Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will both turn 40 later this summer, so the Norwegian postal service (Posten) decided it was a good opportunity to feature them on some stamps. Then their family joined in as well.
Haakon turns 40 on July 20 and Mette-Marit on August 19. They each received a stamp of their own with a value of NOK 9.50 or A Innland (USD 1.58), good for a standard letter or postcard sent first-class within Norway. On the two other stamps in the series released earlier this month is a photo of the crown couple with their children and a photo of Crown Prince Haakon with his father, King Harald V, and daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra. It illustrates the monarch and his line of succession. “Posten Norge has a long tradition of issuing stamps in connection with royal anniversaries,” Dag Mejdell, chief executive of the postal service, said in a press release. “It’s nice to be able to launch this series in connection with the crown prince and crown princess turning 40.” The stamps were designed by stamp artist Enzo Finger based on photos of the crown couple by Sølve Sundsbø, of the family by NTB Scanpix photographer Erlend Aas and of the king and his heirs to the throne by Julia Marie Naglestad. The stamps were printed in the Netherlands with a press run of 2,595,000 each, according to the postal service. The royal family will be taking off on summer holidays soon, with nothing listed on the king and queen’s official program after June 29. With the royal couple moving to other properties used in the summer months, the Royal Palace opened to the public on Saturday. Paying visitors can go on guided tours of the palace’s main rooms through August 12. Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund Please support our news service. Readers in Norway can use our donor account. Our international readers can click on our “Donate” button:
