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The queen comes home to Lillehammer

Lillehammer. Opening of Queen Sonja's childhood home on Maihaugen.Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB scanpix

Queen Sonja participated in the official and formal ceremonies when her childhood home from Vinderen in Oslo was opened on Monday at Maihaugen in Lillehammer.

 

The villa has moved to the famous collection and will be open to the public on Wednesday. Monday’s ceremony was for invited guests, the media and the royal couple. In addition, King Harald, the Crown Prince and Princess Märtha Louise were present.

“It’s great that the house is being taken care of,” said Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen, communications director at the King’s House to NTB news before the opening.

The house has been restored and returned to what it was when Sonja Haraldsen lived there until she finally got married to her Harald and became Norway’s Crown Princess on August 29, 1968. The house was one of the few places the young couple could meet while waiting for King Olav to approve the marriage plans.

Currently only the first floor is restored, while the second floor will be next year. The queen and the family have helped in the process of recreating the home as it was, but the view of Mjøsa is quite different from that which the queen experienced.

When the public drops into the house on Wednesday, it will be on the royal couple’s wedding anniversary. In the evening, the queen will talk about the house in a program on NRK1 TV channel. On the same channel, the program “Norway Now” will also feature the queen’s childhood home.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today