Norway: King Harald's bier has been transferred to the Palace Chapel

King Harald’s bier has been resting in Den røde salong (The Red Salon, could also translate it into The Red Drawing Room) since its transfer from Rikshospitalet (The National Hospital) last Friday. Today the bier was moved onto a catafalque and draped with Kongeflagget (The Royal Standard, could also be translated into The Royal Banner).

At 4 p.m. today the bier was moved from the Red Salon through various rooms in the Royal Palace to the Palace Chapel. The bier was carried (or rather the catafalque on wheels was pushed lightly) by the children and grandchildren of King Harald V – King Haakon VII, Prince Sverre Magnus, Maud Angelica Behn and Marius Borg Høiby (stepgrandchild) on the left side and Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Princess Märtha Louise, Leah Isadora Behn and Emma Tallulah Behn on the right side. Queen Mette-Marit and Queen Sonja walked behind the bier. The Lord Chamberlain, Olav Heian-Engdal, walked in front of the bier, carrying the Royal Crown on a cushion, while the Head of the Royal Secretariat, Gry Høeg Ulverud, carried the Sword of State. Other leading members of the court carried King Harald's foremost Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and British orders.

Court and staff members formed an honor guard through the Palace rooms and joined the procession after King Harald’s bier had passed.

The corps of aides-de-camp took over the bier in Store festsal (The Great Banquet Hall) and brought it to the Palace Chapel. The bier was then placed on a velvet-covered catafalque, surrounded by wreaths and floral hearts from the family. The Royal Crown and the Sword of State were placed upon the bier, while the orders were placed at the foot of the bier. Afterwards followed a private memorial service for the royal family and members of the court and staff as well as the aides-de-camp.

The transfer of the bier was broadcast on TV, among others on NRK TV. After the memorial service, King Haakon, Queen Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja and Princess Märtha Louise came out to the Palace Square where they laid down roses, looked at the sea of ​​flowers, and read some of the cards. They were visibly moved by what they saw. The crowd sang the national anthem and applauded before the royals returned inside the palace. See the coverage (with photos) by VG.

As I have mentioned earlier, tomorrow 1 September from 2 p.m. until 8 September at 6 p.m. it will be possible for the public to file past the coffin in the Palace Chapel. The Royal Court has issued details about the filing (in Norwegian only) in a press relase today.

Norway: King Harald V (1937–2026)

Photo: © The Royal Court (screenshot of the official website of the royal house 28 August 2026).

King Harald of Norway died at Oslo University Hospital, dep. The National Hospital (Oslo universitetssykehus, avd. Rikshospitalet) on Friday 28 August 2026 at 6.35 a.m.

His death was announced on the official website of the royal house around two hours later:

It is with deep sorrow that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away. King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet Friday 28 August at 6:35 AM.

King Harald was succeeded by his son Haakon.

A crowd had already gathered at the Palace Square when the death was announced, and the crowd – and the number of flowers and cards (teddybears, flags, football shirts etc increased.) – only got larger and larger throughout the day and weekend. The nation is mourning. A beloved man and king has left us. The grief is profound. The gratitude is even greater. 

A small section of the "ocean of flowers" at the Palace Square on Friday. The ocean only got bigger and bigger during the weekend. Photos: © 2026 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

For the record

This has never meant to be a personal blog. I write about events and topics that I care about and often I will give my own opinion or perspective. But work and other obligations make it some times hard to publish my articles soon after an event has taken place. But I always like to record some of the events and news that have taken place even if some time has passed. 

When the news of King Harald's death reached me I was at work. I was asked to write a small article on various aspects of the succession to the throne for my employer's website before I had to focus on other tasks. The Norwegian Law Gazette, of which I am the editor, never sits still – new regulations have to be published. After work I went up to the Place Square again (I was also there on Thursday). In the evening I  watched TV and on Saturday I was out of town for most of the day. So I will try to write a few lines today instead. I will write about some of the events, but it will be impossible to comment on all the aspects.

Lowered royal banner

I can see the Royal Palace from my office window. I was too occupied to see everything with my own eyes, but when the king's death was announced, Kongeflagget (the King's banner) flying from the roof of the palace was lowered to half staff. After the extraordinary Council of State had taken place the royal banner was raised, while another royal banner, with the so-called mourning flora, was flying on half staff from the palace balcony.

The King's banner (Kongeflagget) at 8:51 a.m. Photo: © 2026 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

The King's banner and the balcony at 3:50 p.m. Photo: © 2026 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

The Government of Norway has decided that the Norwegian flag will be flying on half staff from all state buildings from Friday 28 August until the day of the funeral. Once the funeral has taken place, the flags will be hoisted to full staff again. The Government has also declared a period of national mourning to last until the day of the funeral. 

Extraordinary Council of State

The new king presided over the extraordinary Council of State at 11.30 a.m. Friday. Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra was also present. In the Council of State the king declared that he would reign under the name Haakon VIII and that his personal motto (called "valgspråk" in Norwegian would be "Alt for Norge" ("All for Norway"), the same motto also used by his father, King Harald V, his grandfather, KIng Olav V, and his great-grandfather, King Haakon VII.

Statsministerens kontor

Hans Majestet meddelte følgende:

Statsminister og statsråder,

Det er min plikt å meddele Statsrådet at min kjære far, Hans Majestet Kong Harald V, døde i dag den 28. august 2026, kl. 06.35, og at jeg i tråd med Grunnlovens bestemmelser har tiltrådt regjeringen som Norges Konge.

Jeg vil ta navnet Haakon VIII og vil videreføre det samme valgspråket som min far, bestefar og oldefar valgte: «Alt for Norge».

H.M. Kongen takket regjeringens medlemmer og det norske folk for støtte og medfølelse til Kongefamilien i denne tiden.

Statsministeren meddelte følgende:

Deres Majestet, Deres kongelige høyhet,

På vegne av regjeringen og det norske folk vil jeg uttrykke vår medfølelse ved Hans Majestet Kong Haralds død. Kong Harald var et menneske vi alle ble glad i. Vi vet at Kong Haralds bortgang er et stort tap for vår nye konge og hele kongefamilien.

Vi vil takke Kong Harald for livslang innsats for Norge og det norske folk. En hel nasjon er i sorg og står igjen i dyp takknemlighet.

Vi er trygge på at kongehusets tradisjoner vil føres videre under Deres Majestets ledelse, til det beste for folket og landet vårt.

In English:

Office of the Prime Minister

His Majesty made the following announcement:

Prime Minister and Ministers,

It is my duty to inform the Council of State that my dear father, His Majesty King Harald V, passed away today, 28 August 2026, at 06:35, and that, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, I have acceded to the throne as King of Norway.

I shall take the name Haakon VIII and will continue to use the same motto chosen by my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather: "All for Norway."

H.M. The King thanked the members of the Government and the Norwegian people for their support and sympathy shown to the Royal Family during this time.

The Prime Minister made the following announcement:

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,

On behalf of the Government and the Norwegian people, I wish to express our condolences upon the death of His Majesty King Harald. King Harald was a person we all loved. We know that King Harald’s passing is a great loss for our new King and the entire Royal Family.

We wish to thank King Harald for his lifelong service to Norway and the Norwegian people. An entire nation is in mourning and remains filled with deep gratitude.

We are confident that the traditions of the Royal House will be carried forward under Your Majesty’s leadership, for the good of the people and our country.

In connection with the Council of State photos of the new King and Crown Prince were taken with the members of the government, and afterwards they signed the condolence protocol. A government conference took place at 10 at the Prime Minister's office prior to the Council of State.

Salute and church bells ringing

At noon there was a mourning salute (21 shots with 30 seconds between) from the nine salute stations in Norway, including from Akershus Fortress, and the church bells were ringing for an hour, to mark the death of King Harald.

Members of the royal house and titles

When the death of King Harald was announced all the subpages of the royal website were taken down for some time to get the most relevant pages updated. When all the pages were up agai, we learnt among others the titles of the members of the royal house.

Det norske kongehuset består av Deres Majesteter Kong Haakon og Dronning Mette-Marit, Hennes Kongelige Høyhet Kronprinsesse Ingrid Alexandra og Dronning Sonja.

In English: 

The Norwegian Royal House consists of Their Majesties King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and Queen Sonja.

There were in other words no surprises other than that Queen Sonja has "lost" her style Majesty. I didn't expect that, and most other in the know where equally surprised. The reference to Queen Sonja without the style was also repeated in later press statements, so there is no doubt that this was not just a mistake. Although we haven't had a Queen Dowager for quite some time, it has not uncommon to have two queens (or more) in a monarchy, just look at the United Kingdom (Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) and Belgium to take two examples. There all are or were Majesties. A Queen is always styled Majesty. Even though it is a conscious decision which should not be taken as a personal rebuff, I simply cannot understand the reasoning behind it. Considering all the work and effort Queen Sonja has done for Norway I find such a "downgrading" totally unacceptable.

Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra

The title of Crown Prince or Crown Princess is not automatic when a new monarch has succeeded to the throne, as too many seem to believe. Article 34 of the Constitution of Norway said, before the changes in 1990 when female succession (full primogeniture) was introduced:

The nearest heir to the Throne, if he is the son of the reigning King, shall bear the title of Crown Prince. The other persons entitled to succeed to the Throne shall be called Princes, and the daughters of the Royal House, Princesses.

From 29 May 1990 Article 34 says (English edition at Lovdata.no):

The King shall make provisions concerning titles for those who are entitled to succeed to the Crown.

In other words, the king has to make a formal decision on the title of the nearest heir to the throne. Everyone expected that Ingrid Alexandra would become Crown Princess, and so she did. Because of the need for for verifiability/traceability I would have preferred that the decision came in form of a press statement instead of at an undated general subpage on the members of the royal house. For other members of the royal family (Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Märtha Louise and Princess Astrid Mrs. Ferner) there are no changes.

Speeches

The President of the Storting, the Chief Justice of the Supremie Court and the Prime Minister of the Storting all held speeches after the king's death:

• The President of the Storting, Masud Gharahkhani
• The Chief  Justice of the Supreme Court, Toril Øie (I couldn't find a televised version at the moment, so the links go to NRK Radio)
• The Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre

Crown Prince Haakon held a memorial speech on Saturday 29 August at 7 p.m. It was a very personal speech which made a good impression. I hope that a translation of the speech will be available in English when the English pages of the official website are up and running again.

Condolences

The royal house has naturally received many messages of condolences from royal and presidential heads of state and other dignitaries. The website Gert's Royals has made a collection of condolence messages from foreign monarchs, so please go to his supbage to read them.

The public is invited to sign the condolence protocol either digitally at the official website of the Norwegian royal house or at the Norwegian embassies (please check out their websites). In Norway most churches and/or city halls will have condolence protocols available. For people living in Oslo see information from the Municipality of Oslo here. 

Coffin

The coffin (the bire) of King Harald was taken by car from Rikshospitalet (The National Hospital) to the Royal Palace on Friday night, 28 August. 

King Haakon, Queen Mette_Marit, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Queen Sonja, Prince Sverre Magnus and Princess Märtha Louise followed the coffin in cars behind the hearse. The transport can be viewed at NRK TV.

Memorial service

Churches all over the country held a memorial service on Sunday. Members of the Storting and Government attended the service in Oslo domkirke (Oslo Cathedral), while King Haakon, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus and Queen Sonja attended the service in Asker kirke (Asker Church) close to the Skaugum estate. See photos from the latter service at Kirken.no.

Viewing of the bier

After being transported from the National Hospital to the Royal Palace, the bier of King Harald was placed in The Red Salon. King Haakon and Crown Princess Alexandra received Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Sunday 30 August for the viewing of King Harald's bier. The Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway, Olav Fykse Tveit, was also present at the viewing.

Filing past the coffin

The bier (coffin) will be carried from The Red Salon to the Palace Chapel on Monday 31 August 2026. The public will be able to file past the coffin from Tuesday 1 September 2026 at 2.pm. until Tuesday 8 September 2026 at 6 p.m. 

King Haakon VII to take the oath

King Haakon VIII will take the Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution in the Storting on Tuesday 1 September at 1 p.m. The oath is worded, cf. the Constitution article 9:

I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and Laws; so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient.

See more details at the Storting's website.

Funeral service

The funeral service will take place in Oslo domkirke (Oslo Cathedral) on Wednesday 9 September 2026 at 1 p.m. The funeral service will be officiated by the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway, Olav Fykse Tveit. The Bishop of Oslo, Sunniva Gylver, Cathedral Cantor Marcus André Berg, the Oslo Cathedral Choir, and others will also participate.

The cathedral has 930 seats, but the number of foreign royals and other dignitaries as well as representatives of the official Norway will be so high that I doubt that any from the public will be able to attend.  We can expect that representatives of all the European royal and princely houses will be in attendance. So far the king and queen of Denmark and the king and queen of the Belgians have confirmed their presence. I will give more details about the people attending the funeral service when we get closer to the actual date.

Line of succession

The updated line of succession to the throne of Norway:

1. HRH Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra (b. 2004)
2. Prince Sverre Magnus (b. 2005)
3. Princess Märtha Louise (b. 1971)
4. Maud Angelica Behn (b. 2003)
5. Leah Isadora Behn (b. 2005)
6. Emma Tallulah Behn (b. 2008)

Prince Gustaf (1827–1852) of Sweden and Norway remembered

Today it is 170 years since Prince Gustaf, second eldest son of King Oscar I (1799–1859) and Queen Josephine, née Duchess of Leuchtenberg (1807–1876), died of typhoid fever at Christiania Palace (The Royal Palace) in Christiania (today Oslo). If it had not been for his death, he would have succeeded his brother Carl XV (IV) in 1872 and the history of the Swedish and Norwegian monarchies would of course have been very different.

Prince Gustaf was known as a composer, having written several well-known songs (in this part of the world), including Studentsången (The Student Song) and Vårsång (Spring Song) and several marches among others.

The 170th anniversary of Prince Gustaf's death was marked today in the Palace Chapel in Oslo where there were lectures by Odd Inge Skjævesland, who has written the book Sangerprinsen. Bernadottenes svensk-norske sjarmøretappe (2018), and the architect professor dr.philos. Thomas Thiis-Evensen, who spoke about The Royal Palace as a symbol. Prince Gustaf is one of only two members of the Norwegian Royal House (House of Bernadotte and from 1905 House of Glücksburg) to have died in The Royal Palace. The other was of course King Haakon VII, who died there in 1957. The arrangement in The Palace Chapel started at 11 a.m., which was at the exact time Prince Gustaf died on 24 September 1852.

Kåre Nordstoga and Per Anders Håvelsrud played several pieces by Prince Gustaf on the organ - Mina lefnadstimmar stupa, Sorgmarch – mig sjelf tillegnad [Mourning March – dedicated to myself], Tidens flykt [Flight of time] and Aftonhymn [Evening Song] (the two first by Nordstoga, the other two by Håvelsrud), while an ensemble from the Gudlbergs Akademiske Kor (Guldberg's Academic Choir) sang Morgenhymn, Vårsång and Studentsången. The event was arranged in co-operation with the Church of Sweden.

The event was opened by Sandra Lorentzen, head of curatorial and public engagement at the Royal Collections. She took over the position in June 2022 after having spent 7 years as a curator at the art and industry museum Blaafarveværket. Lorentzen has a Master of Arts in arts history from the University of Oslo and a Bachelor of science in management science from Warwick Business School in Coventry, England. Before Blaafarveværket she has worked at institutions such as Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum in Tromsø and Stenersenmuseet (from 2021 a part of the new Munch Museum in Bjørvika) and The National Theatre in Oslo. I mention all this to stress that she is more than qualified for her position at The Royal Palace, but as I am a genealogist it is interesting to note that she is the daughter of the artists Ida Lorentzen and Ulf Nilsen. Ida is the youngest child of Øivind Lorentzen, jr. (1919–2020) and Evelyn Byrd LaPrade (1921–1972), and Øivind was of course an elder brother of Erling Lorentzen (1923–2021), who was married to Princess Ragnhild of Norway (1930–2012) from 1953 to her death in 2012).

All in all it was an interesting and enjoyable time in the Palace Chapel, and after having heard Skjævesland's lecture his book about Prince Gustaf is added to my reading list.

Norway: Princess Ingrid Alexandra's confirmation

Princess Ingrid Alexandra's confirmation will take place in the Palace Chapel in Oslo on Saturday 31 August 2019 at noon.

The princess has received her confirmation instruction at the Asker Church congregation under the direction of Provost Tor Øystein Våland and Vicar Karoline Astrup. The confirmation service in the Palace Chapel will be officiated by the Bishop of Oslo, Kari Veiteberg, and the Praeses of the Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien.

After the confirmation service, Princess Ingrid Alexandra's grandparents King Harald and Queen Sonja will host a luncheon in the Banqueting Hall of the Royal Palace.

Guest list
The Royal Palace released today part of the guest list:

The part of the guest released to the public is limited to members of the royal family, sponsors, other family members of the princess, the official Norway, the Church of Norway, the Diplomatic Corps and various organisations.

The Royal Family

• King Harald (sponsor)
• Queen Sonja
• Crown Prince Haakon
• Crown Princess Mette-Marit
• Princess Ingrid Alexandra
• Prince Sverre Magnus
• Marius Borg Høiby
• Princess Märtha Louise (sponsor)
• Maud Angelica Behn
• Leah Isadora Behn
• Emma Tallulah Behn
• Princess Astrid Mrs. Ferner

Other sponsors

• King Felipe of Spain
• Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark 
• Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
• Marit Tjessem

Other royals

• Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
• Prince Christian of Denmark

The official Norway

• President of the Storting Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen and Per Kristian Trøen
• Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Sindre Finnes
• Chief Jusstice of the Supreme Court Toril Marie Øie and Rune Brekke
• First Vice President of the Storting Eva Kristin Hansen
• Finance Minister Siv Jensen
• Culture minister Trine Skei Grande
• Children and Families Minister Kjell Ingolf Ropstad
• Second Vice President of the Storting Morten Wold
• Third Vice President of the Storting Magne Rommetveit 
• Fourth Vice President of the Storting Nils T. Bjørke
• Fifth Vice President of the Storting Abid Q. Raja
• Parlamentary leader Trond Helleland
• Parlamentary leader Hans Fredrik Grøvan
• Parlamentary leader Marit Arnstad
• Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum
• Plenary leader of Sametinget (Sámi Parliament) Tom Sottinen
• President of Sametinget (Sámi Parliament) Aili Keskitalo
• Permanent Secretary to the Government Anne Nafstad Lyftingsmo
• County Governor Valgerd Svarstad Haugland
• The mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen
• The mayor of Asker, Lene Conradi
• Chief of Defence, Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen
• Commander of His Majesty The King's Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Vegard Flom 
• National Police Commissioner Benedicte Bjørnland
• Police Commissioner of Oslo Beate Gangås
• Chief of the Royal Police Escort, Roy Hagen-Larsen

Diplomatic corps

• Ambassador of Myanmar, Maw Maw, doyen (dean)
• Ambassador of Sweden, Krister Bringéus
• Ambassador of Denmark, Jarl Kåre Frijs-Madsen
• Ambassador of Spain, Maria Isabel Vicandi

The Church of Norway and other religious communities

• The Praeses of the Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien
• Bishop Kari Veiteberg
• Cathedral cantor (domskantor) Kåre Nordstoga
• Provost of Asker Tor Øystein Vaaland 
• Vicar of Asker Karoline Astrup
• Head of the Church Council Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum
• Chairperson of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, Britt Strandlie Thoresen
• General Secretary of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, Ingrid Rosendorf Joys
• Youth Representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities and the Muslim Dialogue Network, Yasmine Fatima Angell Morchid
• Youth representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, board member of Norway's Young Catholics, Martin Bao Anh Vo 
• Youth representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities
• Youth representative of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities, commitee member Norwegian Humanist Youth, Iver Daaland Åse 
• Head of the Church Council's Commitee for youths, Ufung, Silje Håve Smørvik
• Bishop emeritus Gunnar Stålsett and Unn Stålsett

Organisations

• Chief executive officer Ole Erik Almlid, NHO (Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise)
• Chairperson Hans Christian Gabrielsen, LO (Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions)
• Chairperson Rode Margrete Hegstad, LNU (The Norwegian Children and Youth Council)
• Chief agent Are Shaw Waage,  Miljøagentene (The Eco-Agents)

Family

• Juliane Snekkestad (partner of Marius Borg Høiby)
• Espen and Renate Høiby with children
• Christian Høiby
• Ina Høiby and Mads Hvilshøj
• Tuva Høiby
• Per Høiby and Louise Dedichen
• Anette Bastviken
• Susanne K. Dedichen Bastviken
• Julie Høiby and Teodor C-G Teigen
• Joachim Høiby and June Bolme
• Kristin Høiby
• Kamilla Høiby Bjørnøy
• Maria Viig Bjørnøy and Are Hoel
• Anniken Høiby Bjørnøy
• Erling Lorentzen (widower of Princess Ragnhild) and his partner, Ebba Løvenskiold
• Cathrine Ferner Johansen (eldest daughter of Princess Astrid) and Arild Johansen
• Lis Haraldsen (sister-in-law of Queen Sonja)
• Ian Swanstrøm (niece of Queen Sonja) and Carl Christian Dahl
• Tom Ivar Junker
• Janne Cecilie Junker
• Elsie Sargeant

Erling Lorentzen, the widower of Princess Ragnhild, used to be listed in the Royal Family section also after his wife's death, but seems to have been removed 3–4 years ago, probably when he got a new partner.

Updated last time on Friday 30 August 2019 at 00.20 (minor correction).

Norway: Crown Prince Haakon to attend King Bhumibol of Thailand's funeral service

The Norwegian Royal Court confirmed today that Crown Prince Haakon will represent Norway at the funeral service and cremation ceremony for King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) on 26 October 2017.

The death of King Bhumibol on 13 October 2016 has been marked by a one-year period of mourning. From the 25th to the 29th of October several ceremonies will take place. The actual cremation will be held on 26 October 2017, with many royals and other dignitaries in attendance. More details can be found among others on the Bangkok Post's Royal Cremation Ceremony page and Wikipedia.

Crown Prince Haakon will travel to Thailand alone. On the same day as the cremation ceremony takes place, his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit will together with Princess Astrid Mrs. Ferner attend the gala dinner for the members of the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) hosted by King Harald and Queen Sonja.

Photo of King Harald V of Norway and the President of Palau

The Office of the President of Palau has heard my cry for help. As I wrote in late May, King Harald V of Norway granted the President of Palau, Tommy Remengesau, Jr., an audience at the Royal Palace in Oslo on 30 May 2017. President Remengesau was in Oslo in connection with a summit on illegal fishing. He also had a meeting with the Norwegian minister of foreign affairs Børge Brende. The two dignitaries signed an agreement on opening diplomatic relations between the two countries.

According to Royal Court's information department, the news/photo agency NTB Scanpix took photos in connection with the audience, but so far no newspapers or other media have published them. A pity, I thought, as the meeting between the two heads of state was after all an historic event.

But yesterday the Office of the President of Palau published a photo of the king and president at its Facebook page.The photo is taken in the Bird Room at the Royal Palace.

Thanks to the President for being so helpful. In connection with the blogging on the President's visit to Norway, I have read lots of information about Palau and its tourist sights and have become more and more determined to visit the islands one day!

Painter of Crown Princess Märtha portrait finally identified

© Photo: Jan Haug, Det kongelige hoff (The Royal Court).

The portrait of Crown Princess Märtha of Norway (1901–1954) has been a part of The Royal Collections in Oslo, Norway ever since World War II. Unfortunately the portrait was both unsigned and undated. And as the years went by, the few people who knew the history of the painting, were not at the court any longer. Apparently any sort of documentation of its history, for instance correspondence or other paper work, was missing. Until last weekend the identity of the painter of the portrait, which for many years has been hanging in Den gule salong (The Yellow Parlour) at the Royal Palace in Oslo, has been a mystery. A new art book helped to solve the puzzle.

 © Photo: Jan Haug, Det kongelige hoff (The Royal Court). The Yellow Parlour at the Royal Palace in Oslo. The Crown Princess portrait can be seen in the background.

But before I tell the story on how the painter was identified, I would like to cross the Atlantic for a while to tell part of the story from the painter's perspective. Or rather, I should start in Horten, Norway. Because that is the little town where Herbjørn Peter Egeli was born on 15 November 1900 as the eldest of three sons of Even Egeli (1874–1915) and Josefine Mathilde Wennerstrøm (1875–1921). Even Egeli was at the time underkanonér (assistant gunner) at Karljohansvern (naval base), but later took his family to Kristiania (later named Oslo) where Herbjørn went to school at Vålerenga. Besides school, he took art classes and wood-carving taught by his uncle Herman Ekeli (1885–1946). The spelling of the family name – Egeli or Ekeli – has varied in the different branches, I should add. As the story goes in the Egeli family, Herbjørn once sat model for the sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1869–1943). The Vigeland Museum in Oslo has not found any evidence of this, however, as pointed out in a letter to me back in November 2003, and thought it was most likely a family myth, but could not rule it out completely.

True or not, Herbjørn descended from an artistic family. As I have written in this blog before, Herbjørn's father was born in Kristiansand, but the Egeli family originally came from the cotter's farm Øykjeli at Haukeli in Vinje, Telemark, where Herbjørn's great-great-grandfather Svein Olsen Egeli (1779–1853) settled around 1826. The Egeli family were well-known for their artistic skills. Bjorn Egeli's great-great-uncle Tor Sveinsen (1825–1882) was a recognized rosepainter in Telemark before he together with his family as well as 2 brothers and also his widowed mother emigrated to Wisconsin, USA in 1861. Tor's father Svein Olsen Egeli and brother Even (1822–1873) were both skilled ski carpenters. After Even Sveinsen's death two of his children – Svein and Hæge – and eventually also his widow Liv Tollevsdatter (1824–1905) – emigrated to the United States, leaving behind the eldest son Herbjørn Evensen Egeli (1848–1893). Herbjørn, who served in Kristiansand as an (non-commissioned) officer and later settled down as a fireman, was Herbjørn's grandfather.

Anyway, when his dad Even died in 1915, Herbjørn went to sea, and after seven years he went on shore in the United States to enter Brooklyn School of Art in New York. After another period at sea, he continued his education at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. He later became a well-known portrait painter (but also painted many maritime subjects) and painted portraits of among others President Dwight D. Eisenhower and President Richard M. Nixon. Herbjørn, who in the States went by the name Bjorn, bought the Glebe Farm in Valley Lee, St. Mary's County, Maryland in 1942, died on 20 October 1984, nearly 84 years old. His five children Peter, Cedric, Bjorn James, Mary Lois and Carolyn all became professional artists. Also several grandchildren followed the same path.

Bjorn Egeli's children knew that he had once painted a portrait of Crown Princess Märtha, but where it had ended up was a mystery to them, and they didn't know too many details about it either. When the American and Norwegian Egeli branches reconnected – one of Bjorn's first cousins, Torborg Hoelseth, née Ekeli (1924–1992), was the grandmother to yours sincerely, and I traced Peter and his family in 1997 – I was asked by Peter if I could try to locate the portrait on this side of the pond. In early 1998 I wrote to the Royal Palace about it, but the court had no knowledge on the matter. At the time I had the understanding that the portrait was of both (the then) Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha, which was also what the Royal Court commented on. But at the time the court had no information which could lead to connecting the Crown Princess Märtha portrait to Bjorn Egeli. Peter and I had several discussions on where the portrait could have ended up. I remember I once suggested the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where Crown Princess Märtha stayed several times while visiting New York City during World War II, and which also had another Norwegian connection, as Jørgine (Georgia) Rolfsdatter Slettede from Bøverdalen (1887–1971) got married to the hotel director and owner Lucius Boomer (1878–1947) and later became the hotel's co-owner and also continued to manage the hotel even after Hilton took over. I never got as far as to contact the hotel to ask if the portrait was there, though.

Now it is on due time to turn back to Oslo again! The Royal Palace houses a number of collections, including paintings, sculptures and silver objects. There is an ongoing effort to catalogue and document the items in these collections, as explained at the Royal Court's website.. One of the people responsible for this task is the art historian Ingeborg Anna Lønning, who is head of The Royal Collections, a section under the Department of Royal Estates and Culture. She has been working at the Royal Palace since 2002, and is the one who solved the mystery of the unknown painter. All thanks to a wonderful art book which was published in 2015.

The Art of Diplomacy. The Art Collection of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (Oslo: Forlaget Press, ISBN 9788275477185) was written by the art historian Kathrine Lund in 2015. There is also a Norwegian edition, Diplomatiets kunst. Utenriksdepartementets samling (Oslo: Forlaget Press, ISBN 9788275477185). The book's photographer is Guri Dahl. Kathrine Lund works as a senior advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was from 2001 to 2012 responsible for the ministry's art collection. As the book title suggests, the book presents a selection of artworks owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and housed in the foreign missions, ambassador residences and in the ministry at Victoria terasse in Oslo. The reader will find many great photos and presentations of artists like Johan Fredrik Eckersberg, Amaldus Nielsen, Edvard Munch, Brynjulf Strandenæs (who made portraits of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud) and many, many others. I might come back to the book another time, as it certainly deserves to be thoroughly presented and reviewed. The book is not on general sale, as it is first of all meant for the ministry's relations and as a documentation of what the ministry has in its collections.

Nevertheless, at least one copy of the book ended up at the Royal Palace, and was studied and enjoyed by Ingeborg Lønning. On page 104 and 105 a portrait of Ambassador Wilhelm Thorleif von Munthe af Morgenstierne (1887–1963) was described and pictured. The portrait, which was made in 1956 by the aforementioned Norwegian-American artist Bjorn Egeli, is displayed in the Norwegian embassy in Washington, DC. Morgenstierne was among others Norway's Consul General to New York City and later minister plenipotentiary and ambassador in Washington, DC. In the very same room where the Morgenstierne portrait is displayed, a portrait of George C. Marshall, who was among other things USA's secretary of state 1946–49, can also be viewed. The portrait is made by Bjorn's son Peter. I visited the embassy to see the portraits during my first visit to the United States in September 1999.

But back to Lønning again! She made a note of, as she has told me by e-mail earlier this week, Bjorn Egeli's portrait of Ambassador Morgenstierne published in the said book, and started to search for information about the artist on the Internet. She learned among others that Peter Egeli fairly recently had published a book about his father. She thought that the photographs of Egeli's portraits showed similarities to the portrait of Crown Prince Märtha displayed at the Royal Palace. She also made a point of the fact that Crown Princess Märtha and her children during WW2 lived in exile at Pook's Hill at Bethesda in Maryland outside Washington, D.C. and was part of the same social circles as Ambassador Morgenstierne. In addition, Bjorn Egeli lived in the Washington, D.C. area during the war and also came from Norway originally. All this strengthened Lønning's newborn theory that he could be the painter of the Crown Princess Märtha portrait. She contacted Peter Egeli, who immediately recognized the portrait as being made by his father, although he had never seen it before. Peter Egeli, who has a large collection of photos of his father's portraits, studied with his father to become an artist and knows the style of his paintings well. He maintained that the Crown Princess portrait showed a classic Bjorn Egeli pose as well as details to colour, figure and lighting. The mystery of the unknown painter has finally been solved! And the Egeli family finally got to know where the portrait is being displayed!

• Information on the Egeli family (some of the dead links will be dealt with soon)

My gratitude goes to Ingeborg Anna Lønning, Jan Haug and Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen at the Royal Court for giving background information and permission to publish the photos. Many thanks also to Kathrine Lund for giving information about and also a copy of her book!

Postscript 24 January 2016: Ingeborg Lønning, head of the Royal Collections at the Royal Palace in Oslo, has sent some new details about the portrait after the article above was posted on late Thursday 21 January 2016:

The portrait is measured at 105,5 cm (width)  x 102, 5 cm (height). Oil on cancas. Unsigned. Inventory number DKS.S01271.

The portrait has earlier been on display at the Crown Princely estate at Skaugum in Asker, but the court does not know when it was transferred to the Royal Palace. It was probably not at the Palace in the 1970s as it was not mentioned in Kavli/Hjelde's book Slottet i Oslo. The portrait was hanging on on the same place (in The Yellow Parlour) when Lønning took her position at the Palace in 2002. 

Last time updated on Sunday 24 January 2016 at 14.30 (postscript added), Monday 11 September 2023 at 19:50 (link corrected).

National 22 July memorials report submitted

The Norwegian Government decided in December 2011 to establish two memorials after 22 July, one in Oslo and one in connection with Utøya (Hole municipality), following the 22 July attacks. According to the Ministry of Culture's press release of 22 December 2011, the memorials are intended to both honour the memory of the deceased and represent a collective tribute to the volunteers, survivors and rescue personnel. 77 people died in the attacks.

The steering committee for the national 22 July memorials, chaired by former Minister of Culture Åse Kleveland, submitted today to the Government its report Steder for å minnes og påminnes - innstilling vedrørende minnesteder etter 22. juli ("Places for recollection and reminding - a report concerning memorial places after 22 July"). The report (in  pdf) can be read here.

The committee has visited and discussed several places in Hole and Oslo to place the memorials. Regarding Hole municipality, where Utøya island is situated, the steering committee believes that the memorial place should be accessible to everyone and therefore located on the mainland. Therefore Sundvollstranda, Vik, Sundøya, Gamleskolen, Elstangen, Sørbråten, Lauvodden (Veikroa) and Lien were all visited, and the committee concluded that Sørbråten (see pp. 12-14) was the best place, with Lauvodden as an alternative. Both places are connected to Riksvei ("National road") 155 and are close to Tyrifjorden lake with a view to Utøya and with limited passing traffic.

I gather that Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking (AUF, Workers' Youth League) will also set up their own memorial on the island itself.

In Oslo the committee has visited Domkirkeplassen (the Oslo Cathedral Square), Stortorget (the Main Square next to the Oslo Cathedral), Eidsvolls plass vest, Tullinløkka, Youngstorvet, Grev Wedels plass, Kontraskjæret/Skansen, Nisseberget (in the Palace Park) and Regjeringskvartalet (the Government Quarter). The conclusion was that Nisseberget in the Palace Park (pp. 21-23) was the best place, with the Government Quarter as an alternative. The Royal Palace has responded positively to the proposal. Nisseberget is in the report described as "a sunny height in the Palace Park, between Wergelandsveien and Slottsbakken", with a great view to the city, and is "both secluded and open at the same time".

Personally I would have thought that the Government Quarter, which was severely damaged by the car bomb on 22 July 2011, would be the most fitting place to raise the memorial, but the committee regards the uncertainty about when the reconstruction work is finished as a weakness. But even if also the Government decides on Nisseberget for the national 22 July memorial in Oslo, it will not exclude a memorial also in the Government Quarter, although in a smaller scale.

It is now up to the Norwegian Government to decide where to place the national memorials. The committee has suggested that an invitation will be given to an open, international "prequalification" for a commission which includes the two national memorial places. In the so-called open prequalification artists, architects and co-operating groups will present their reasoned applications for participation. The prequalification will be followed by a closed competition where up to 20 artists etc. take part.

The plan is that the national memorials will be unveiled on 22 July 2015, four years after the attacks took place.