Queen Sonja of Norway Makes First Trip Abroad Since King Harald's Death

Queen Sonja of Norway has travelled abroad for the first time since the death of her husband, King Harald V. The 89-year-old queen went to Málaga in southern Spain, according to Hello! Magazine.

King Harald died on 28 August, aged 89, after a stay in hospital for haemolytic anaemia, a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can make them. Hola reports that he had reigned for 35 years. His state funeral was held at Oslo Cathedral on 9 September.

The queen returned to public duties one month after the funeral. Her first visit was to the National Archives at Sognsvann in Oslo. Her official duties in Spain came a few weeks later.

On 29 October she attended the opening of the Munch-Picasso exhibition at the Picasso Museum. The show pairs work by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch with work by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. At the opening, she expressed condolences for a train accident near Toledo, in central Spain, which has killed at least 69 people.

Her programme also included a visit to the Norwegian School Málaga in Arroyo de la Miel, a town on the Costa del Sol. Town & Country reports that she also visited Benalmádena, a coastal town near Málaga.

For many Norwegians living in Spain, the school visit is a chance to meet families far from home. Norway's royal household has not, in the reports published so far, set out the purpose of the trip beyond its official engagements.

The queen's trip was her first official visit abroad since the King's death.