Queen of Norway in Trinity College to view 'Book of Kells'

The Queen of Norway yesterday revealed a fondness for the smell of old books. With a smile and few loud sniffs, Queen Sonja came to the top of the stairs into the Long Room in Trinity College, Dublin, and approvingly said: "Mmmm, old books - lovely smell."

The queen, on the second day of a State visit with her husband, King Harald V, was visiting Trinity College in the morning, the first of five engagements of the day.

While her husband was opening a conference in Dublin on genomics and food quality, the queen had a private visit with the Trinity provost before being shown the Long Room and the Book of Kells.

Keeper of manuscripts Bernard Meehan explained where Kells was as the queen pored over the ninth-century vellum.

Dressed in a peppermint green, boxy tweed jacket and an olive green skirt, the queen was ushered out to a waiting car for a trip "round the corner" to the National Library.

There Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue greeted her for an opening of an exhibition of portraits of the Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. Staged to mark the centenary of Ibsen's death, the exhibition of paintings by the Norwegian artist Haakon Gullvaag provides what the library is describing as a "rich interpretation" of Gullvaag's impression of the artist.

The king and queen were reunited at the Mansion House for a civic reception hosted by Lord Mayor Vincent Jackson, followed by a visit to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The royal couple will be in Cork today visiting the National Maritime College, the Royal Yacht Club and Cork Public Museum.