Norway’s King Harald V has often spent his birthday abroad, but he was celebrating his 88th at home at the Royal Palace on Friday. Palace staff surprised him by forming a heart-shaped array of candles on the palace grounds Friday evening.
News bureau NTB caught a glimpse of King Harald and Queen Sonja peering out of a palace window to the heart tribute below, before they welcomed family and friends to a private dinner. Last year they flew off to Malaysia on holiday, but things went wrong when the king fell ill with an unspecified infection, ended up being hospitalized and ultimately had to be flown home on a special ambulance flight.
It has otherwise been a very tough year for the royals, surrounded by scandals within the family, but the king and queen got some good news on Friday. New public opinion polls indicate support for the monarchy is rising again, also among young Norwegians. The poll conducted by research firm Norstat for state broadcaster NRK showed 69 percent of Norwegians still support the monarchy, albeit down from as much as 80 percent in earlier years.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
