King and Queen of Norway attract large crowds to Esplanade Park

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On Wednesday morning, when King Harald V of Norway, Queen Sonja, President Tarja Halonen, and her spouse Pentti Arajärvi turned up in Helsinki’s Esplanade Park among ordinary citizens, the mass of people in the Esplanade burst into spontaneous applause.
      Because of strict security measures, ordinary people did not get a chance to talk with the royals nor with the presidential couple.
     
"Strange that she did not have a crown"”, commented Janella Lehtinen somewhat disappointedly. She had come to see the royal guests with her mother.
      However, six-year-old Jesper Pajunen was very happy, for President Halonen said "Hi" to him, after having seen his little hand waving among the crowd.
      The royal guests and their hosts walked among the crowd for more than 30 minutes. First they greeted Norwegian children resident in Finland, and listened to the Sinikka Langeland Ensemble, consisting of a Norwegian musician playing the Finnish traditional string instrument ”kantele” and some top Finnish musicians.
     
Afterwards the royal couple walked to the royal yacht, where a private lunch was served a little later. In addition to President Halonen, among the guests were also the former Finnish presidents Martti Ahtisaari and Mauno Koivisto.
      Before the walkabout tour, King Harald attended an ICT and design seminar at Restaurant Kalastajatorppa, while Queen Sonja visited the Sibelius Academy.
      In the afternoon, the royal couple took part in a seminar on the role of women in international conflict areas. The seminar was held in Hanasaari, in Espoo.
      In the evening, the Norwegian king and queen said goodbye to the present capital and sailed on their yacht to Turku, the former capital of Finland. The three-day state visit will end on Thursday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Norwegian Royal Couple on three-day visit to Finland (6.6.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat