Sunday 21 August 2011

National memorial held in Oslo

Today a national memorial ceremony was held in Oslo in honour of the 77 victims of the terrorist attacks on the government buildings and the Labour youth camp at Utøya a month ago. The ceremony in Oslo Spektrum consisted mostly of music and recitals, in addition to which the names of all the victims were read out. The King, his voice breaking, and the Prime Minister both gave excellent speeches which will surely rank among the things each of them will be remembered for.
Among those present were survivors of the attacks, the families of those killed and many of those who came to the rescue. There was also a strong presence of royals and political leaders from the Nordic region. The King and Queen, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn, Princess Astrid and Johan Martin Ferner, and Marius Borg Høiby were joined by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Prince Frederik, the Presidents of Finland and Iceland and the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Ahead of the ceremony the foreign guests all laid flowers on the steps of the Cathedral.

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