Regalia of Norway

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Haakon VII and Maud of Wales with the regalia, on the occasion of their coronation King Haakon VII and Queen Maud.jpg
Haakon VII and Maud of Wales with the regalia, on the occasion of their coronation

The regalia of Norway are items that symbolise the Norwegian monarch's power and majesty. Little is known of the old Norwegian regalia which have since been lost. The majority of the modern regalia date from 1818 and were made for the coronation of Jean Bernadotte as King Carl III Johan.

Contents

The Norwegian royal regalia include nine items: the king's crown, the sword of the realm, the king's sceptre, the king's orb, the queen's crown, the queen's sceptre, the queen's orb, the crown of the crown prince and the anointing horn. Also in this collection are several mantles, two banners of the realm and coronation thrones.

The last king and queen in Norway to be crowned were Haakon VII and his wife Maud of Wales in 1906. Thereafter, the regalia have since not been used to physically crown or to be worn by successive monarchs. Certain items are still used occasionally such as during the monarch's consecration, where the crown is displayed; or during the monarch's funeral service, where it is placed atop the casket.

History

During Norway's union with Denmark, the king underwent a coronation ceremony in Denmark. When this union was dissolved in 1814, Norway declared its independence and adopted its own constitution. However, total independence was short-lived as Norway would be compelled to enter into a personal union with Sweden and sharing the same monarch and foreign policy.

A coronation was required among the provisions in Norway's 1814 constitution. The old Norwegian regalia had been lost and no Norwegian regalia was available for use when preparations were made for the coronation of King Carl Johan in 1818. The king would pay for the essential regalia himself. The regalia of the king and the anointing horn were made for this coronation. The regalia of the queen were acquired in 1830 for the planned coronation of Carl Johan's wife, Désirée Clary. This coronation never took place. All the regalia were made in Sweden except the crown of the crown prince which was made in Norway in 1848 and the sword of state which was a gift from Charles John to the Norwegian state. The coronet of the crown prince was ordered for use in the planned coronation of Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, as the Norwegian parliament wanted the heir apparent to the throne, the future Charles IV to take part in the ceremony. However Oscar I was never to be crowned in Norway because the bishop of Nidaros refused to crown the Catholic Josephine. The sword of state was initially a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to Charles III John, then known as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, when he was appointed Marshal of France. Charles III John carried the sword during the Battle of Leipzig; when he acquired the Norwegian regalia in 1818, he had the blade of the sword refashioned, in order that its symbolic language might correspond better to its new function.

The coronation that followed Charles III John's was that of Charles IV and his wife, Louise of the Netherlands, in 1860. Oscar II and Sophie of Nassau were crowned in 1873.

Following the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905, Norway elected a Danish prince to serve as its own king. King Haakon VII, his wife Maud, and their son Olav arrived in Norway on 25 November and Haakon took the required oath as King two days later. As required by the constitution, Haakon (along with his wife) was subsequently crowned and anointed the following year on 22 June 1906 at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. This was the last time the regalia were to be used for a coronation as the provision in the Norwegian constitution requiring the monarch's coronation was repealed in 1908. The coronet of the crown prince has never been used: Crown Prince Olav was too young to participate in the ceremony in 1906.

The regalia are now on display in the Archbishop's Palace, next to the Nidaros Cathedral. Certain items from the regalia collection are still used occasionally such as during the monarch's consecration, where the crown is displayed; or during the monarch's funeral service, where it is placed atop the casket.

In 2006, Harald V made a speech where he emphasised that the Norwegian Crown symbolises a free, independent and democratic nation. [1]

Individual items in the regalia

King's crown of Norway Den norske kongekronen.jpg
King's crown of Norway
Queen's crown of Norway Dronningkronen.jpg
Queen's crown of Norway
The sceptres and orbs of the King and the Queen with the anointing horn Septere, salvehorn og rikseplene.jpg
The sceptres and orbs of the King and the Queen with the anointing horn
Crown Prince's coronet, by Johannes Flintoe Johannes Flintoe - Arvefyrstekronen - The Crown Prince's Coronet.jpg
Crown Prince's coronet, by Johannes Flintoe

See also

Footnotes

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