crown Prince Equally, as number three in the line of succession, Prince Sverre Magnus has had to endure extra attention. Like on the first day of school, when a combined press corps was waiting in the school yard when he came walking with his parents and grandmother Queen Sonja to Jansløkka school in Asker. Followed by his parents and grandmother Queen Sonja, an excited Prince Sverre Magnus turned up for the first day of school at Jansløkka school in Asker. Photo: Morten Holm / NTB He was eight years old when he cut his first cord, when he opened an exhibition about fathers at the Children’s Art Museum in Oslo. Prince Sverre Magnus has greeted the people from the Castle Balcony on 17 May as part of the country’s first family. But being royal also means being there when the nation is in crisis and grief. The little prince was five and a half years old when the terror struck Norway. Together with his family, he lit candles in Oslo Cathedral. Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB The day after the 22 July terror attack in 2011, the little prince lit a candle in Oslo Cathedral together with the rest of the crown prince’s family and Queen Sonja. Eleven years later, in June last year, he laid flowers together with the crown prince couple outside the London Pub after the shooting attack ahead of the Pride parade in Oslo. – Gives the world’s best hugs But most weekdays have been out of the public eye. Where he has only been Magnus. “Cute, fun and gives the world’s best hugs.” This is how the crown prince described his son in his new biography “Haakon”. Someone who was a little more careful than older siblings Marius and Ingrid, but who has become tougher over the years and has had to brag as the smallest in the sibling pack. One who revels in the water. Who plays in the waves and has taken the diving license for young people. Photo: Fjordlapse Photography, The Royal Court Photo: Fjordlapse Photography, The Royal Court Photo: Fjordlapse Photography, The Royal Court Photo: Fjordlapse Photography, The Royal Court Someone who goes on a motorhome holiday with dad. Who thrives on skiing and on the trampoline. And who is concerned with IT and data. “A number of years ago we built a computer together. (…) Magnus and I went around and bought all the PC parts he needed, and on YouTube we saw how to put them together. Amazingly, it worked. He built the next machine himself. He has gained expertise in games and IT, which he will probably get a lot of use for. Magnus has always had that little brother thing, but he has developed enormously in recent years,” said the crown prince in “Haakon”.
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Grandmother Queen Sonja revealed the secret in a personal speech to Prince Sverre Magnus
