The Norwegian Royal Court. Annual Report 2022

The Norwegian Royal Court's annual report for 2022 was published on 13 April 2023. As I wrote last year, the annual report is a great compensation for the lack of the former royal yearbooks. You get a very good summary of the activities of the royal family during the year in question.

From the article «Annual Reports» at the official website:

Annual report for 2022

The celebration of the eighteenth birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Ingrid Alexandra was the most important event for the Royal House of Norway and the Royal Court in 2022. The Princess will one day assume the role as the Norwegian Head of State. In connection with attaining the age of majority, the Princess visited the Storting, the Government and the Supreme Court. She also attended a meeting of the Council of State at the Royal Palace as an observer. Originally scheduled for January, the celebration was postponed until June due to the pandemic. The Princess was celebrated by the Government at Deichman library, and at a gala dinner at the Royal Palace hosted by Their Majesties The King and Queen.

Official engagements

When Norway reopened after the pandemic, the members of the Royal House once again had the opportunity to meet people in person across the country, and in 2022 they paid visits to 10 counties and 37 municipalities. In addition, they participated in several hundred official events and hosted a variety of events at the Royal Palace and Skaugum. They were also able to resume their international travel on behalf of Norway, and paid visits to Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, the US, Italy and Kenya, among others. Guided tours of the Royal Palace were reinstituted, and more than 43 000 people visited the Palace in the course of the eight-week period. In addition, more than 20 000 people visited the two exhibitions at the Queen Sonja Art Stable, “The King’s Cars” and “Open Doors”.

The Royal House of Norway encompasses the King and Queen, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra. In addition, Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner carries out certain official duties. In November 2022, Princess Märtha Louise, in consultation with The King and close family members, decided that she will not carry out official duties for the Royal House at the present time. This is intended to draw a line that more clearly separates her commercial activity from her role as a member of the Royal Family.

In 2022, the Royal House of Norway, too, dealt with the impact of the crises and the geopolitical situation that Europe and the world have been contending with. Throughout the year, members of the Royal House have taken part in events and met people who are directly affected by the war in Ukraine.  When the Oslo Pride Celebration was subject to an act of terrorism in June, the members of the Royal House took part in the memorial services and commemorative activities.

The war and the crises in Europe have also had ramifications for Norway, and thus on the activities of the Royal Court. Rising prices, especially the price of electricity, have changed the anticipated cost levels. Measures implemented to reduce energy consumption at the Royal Palace by roughly ten per cent during the winter, combined with re-ordering of priorities and austerity measures have provided the funding needed to cover the extra expenses incurred in 2022.

The security project

Over the course of the past years, an extensive security project has been carried out at the Royal Palace and the other Royal residences. The project primarily involves enhancing the security of the properties and surrounding park areas. A major portion of the project activity was completed in 2022, and will be finalised during 2023. The activity has been somewhat delayed, and in 2022 the cost framework was adjusted upwards in line with new prognoses. In the revised national budget, the project’s cost framework was increased to NOK 800 million, and all the remaining activities will be carried out using the allocations provided under the national budget.

Annual accounts

The accounts for the Civil List showed a surplus of NOK 63.6 million in relation to the 2022 allocation. The surplus is due to allocations to the security project that will not be disbursed and charged to expenses until 2023. The 2022 accounts for the security project at the Royal Palace and the other Royal residences therefore show a surplus of NOK 92.7 million. The management accounts for the Royal Court show a deficit of NOK 27.17 million. This is largely due to the transfer of NOK 31 million from the Royal Court’s operating reserve to the security project to cover the increase in the cost framework for the project.

The annual report and accounts of the Royal Court for 2022 have been submitted to the Presidium of the Storting, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, and the Office of the Auditor General of Norway.

Besides the topics mentioned above, the readers can among others enjoy the new Lord Chamberlain's commentary as well as articles about the royal court, the Royal House's cultural outreach activities, audiences, a more environmentally friendly car park, apprentices at the Royal Court, royal orders and medals.

The Lord Chamberlain, Olav Heian-Engdal, replaced Gry Mølleskog in 2022.

The royal family had 769 engagements («oppdrag») in 2022, compared to 635 in 2021. The numbers show that the world has become «more normal» again after the pandemic. In 2019 the number was 723, compared to only 381 in 2020.

The newspapers have written about the annual report, and the focus is of course mostly on the costs. Nettavisen points among others out out that the court paid NOK 1,067,944 for the celebrations of Princess Ingrid Alexandra's 18th birthday. The Government's dinner for the princess cost NOK 3,7 mill. 

But I would rather like to focus on orders and medals! 17 people were awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 2022, which was exactly the same number as in 2021. Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Daniel of Sweden and former Lord Chamberlain Gry Mølleskog all received the Grand Cross (in 2021 the latter was, by the way, awarded the Commander with star). Besides the class of Grand Cross, 4 people became Commanders of the Order of St. Olav, while 10 people became Knights 1st class. The Order of St. Olav is acording to the official website «a reward for distinguished services rendered to Norway and mankind».

34 people received the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit in 2022, all classes combined, compared to 56 in 2021, 89 in 2020 and 57 in 2019. The Order of Merit «is conferred on foreign and Norwegian nationals as a reward for their outstanding service in the interest of Norway». As usual most of the recipients were dilomats – ambassadors or honorary consuls. Two of the exceptions were the current Lord Chamberlain Olav Heian-Engdal, and the Swedish vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström, who became a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit.

The Medal of St. Olav is conferred as «a reward for services in advancing knowledge of Norway abroad and for strengthening the bonds between expatriate Norwegians and their descendants and their country of residence». In 2022 two people received the medal – managing director Anne Margrethe Hovland Pye, Great Britain, and shipowner Ragnar Meyer-Knutsen, USA – compared to none in 2021.

53 people received the King's Medal of Merit, compared to 47 people in 2021 and 46 in 2020. The medal is conferred as «a reward for service in the fields of art, science and industry and for outstanding public service».

Finally, the King's Commemorative Medal, which is conferred for particularly meritorious service to the king, was awarded to 9 people in 2022, compared to 32 people in 2021 and 9 people in 2020. 

Previous articles on the subject of the Norwegian Royal Court's annual report:

• 2021 (published 4 May 2022)
• 2016 (published 24 April 2017)
• 2014 (published 30 March 2015)
• 2013 (published 16 April 2014) 
• 2012 (published 17 April 2013)  
• 2011 (published 11 April 2012)  
• 2010 (published 12 April 2011)

Downloads of the annual reports for 2005 to 2022 can be found here.

Front cover: © 2022 Kimm Saatvedt/The Norwegian Royal Court.

Civil wedding of Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg and Nicolas Bagory

The civil wedding of Princess Alexandra, only daughter of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, and Nicolas Bagory, son of Thomas Bagory and Gwenaëlle Podeur, took place at the City Hall in Luxembourg City yesterday, Saturday 22 April 2023. Mayor Lydie Polfer conducted the ceremony. Afterwards the couple greeted the people from the balacony at the Grand Ducal Palace.

In the early evening a reception was held at the Grand Ducal Palace in honour of the newly-weds.

The religios ceremony will take place on Saturday 29 April 2023 in the Église Saint-Trophyme in Bormes-les-Mimosas, Southern France.

At the official website you can see many wonderful photos from yesterday:

• On way to the City Hall: https://monarchie.lu/en/royal-wedding-way-city-hall
• Wedding ceremony at the City Hall: https://monarchie.lu/en/royal-wedding-ceremony-city-hall
• Leaving the City Hall: https://monarchie.lu/en/royal-wedding-leaving-town-hall
• Reception at the Grand Ducal Palace: https://monarchie.lu/en/royal-wedding-reception
• Family photo: https://monarchie.lu/en/royal-wedding-family-pictures

Royalty Digest Quarterly no. 1, 2023

The first issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly this year arrived just before the Palm weekend. The RDQ, which was started in 2006 as the successor to the British monthly publication Royalty Digest, is published four times a year. According to its frontpage RDQ is «a journal devoted to the history, genealogy and images of the Royal Families of Europe».

From the contents of the present issue:

• Editor's Corner
• Stephen Bunford: The Schleswig-Holstein Wars and Succession, pp. 1–6.
• Marlene A. Eilers Koenig: The Marriage of Princess Maud and Lord Carnegie, pp. 7–16.
• Elizabeth Jane Timms: Farewell in White. The Funeral of Queen Victoria, pp. 17–28.
• Ted Rosvall: Hessen-Philippsthal & Hessen-Phillipsthal-Barchfeld. Two Family Albums, pp. 29–46.
• Ove Mogensen: Tombs, Graves and Monuments in Bulgaria, pp. 47–52.
• Ted Rosvall: What?, pp. 53–58.
• Ted Rosvall: Book Review: Spare us! (review of Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex), p. 59.
• Coryne Hall: Little-Known ROYALS. Grand Duchess Catherine Michaelovna of Russia, pp. 60–61.
• Ted Rosvall: Royal Bustards, pp. 62–63.
• The World Wide Web of Royalty, p. 64.

In his Editor's Corner Ted Rosvall is not impressed by  the way the Greek authorities handled the death and funeral service of the former King Constantine II of the Hellenes – and rightly so.

There are several interesting and readable articles in the present issue. I am not going to comment on them all. The cover photo shows Schloss Wilhelmsburg near Barchfeld and «it's creators», i.e. Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1692–1761) and his wife Landgravine Charlotte Wilhelmine, née Princess of Anhalt-Bernburg-Hoym (1704–1766). The House of Hesse-Phillipsthal became extinct in 1925 following the death of Landgrave Ernst, while the House of Hesse-Phillipsthal-Barchfeld is still with us, and the current head is Prince Wilhelm, b. 1933. It is not often we hear about these two Hesse branches, so I am pleased that the editor decided to pay attention to them. Besides a very short introduction the readers can enjoy about 64 images (depending on how you count) of various family members and residences. In addition there are two genealogical tables.

Any relations to the royal family of Norway? Yes, among King Harald's many royal ancestors is Princess Sofie of Hesse-Philippsthal (1695–1728), daughter of the first Landgrave of Hesse-Phillipsthal, Philipp (1655–1721) and his wife Katharine Amalie, née Countess of Solms-Laubach (1654–1736). Sofie married in 1723 Duke Peter August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1696–1775). The connection then goes as follows:

Duke Karl Anton August (1727–1759) --> Duke Friedrich Karl Ludwig (1757–1816) --> Duke Friedrich Wilhelm (1785–1831), who in 1825 became Duke of Glücksburg --> Prince Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906), who in 1863 became King of Denmark --> King Frederik VIII (1843–1912) --> Prince Carl (1872–1957), who in 1905 was elected King of Norway as Haakon VII --> King Olav V (1903–1991) --> King Harald V (1937–).

There are other connections, for instance from Princess Sofie's elder brother Karl I (1682–1770), whose daughter Charlotte Amalie (1730–1801) married Duke Anton Ulrich of Saxe-Meiningen (1687–1763). Their daughter Princess Charlotte (1751–1827) married in 1769 Hereditary Prince Ernest of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1745–1804), later Duke Ernest II. From this couple the line goes: Duke Augustus of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1772–1822) --> Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1800–1831), wife of Duke Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha --> Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), later Prince of the United Kingdom --> King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841–1910) --> Princess Maud (1869–1938), from 1896 Princess of Denmark and from 1905 Queen of Norway --> King Olav V (1903–1991) --> King Harald V (1937–).

I visited Bulgaria for the first and so far only time in July 1991. I wish I had paid more attention to the royal graves in Sofia. At least I should have visited Prince Alexander's mausoleum. But it was a very short stay – I arrived by night train from Bucharest early on 17 July 1991 and left on the evening of 18 July by night train to Belgrade. I would love to see more of Sofia another time, and to visit other parts of Bulgaria as well. Anyway, Ove Mogensen gives as usual a good acount of the graves of the last two Bulgarian royal houses. 

So what lies behind the curious subject title What? Ted Rosvall discusses the birth of Johann Georg Heinrich Kleinecke in Silkerode in 1799 and his possible royal parents. Far from proven, but plausible.

In the series of Little-Known ROYALS (why capital letters, I wonder) Coryne Hall this time presents Grand Duchess (Grand Princess) Catherine (Ekaterina) Michaelovna of Russia (1827–1894), daughter of Grand Duke (Grand Prince) Michael Pavlovich of Russia (1798–1849) and Grand Princess Elena Pavlovna, née Princess Charlotte of Württemberg 1807–1873). Catherine married in 1851 Grand Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1824–1876).

In the new (?) series Royal Bustards the editor Ted Rosvall presents Johan Arthur Bäckström (1861–1941), a possible illegitimate son of King Oscar II (1829–1907). Finally, in The World Wide Web of Royalty the readers get genealogical news from the Imperial, Royal, Grand Ducal or Princely houses of Baden, France (Bonaparte), Greece, Lippe and Luxembourg. 

Information about Royalty Digest Quarterly can be found at its editor's website Royalbooks.se. See earlier presentations of RDQ here. See also its Facebook page.

Tjukke Slekta nr. 1, 2 og 3, 2022 – tre gode ting på en gang!

 

Forrige uke fikk jeg Tjukke Slekta, medlemsbladet til Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag, i posten igjen. Ikke bare én utgave, men alle tre utgavene fra 2022-årgangen på én gang! Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag har vært litt ute av kurs med utgivelsene sine de siste par årene, men jeg synes ikke man skal klage for mye når man får tidsskrifter av så høy kvalitet. Man må også huske på at arbeidet i slektshistorielaget bygger på frivillighet. Det fortelles at første utgave av 2023-årgangen snart er klar, så da vil laget være i rute igjen.

Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag er ifølge nettsiden og medlemsbladet «et forum for alle med interesse for slekter i de gamle Åmot og Elverum prestegjeld med tilhørende annekser (unntatt Idre og Særna etter norsketida). Dvs. kommunene Elverum, Åmot, Stor-Elvdal, Rendalen, Engerdal og Trysil». Jeg har selv aner fra Åmot, Elverum samt Sollia i dagens Stor-Elvdal kommune, og har vært medlem av laget i en årrekke. Det er godt mulig at jeg har aner fra Stor-Elvdal og/eller Rendalen også, men ettersom jeg først og fremst har fokusert på Hoelseth- og Waal-anene mine vet jeg ikke så mye om mine øvrige østerdalsaner. Mitt eget anetre har aldri vært førsteprioritet – jeg har som oftest tatt utgangspunkt i en ane og tatt for meg etterslekten – men jeg har planer om å gjøre noe med min datters aner i forbindelse med hennes mulige konfirmasjon om et par år, og da må jeg jo gjøre mer ut av forskningen på mine østerdalsaner. 

Innholdet i Tjukke Slekta denne gangen:

Hefte 1, 2022

• Fra redaksjonen, s. 3
• Ronny Rismyhr Haugen: Om lensmann Tollev Tollevsen Hornset i Rendalen og farsætta hans fra Negard i Stor-Elvdal, del 1, s. 4–15.
• Lars Løberg: Hvem var Ola Olsen Østerdalen?, s. 16–23.
• Trond Bækkevold/Ronny Rismyhr Haugen: «Så slo jeg meg på fotografien» – fotografer i Sør-Østerdal, Hamar og Øvre Solør 1858–1925, del 4, s. 24
• Trønnes & Erikson (kompaniskap) (av RHH), s. 25
• Anders Trønnes (av RRH), s. 26–35
• H. A. Erikson/A. E. Frosth/Frost Anders Ersson (av RHH), s. 36–51
• Referat fra årsmøtet i Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag 11. mai 2022, s. 52
• Årsberetning for Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag 2021, s. 53
• Regnskap for Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag 2021, s. 54–55.

Hefte 2, 2022

• Fra redaksjonen, s. 4
• Tore Stenberg Falch: Engebret Jonsen Sollien – «Han som saa at Kirke maatte blive ...», s. 5–9
• Ronny Rismyhr Haugen: Om lensmann Tollev Tollevsen Hornset i Rendalen og farsætta hans fra Negard i Stor-Elvdal, del 2, s. 10–49
• Trond Bækkevold/Ronny Rismyhr Haugen: «Så slo jeg meg på fotografien» – fotografer i Sør-Østerdal, Hamar og Øvre Solør 1858–1925, del 5, s. 50
• Emil Siljeberg (Seljebergs/Siljuberg) (av TB), s. 51–55

Hefte 3, 2022

• Fra redaksjonen, s. 3
• Ronny Rismyhr Haugen: Om lensmann Tollev Tollevsen Hornset i Rendalen og farsætta hans fra Negard i Stor-Elvdal, del 3, s. 4–41
• Miriam Aurora Hammeren Pedersen: En utredning av opphavet til Anne Olsdatter (1777-1871) i Hansstua Løken i Elverum, s. 42–52
• Trond Bækkevold/Ronny Rismyhr Haugen: «Så slo jeg meg på fotografien» – fotografer i Sør-Østerdal, Hamar og Øvre Solør 1858–1925, del 6, s. 53
• Fridtjof Fredriksen (av TB), s. 54–55

Jeg er såvidt involvert i 2 av utgavene denne gangen. I hefte 1, s. 7 står et bilde jeg har tatt av Ytre Rendal kirke på trykk i forbindelse med den første delen av artikkelserien om lensmann Tollev Tollevsen Hornset. Bildet ble tatt i forbindelse med «slektssafarien» som tre andre slektsforskere og jeg foretok 23. juni 2022, og som jeg har skrevet litt om i bloggen tidligere i år. Vi hadde en fin rundreise i Stor-Elvdal, inkludert Sollia, samt Rendalen og Åmot, der vi stoppet opp ved flere kirker og slektsgårder. Min fjerne slektning Tore S. Falch har i anledning den nevnte dagsturen debutert i Tjukke Slekta med en fin artikkel om sin 5 x tippoldefar Engebret Jonsen Sollien (1697–1760), selveste «Solliakongen», som stod bak oppføringen av Sollia kirke og som også avga grunnen til kirken og kirkegården, og han skjenket også en god del av inventaret til kirken. Solliakongen er for øvrig min 6 x tippoldefar. I artikkelen om min ane står det på et trykk et bilde av vi fire som foretok «slektssafarien», så det er altså min andre involvering i 2022-årgangen av Tjukke Slekta.

Det bærende element i 2022-årgangen er altså Ronny Rismyhr Haugens fremragende artikkel i tre deler om lensmann Tollev Tollevsen Hornset i Rendalen og farsætta hans fra Negard i Stor-Elvdal. Han var oldefar til eidsvollsmannen Ole Olsen Evenstad (1766–1833), som Lars Løberg skrev et kapittel om i 200-årsjubileumsutgaven Eidsvollsmennene - Hvem var de?, utgitt av Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening (jeg bidro selv med et kapittel om Arnoldus von Westen Sylow Koren i samme bok). Det fremgår av kapitlet om Evenstad at det ikke var funnet kildebelegg for opphavet til Tollev Tollevsen Hornset da boken gikk til trykken, og det er i den sammenheng sett bort fra opplysningen om Tollevs slektsbakgrunn i Odd Nytrøens bygdebok for Ytre Rendalen. I en svært grundig og metodisk gjennomgang og drøfting av kilder, først og fremst tingbøker, har Haugen kunnet dokumentere hvor lensmann Tollev Tollevsen Hornsets far kom fra, og i kombinasjon med andre kilder har forfatteren avdekket flere andre både sikre og mer eller mindre sannsynlige slektssammenhenger. Og sist, men ikke minst, har Haugen bidratt med korrigeringer og tillegg til bygdebøkene for Ytre Rendalen og Stor-Elvdal. Det er oversiktstavler på side 15 i hefte 1 og s. 41 i hefte 3.

Lars Løbergs artikkel i hefte 1, Hvem var Ola Olsen Østerdalen?, er forholdsvis kort sammenlignet med Haugens artikkelserie, men er nok en svært grundig og metodisk drøfting av identiteten til den såkalte Ola Olsen Østerdalen (1746–1834) (hvis kallenavn ikke har noe med dalføret å gjøre, men at han var fra «øst i Daløm» (Fjelldistriktet) i Rendalen. Hovedkildene er kirkebøker, folketellinger, ekstraskattemanntall og mannskapsruller for Trysil og Rendalen.

I hefte 3 debuterer Miriam Aurora Hammeren Pedersen med sin Utredning av opphavet til Anne Olsdatter (1777–1871) i Hansstua Løken i Elverum, der hun på metodisk vis gjennomgår kildene og drøfter hvorfor hun mener at Anne Olsdatter er identisk med Anne Olsdatter fra Skjærbekk. Som hun skriver selv, «En grundig utredning av Annes opphav vil være av interesse både lokalhistorisk og minoritetshistorisk (på grunn av den skogfinske koblingen), og ikke minst på det personlige plan for Annes mange etterkommere, som i dag er spredt over hele Norge og andre deler av verden». Anne Olsdatters morfar var skogfinnen Anders Henriksen Himainen (1692–1772). Jeg liker måten Pedersen har presentert stoffet på, og hennes oppsummering av argumentene hun har lagt frem, «steg for steg», er også forbilledlig.

English summary: This article is about issue no. 1, 2 and 3, 2022 of Tjukke Slekta, the newsletter of Sør-Østerdal Slektshistorielag (Sør-Østerdal Genealogical Society). The society covers the municipalities of Elverum, Engerdal, Rendalen, Stor-Elvdal, Trysil and Åmot.