Annual report of the Royal Court for 2019

The Princess is second in line of succession to the Norwegian throne. She was confirmed in the Palace Chapel on 31 August, and an official luncheon was held afterwards in the Banqueting Hall.

Throughout Norway

The Royal Family attaches great importance to meeting people from all parts of the country, and paid visits in 2019 to 47 of Norway’s municipalities and 15 of the counties. The members of the Royal Family took part in 723 official events and hosted 2 294 guests.

Record number of visitors to the Palace

During 2019, a record-high 51 000 people visited the Royal Palace during the nine weeks that the Palace was open to the public during the summer. The exhibition “Where Queens Meet” displayed wardrobe items and various objects belonging to Queen Maud and Queen Sonja, and was very popular among national and international visitors. The exhibition was designed in close cooperation with the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet.

Security project

The Royal Court’s security project, which involves efforts relating to security measures at the Royal Palace and the other Royal residences, has been the largest individual project in 2019, as it was last year as well. All through 2019 there has been extensive excavation activity in the Queen’s Park and the Palace Park. This was in connection with an upgrade of the lamps and lighting fixtures in the parks, as well as the start of activities to secure the Palace perimeter.

Annual accounts

The annual accounts for 2019 show a surplus of NOK 138 million. Of this, NOK 130 million are affiliated with the security project. All the appropriations are tied to the completion of the security project.

The accounts for the Royal Court show a surplus of NOK 8 million, which is largely due to temporarily vacant posts and postponement of projects as a result of new procurement provisions and capacity limitations. The surplus has been set aside for the implementation of renovation projects and other procurements.

The annual report and accounts of the Royal Court for 2019 have been submitted to the Presidium of the Storting, the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, and the Office of the Auditor General of Norway.