Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus lit a flame of peace in a ceremony with children in Oslo before he was awarded his prize in an elaborate ceremony in Oslo's city hall on Sunday.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus had an eventful day, heading straight from a ceremony with children to the Royal Palace.
Once there, Nobel Peace Prize winners Muhammad Yunus and Mosammat Taslima Begum (center) posed with members of the Norwegian royal family. At left, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon. At right, King Harald and Queen Sonja.
Then it was on to the soaring atrium of the Oslo City Hall, where around 1,000 invited guests were waiting for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to begin.
King Harald, left, walked in with Ole Danbolt Mjøs, leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The royals making their entrance.
Once Norway's royal family was in place, the ceremony could begin. From left: King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon.
Proud Peace Prize winners Muhammad Yunus (left) and Mosammat Taslima Begum with members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Berge Furre and Sissel Rønbeck.
The leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Ole Danbolt Mjøs, left, awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 to Muhammad Yunus.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (right)and Mosammat Taslima Begum, who represented co-winner Grameen Bank.
A proud Peace Prize winner stood quietly for several minutes to accept a standing ovation inside Oslo's City Hall.
Norway's royal family members were among those applauding the Peace Prize winners.
Nrityanchal, a Bangladeshi dance group, performed two colourful dances during the Peace Prize ceremony honouring their country's professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus delivering the Nobel Lecture, in which he expressed "deep gratitude" for the Norwegian Nobel Committee's recognition that fighting poverty can promote peace.
The audience included several celebrities, including American actress Sharon Stone, who will co-host the annual Nobel Concert on Monday evening.
Actress Sharon Stone was moved to tears during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
She also smiled for photographers.
Sharon Stone followed Nobel events closely. Sitting just behind her was Svein Aaser, retiring chairman of Norway's biggest bank, DnB NOR.
Sharon Stone listening to a simultaneous translation during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
Another American actress, Anjelica Huston, was in the audience as well and will co-host Monday's Nobel Concert with Sharon Stone.
Norway's King Harald V congratulated the Peace Prize winners at the end of the ceremony.
So did Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
Queen Sophia of Spain was also in the audience at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, an invited guest of prize winner Muhammad Yunus and seated next to Yunus' daughter Monica.
Queen Sophia of Spain and prize winner Muhammad Yunus's family joined in the standing ovation for the prize winners.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus' daughter Monica greets Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann after the ceremony.
Actresses Liv Ullmann (left) and Sharon Stone posed outside the Oslo City Hall following the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.A helicopter whirred overhead and police were stationed at all entrances to Oslo's City Hall for hours before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony got underway at 1pm. Commando vans and police cars were parked all over downtown, and plain-clothes security guards were also out in force.
December 10th is always a big day in Oslo, because that's the day set aside every year for the actual awarding of the Peace Prize under the terms of Alfred Nobel's will. This year was no exception.
Flags flew all around the City Hall and ceremonial torches around the perimeter were lit. Inside, at least 12,000 flowers, many of them red anthuriums, added color to the mural-adorned walls of the building's main hall, which is often used for special occasions.
The annual Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is the most special of them all. This year it attracted royalty in addition to Norway's own: Spain's Queen Sophia was in the first row, seated next to one of prize winner Muhammad Yunus' daughters. The queen of Spain was among those invited by Yunus himself, because of her interest in his work.
Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja were, in line with royal protocol, the last to be seated at precisely 12:59pm, followed by Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, to the strains of the royal fanfare. The four arrived just after the Norwegian Nobel Committee members and the prize winners Yunus and Mosammat Taslima Begum, who represented Grameen Bank.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was also there with his wife, diplomat Ingrid Schulerud, and members of his government. Seated just behind them was Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Norwegian Prime Minister who went on to lead the UN's World Health Organization.
Seated several rows behind Yunus' daughters and brothers was Hollywood film star Sharon Stone, who will co-host this year's Nobel Concert on Monday evening along with Anjelica Huston. Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann was also in the audience, and she posed with Sharon Stone outside City Hall when the ceremony ended.
And seated right behind Stone was Svein Aaser, the soon-to-retire chairman of Norway's biggest bank, DnB NOR. He was seen listening intently to Yunus' Nobel Lecture, in which Yunus criticized commercial banks' reluctance to lend to the poor, believing them to be not credit-worthy.
Yunus' Grameen Bank has proven them wrong, citing a high repayment rate even among the 85,000 beggars who were lent the equivalent of USD 12, interest free. Aaser joined everyone else in the huge room in giving Yunus a standing ovation.
