Royal Birthday of the Week: Queen Sonja Turns 80

Tiara Thursday's taking a break while we play catch up from the long weekend. We may as well start with a bit of tiara glam anyway, because we have a birthday on our hands:

SIGH. My favorite Sonja portrait ever, I think. Yes, Queen Sonja is our birthday girl this week; she turned 80 on July 4th, and while she and King Harald already celebrated their joint 80th birthdays with a tiara-filled party in Norway in May, they're not nearly done marking the occasion.

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Queen Sonja - looking fresh as a daisy in pale yellow and white - was joined for the unveiling of a new statue of herself by the rest of the royal family, including the crown princely family, Princess Astrid, and Princess Märtha Louise with her three daughters.

The statue was the Queen's gift from the Norwegian Trekking Association, and it appropriately depicts the outdoorsy queen in hiking mode. Crown Prince Haakon joked about his mother's love of hiking and the outdoors in his speech at the event: “In our family there is a story that repeats itself again and again. Let me use myself as an example. I arrive at a mountain cabin, let’s say one of the public DNT cabins, in the middle of nowhere, quite proud of myself for managing such a big trek, and I am greeted by cheerful hosts who say, ‘It’s so lovely to see you! Your mother was here a month ago.’”

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore a striped sleeveless coat over a white dress. So...a really long vest. I give a long hmmmmmmm, while also being delighted to see her in a bright and bold pattern with some color to it.

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I am 0% hmm and 100% ready to get out my award ribbons for Princess Astrid, though. A green coat and red accessories! All tied into her floral print. That's an A++ in colorful accent pieces, right there.

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There was also a black tie evening function, for which Queen Sonja showed up in flowing lavender with some fresh flowers in her hair. I consider this a grown up version of the Liesl Gazebo Dress, and you can consider me 100% on board.

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You will not be surprised to see that Mette-Marit has found another floral gown with a t-shirt top. This one's very fresh and pretty though, don't you think? You will also likely not be surprised that Märtha Louise has found something with so much going on that it will take me until the next birthday to fully digest. Maybe not even then.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit's sleeveless coat from Tome and evening dress (customized version from retail) by Sandra Mansour (h/t to Heaven for IDs)