With the royals celebrating the 70th birthdays of King Harald and Queen Sonja at the Jumba Bay Resort in the Caribbean, security officials are testing their readiness for armed attack on the royal family, with rehearsals at Skaugum in Asker, home to Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and at the home of Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn in Lommedalen.
"We have had an exercise for three days, in cooperation with the Guards and Asker and Bærum police district. We have practiced our readiness plans," said chief of the royal police escort, police captain Derek Strøm-Normann.
He did not wish to discuss what type of situations bodyguards, soldiers and police are rehearsing to tackle. The plans likely include everything from a major terrorist attack to a mentally disturbed individual invading the fenced properties.
Soldiers doing their compulsory military service in the Guards have the responsibility for external security at the palace in Oslo and the Skaugum residence, but not in Lommedalen.
Here police patrols from Asker and Bærum and Oslo police districts respectively are called in the event of a serious incident.
Birthday celebrations
King Harald turns 70 on Feb. 21 and Queen Sonja on July 4. With this in mind the King has taken the Crown prince and his family, and Princess Märtha Louise and her family, to spend a two-week holiday together. One unusual aspect of this break is that neither the king nor the crown prince will be able to attend the weekly Council of State, where the government meets at the palace.
It has been more than seven years since neither the king, nor Crown Prince Haakon as his representative, have been able to attend a Council of State. The king will give his formal signature to matters upon his return.
The King returns in time for the first Friday Council in February, while Crown Prince Haakon will go from his holiday directly to Davos, Switzerland to take part in the World Economic Forum.
