 A famous king penguin has received a guard of honour and even gets gifts of fish and greetings cards at Christmas. The penguin, known as Sir Nils Olav III, lives at Penguins Rock in Edinburgh Zoo and is the official mascot of King's Guard of Norway. His name dates back to 1972, when a king penguin at the popular zoo was adopted and named after Major Nils Egelien, who organised it, and King Olav of Norway, who was on the throne at the time. It then became a tradition that the king's guard band and drill team of Norway would visit the penguin when they performed at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. And this month, Sir Nils Olav was promoted to the rank of major general for 'setting a superb example for the rest of the penguins'. Sir Nils Olav has actually worked his way up from mascot, becoming a corporal in 1982; sergeant in 1987; regimental sergeant major in 1993; honourable regimental sergeant major in 2001, and colonel-in-chief in 2005. He received a knighthood in 2008, and became a brigadier in 2016, and inspected visiting soldiers. The beloved penguin now has the title of Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands and official mascot of His Majesty the King's Guard of Norway – which was celebrated with a special military show. Sir Nils Olav is no ordinary penguin (Picture: PA) Let's hope everybody's uniforms were up to standard (Picture: PA) He's now a major general (Picture: PA) Norwegian soldiers send fish and Christmas cards to the penguin each year, and they always visit when they are in Edinburgh. More than 160 uniformed guards attended a special ceremony to award Sir Nils the penguin his new title at Penguins Rock. Staff Sergeant Fredrik Gresseth, from the king's guard band and drill team of Norway, said: 'Sir Nils Olav is the mascot of his majesty the king's guard and was adopted during one of the band and drill team's participation at the Royal Edinburgh Milit){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A famous king penguin has received a guard of honour and even gets gifts of fish and greetings cards at Christmas.
The penguin, known as Sir Nils Olav III, lives at Penguins Rock in Edinburgh Zoo and is the official mascot of King’s Guard of Norway.
His name dates back to 1972, when a king penguin at the popular zoo was adopted and named after Major Nils Egelien, who organised it, and King Olav of Norway, who was on the throne at the time.
It then became a tradition that the king’s guard band and drill team of Norway would visit the penguin when they performed at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.