Norway’s annual Christmas tree gift is in place in London’s Trafalgar Square, but it hasn’t lit up much holiday cheer yet. The tree that gets criticized year after year wasn’t spared complaints this year either.
The tree chopped down in the forest north of downtown Oslo was carefully loaded onto a trailer-truck as it began its journey to London. Some worry the transport itself can damage the tree. PHOTO: Bymiljøetaten/Oslo komunne
“I think they get thinner and thinner every year,” one passerby told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK)’s correspondent in London on Wednesday. When she realized she was speaking to the state broadcaster of Norway, she quickly moderated her opinion, worrying that she had “offended an entire nation.”
Norwegians, though, have grown accustomed to critical comments about the gift that the city of Oslo has sent to London every year after World War II ended in 1945. This year marked the 79th shipment that’s a gesture of Oslo’s gratitude for British help during the war. Norway’s king and crown prince also lived in exile in London throughout the war and the king’s late wife was a British princess.
Oslo officials revealed this week that the tree sent to London this year had been selected by the public. Voters could choose on social media between three candidates, and the tree chopped down after an environmental activist left his demonstrative perch in it was thought to be the best on offer.
A couple watching crews mount a star atop the tree also thought it was a bit skinny, though. “You can see right through it,” Marilyn Goatley told NRK. She thought it would look better if it was a bit more dense.
Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe, in London for Thursday’s tree-lighting ceremony, took the comments in stride. “It’s fantastic that the Christmas tree gift from Oslo also stirs up engagement this year, too,” she told NRK. “But it’s a bit the same with a 60-year-old tree as with us women. We need a bit more time before we’re all dressed up and ready. I hope those who think the tree is small and skinny will come back when it’s decorated and shines in all its glory.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
