Three generations

The photopgraph is released to mark the 25th anniversary of the accession of Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja to the Norwegian throne.

The portrait was taken in front of the Norwegian royal regalia, in the same spot where the King and the line of succession were photographed 10 years previously in connection with the 100th anniversary of the coronation of King Haakon and Queen Maud.

The royal regalia

The regalia were procured for the coronation of King Carl Johan in 1818. During Norway’s union with Denmark, coronations of the Dano-Norwegian kings were held in Denmark using the Danish royal regalia. The original Norwegian royal regalia, first used in the 1100s, were lost during the reformation in 1537. 

King Carl Johan himself paid for the making of the King’s Crown and other essential items for the coronation ceremony. 

Norway’s last coronation

The King’s Crown and the Queen’s Crown were placed on the altar during the consecration ceremony in 1991, as was done at the consecration of King Olav V in 1958. The crowns are no longer placed on the heads of the monarchs. Thus King Haakon and Queen Maud were the last king and queen to be crowned in Norway, on 22 June 1906.

The Norwegian royal regalia are on permanent display in the Archbishop’s Palace in Trondheim.

For the press

It is possible to download a high-resolution copy via the photo album for the press. The portrait is strictly for editorial use only.