While all attention has been focused of late on the visit to the Canaries later this week by Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, another royal visit went largely unnoticed.
It has been revealed that Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja paid a secret trip to Tenerife some weeks ago for a private holiday and used their time on the island to visit the Pirámides De Güímar ethnographic park, for a very good reason.
The royal couple were keen to learn about the work carried out by Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer renowned for his daring voyages in replicas of ancient boats, particularly his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, where he sailed across the Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft to demonstrate that it was possible for ancient South Americans to reach Polynesia.
What fewer people beyond Tenerife know is that Heyerdahl also spent significant time researching and advocating for the preservation of the island’s Pyramids of Güímar, a series of six stepped pyramids, each about four metres high and whose origins are not totally clear. From 1990 onwards he centred his attention on studying the abandoned pyramids and his research demonstrated the deliberate astronomical orientation of the complex.
The Norwegian royals spent over two hours visiting the site, accompanied by the park’s director Alicia Barroso and a very special person, Heyerdahl’s widow Jacqueline, with whom they have a longstanding friendship but had not seen each other for some time.
In a touching gesture after signing the guest book and receiving gifts to commemorate their visit, the King and Queen placed a wreath at the bust of Thor Heyerdahl that stands in the park.
Commenting on the trip, the park’s director said that the royals had been hugely impressed by the work undertaken by their compatriot in Tenerife and expressed their appreciation to the Pirámides de Güímar for its tireless work to preserve his legacy.
They were also impressed to hear that the park has been nominated on two occasions for the prestigious European Museum of the Year award and has become one of Tenerife’s must-sees for visitors keen to learn about the island’s past.
An accomplished sailor, the King was recently the subject of a 2025 Amazon Prime Video period drama The Commoner, which tells the story of the 9-year fight of the then Crown Prince Harald and Sonja Haraldsen for their right to marry.
