Regalia of Norway

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Regalia of Norway" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

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

.

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

, 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

; 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,

were crowned in 1873.

Following the

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,

Individual items in the regalia

• alexandrite and a white opal
  . The crown is lined with a red velvet cap covered with pearls alternating with small crowns embroidered in gold thread.
• King's orb: made in Stockholm in 1818 by goldsmith Adolf Zethelius (1781–1864) is a 10 cm sphere of gilt silver and with a 1 cm wide equator and meridian decorated with small roses. The King's orb is footed and at the top the meridian bears a miniature orb and cross.
• King's sceptre: made in Stockholm in 1818 by goldsmith Adolf Zethelius is a 75 cm rod of gilt silver. At the top of this rod is a diminutive orb and cross, immediately below which it is surrounded with open work foliage of oak leaves, while the knobs on either side of the grip are decorated with the roses similar to those found on the King's orb.
• Anointing horn: made in Stockholm in 1818 by goldsmith Adolf Zethelius of gilt silver and has the form of upturned and footed bull's horn with the open end closed with a chained lid topped with an acorn and with a miniature royal crown on the tip of the horn. It was obviously inspired by the anointing horn in the Swedish regalia, which also has the form of an upturned and footed bull's horn.
• Sword of the Realm: Made in the early 19th century. Tradition has it that it was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to the future king of Sweden and Norway, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, when he was made Marshal of France, and which he carried as Swedish Crown Prince at the
  mother of pearl
  decorate the grip and scabbard. Engravings of oak leaves on the scabbard, hilt and grip and an acorn at the tip of the grip correspond to the oak leaves and acorns also found on the crown and sceptre.
• button
  set with a large pearl.
• Queen's orb: made in Stockholm in 1830 is a 10 cm sphere of gilt silver with a 1 cm equator and meridian set with faceted amethysts. The Queen's orb is footed and on the top the meridian bears a miniature blue enamelled orb with an equator and meridian band set with small pearls bearing at its top a cross also set with small pearls.
• Queen's sceptre: made in Stockholm in 1830 is a 70 cm rod of gilt silver. At its head the rod is set with four rows of five faceted oval amethysts,
  banister
  -like shape embossed with design of acanthus leaves.
• freshwater pearls.^[3]
  The circlet is polished with acanthus ornamentation with a matte finish around the gemstones alternating with groups of three oak leaves set in a fan shape around a pearl. At the front of the circlet is an oval amethyst and four amethysts alternate with four citrines on the circlet proper. The eight triangular points of this radial crown are in a matte finish with similar acanthus ornamentation, while between each of these points they are joined to each other on either side and to the circlet itself with a pair of acanthus scrolls supporting a group of five oak leaves around a pearl similar to those on the circlet. Each of the points has two oval colored gemstones, one an amethyst, the other a peridot, the lower one being slightly larger than that above it with a small pearl above them. At the top of each point is a larger Norwegian freshwater half pearl in a trefoil setting. It is lined with a red velvet cap heavily embroidered in gold thread with the design of a large radiating star at the top surrounded by four pairs of acanthus scrolls.

See also

• Crown jewels
• Royal coronations in Norway
• Norwegian monarchy
• Coat of arms of Norway

Footnotes

1. ^ Article from NRK
2. ^ One of these oval stone is a sapphire.
3. ^ A short description of the history of Norwegian freshwater pearls Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Home page of the Norwegian Royal Regalia
• Nidaros Cathedral | The Crown Regalia
• Royal House of Norway | The Regalia
• Short video from NRK of the Royal family visiting the exhibit of the Royal Regalia