The Royal Palace, Oslo

The Royal Palace, Oslo, Norway, was created as a permanent royal residence for the union monarchy of Sweden and Norway and was begun in the early 1800s under King Charles III John. Work started in 1824 and the king laid the foundation stone on 1 October 1825 at the spot reserved for the palace chapel. The building project belongs to the first half of the 19th century and was intended to give the shared monarchy a representative seat in the Norwegian capital.

Construction proceeded in distinct phases. The Norwegian Parliament approved an initial budget of 150,000 daler (rix-dollars) and the scheme was financed through state bond issues, but costly foundation work forced building to stop in 1827. Work resumed in 1833 after plans were simplified to reduce expense. By the summer of 1836 the exterior was under cover and interior decoration continued through the late 1840s. The palace chapel was consecrated in 1844. The completed and refitted palace was taken into use for King Oscar I on 15 March 1849 and formally opened on 26 July 1849. King Charles III John did not live in the finished palace; the first residents were his son King Oscar I and Queen Joséphine, and subsequent Bernadotte monarchs continued to use the building intermittently while largely residing in Stockholm.

When the palace proved too small for Oscar I’s family, additional enlargement and decorative work took place in the 1840s. A central colonnade was reinstated and the temporary steep roof was replaced with a lower, more elegant covering after further funds were granted by Parliament.

The palace’s role changed after Norway ended its union with Sweden in 1905. Prince Carl of Denmark accepted the Norwegian throne as King Haakon VII and the building was adapted to serve as the sovereign’s permanent residence, with modern conveniences such as bathrooms installed. Haakon VII established weekly Council of State meetings in the palace council chamber and introduced the custom of the monarch appearing on the palace balcony to greet the public on Constitution Day, a practice recorded in the early 1900s.

During the Second World War the royal family left the country and occupying German authorities made the palace their regional headquarters. A German civil commissioner presided from 24 April 1940, and the Norwegian collaborator Vidkun Quisling used the royal family’s living room as his office after 1 February 1942.

After the war the palace underwent a sequence of repairs and restorations. Renovations began under King Olav V following 1957, with a 1960s programme to restore historic interior decoration. Later, under King Harald V, a multi-stage modernisation and conservation programme in the 1990s and 2000s was carried out; the restored building was handed over on 15 March 1999 and the royal apartments were completed in spring 2001. The former royal stables were renovated and opened in 2017 as the Dronning Sonja KunstStall, a multiuse art venue, and a new logistics building for deliveries and storage was completed at the rear of the palace park in 2023. The palace has served continuously as the official residence of the Norwegian monarch and is guarded by the Royal Guard; public guided visits during the summer months began around 2000–2002, and a daily changing of the guard takes place outside the palace.