The Royal Palace, Oslo

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The palace dates back to the 19 c., when it was built as Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III (Carl Johan, Charles XIV of Sweden) and is the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch.

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This is the one thing my husband expressed interest in seeing, so at 1.30 on Thursday we headed for the Royal Palace. In the distance the palace looks quite impressive but up close, the bare sandy area in front is not very attractive.

Though soldiers were clearly standing by for some activity, it wasn't clear how or when the actual ceremony was going to take place. Eventually we heard a band and sure enough, a procession came up from the top of Karl Johans gate, led by three police women on horseback. The band was followed by about 30 soldiers, most of them painfully young looking, who stood around for what seemed like an inordinately long amount of time. Eventually guns were raised , heels were clicked and soldiers took off to what looked like a summer house in the grounds. The sentries outside the main entrance did change, with much clicking and heel stomping, the band began to play again, the procession marched back down the hill and it was all over.

My husband's verdict : 'not as good as the one in Copenhagen.' Until then I'd forgotten that we'd seen a changing of the guard in Copenhagen but having remembered, I would have to agree with him. Enjoyable if you like this sort of thing but somewhat disappointing.

If the flag is on top of the palace, the king is in the country!

This palace at the northwest end of Karl Johansgate, and it had an expensive renovation before 2001 when King Harald V and Queen Soja moved back into the palace. Seven years later and I am walking outside the palace, it does look nice and grand, and the park around it looks well-maintained.

On May 17th Independence Day, the royal family would look at the marching bands from the palace balcony. They do have a lot to celebrate because Norway maintains its economic strength among the Scandinavain nations, being rich in fish, timber and oil. The country did not even see the need to join the EU (reportedly so that it does not have to share fishing rights with EU nations?).

The King is just a figurehead, and Norway is run by a unicameral Parliament and a Prime Minister.

There is a pricey one hour tour , 95Kr daily (June-Aug 1400 and 1420 M-Th, Sat 1200 tickets in advance at 81 53 31 33)

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The Royal Palace was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III and is used as the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch.
The palace was designed by the Danish-born architect Hans Ditlev Franciscus Linstow. The project was initiated in the Norwegian parliament in 1821, the foundation stone was laid down by the king in 1825, and the building was completed in 1849, during the reign of Oscar I.

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The changing of the Guard takes place each day between 13.30 and 1400hrs, both at the Royal Palace, and at Akershus Fortress.

In the Summer, there is a parade with bandsmen between the Fort, via Karl Johans Gate to the Palace.

The Guards work a 2 hour shift.

Their distinctive uniform has hardly changed for over 140 years. Blue Jacket, Black Trousers, and plumed bowler hat. Apparently Princess Louise of Sweden liked the hats worn by the bersaglieri alpine soldiers of Italy, and insisted on the Norwegian Army changing to these in 1860 (An early version of Trinny and Susannah by the sounds of it!)

I had read that the guards will pose for photos, or answer questions, but these 2 didn't look too friendly- mind you it was less than -2, so I bet they were just praying for their shift to end, so they could get back into the warm!

The guards are part of His Majesty the Kings Guards or Hans Majestet Kongen Garde (HMKG) and are one of the Norwegian Armys most trained units.
Formed in 1856 by King Oscar of Sweden and Norway, they have a joint role of being lifeguards for The King and his family (Their motto is 'Alt for Kongen' - Everything for the King) , and responsibility for the defence of Oslo.

Guards who've completed their basic compulsory Military service (Females can volunteer for the guards) then undergo an intensive 5 week drill and combat training course, before they can take up their Royal Guard duties.

The HMKG is a batallion, with 6 companies, each having about 200 guards.

Each company specialises.

1. Rifle Guard
2. Escort Guards
3. Music and Drill (This company don't perform guard duties, but perform worldwide, and attend State occassions etc)
4.M.O.U.T. Military Operations on Urban Terrain (Training in combat in closed spaces and houses)
5.Staff and Support Company (responsible for activities such as transport and medical services within the camp)
6. Guards Recruit (Training School)

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Sitting proudly at the top of Karl Johans Gate, The Royal Palace is surrounded by parkland (Slottsparken).
Although it is the official residence of the present monarchy, the Royal Family live in other Royal residences.

Designed by the Danish born architect Hans D F Linstow (1787 -1881) after the Norwegian Parliament recognised the need for a Norwegian Royal Palace in 1821. Norway, having been ceded to Sweden after the Napoleonic Wars, was leaning more to independence, King Karl Johan (Formerly one of Napoleons French marshalls, then the adopted heir to the Swedish throne) was enthusiastic about creating the Palace in Christiana (becoming Oslo in 1924) The foundation stone was laid in 1825, with work completed in 1825.
The building work suffered many delays and alterations due to 'going over budget' Expansion work was carried out when King Oscar (KJ's son) and his family moved in.
Over the years the palace has undergone periods of negligence, often due to the monarchy preferring to live elsewhere. In 1905, after the dissolution of the union with Sweden, King Haaken and Queen Maud were faced with a property with no water closets, and generally an unsafe building-as well as the lack of water for hygiene, fire risk was of consideration.
King Olav attempted modest updating, with only work of priority being considered.

in 1991 the present King Harold was faced with the dilemma of updating the derelict palace. A lengthy programme of renovation, with experts being employed for each project, has received much criticism for the amount of money spent, but since the rooms have been open to the public since 2002, some have agreed the restoration was worth it.

Palace Rooms Open Summer only.

Changing of the Guard - daily @ 13.30 hours. (See My tip below for more information)

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I enjoyed the ducks on the lake at the back of the palace more than the building itself. I was a bit disappointed. It looks too modern for my liking.

The ducks were very funny. The male duck kept on chasing the female duck and she just didn't give a damn about him! He would run after her and she would stop, wait a bit (turning her head away from him and ignoring his existence) and then she would run to the lake. The poor male duck... It was very funny though how desperately in love the male duck was...LOL

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Slottet is Norway's royal palace, the home of the Norwegian Monarchy. The palace was built in the first half of the 19th century and back then it was the home of the Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III (Carl Johan or Charles XIV of Sweden). The architect, instead, was the Dane Hans Ditlev Franciscus Linstow (1787-1851)

As far as I know the park surrounding the palace (Slottsparken) can be visited every day - but do miss the boring changing of the guard at 1.30 PM. Apparently it should be possible to visit the palace by joining a guided tour, but these tours only run in summer, so I really would not know if they can be recommended or not.