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The Palace Chapel

The Palace Chapel provides a framework for important events in the life of the Royal Family. The altar stands over the foundation stone of the Royal Palace.

The Palace Chapel. Photo: Øivind Möller Bakken, the Royal Court

Both His Majesty King Harald, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon and Her Royal Highness Princess Ingrid Alexandra were baptised and confirmed in the Palace Chapel. In addition, Princess Astrid, Prince Sverre Magnus and other members of the Royal Family were baptised here.

The Palace Chapel also plays an important role when the people bid their final farewell. Here King Haakon VII, Crown Princess Märtha and King Olav V lay in closed coffins while thousands filed past to pay their last respects.

Since 2002, the Palace Chapel has also been used for concerts, and in recent years the Royal Family has on several occasions invited guests to Christmas at the Palace Chapel — a pre-Christmas gathering bringing joy to both guests and television viewers. The first event took place during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, though without any guests present.

The Palace Chapel in use

From the annual event Christmas in the Palace Chapel. Photo: Heiko Junge, NTB
Princess Ingrid Alexandra is confirmed. Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB
King Harald lighted the first candle during the confirmation of Princess Ingrid Alexandra. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB
Prince Sverre Magnus was christened in the Palace Chapel. Photo: Jon Eeg, NTB
King Harald carried Princess Ingrid Alexandra for her Christening 17 April 2004. Photo: Tor Richardsen, NTB
Prince Haakon’s baptism in the Palace Chapel, officiated by Oslo’s Bishop Kaare Støylen. Around the Prince sit his parents, family, and godparents. In the front row: King Olav V (grandfather and godparent), Princess Astrid (aunt and godparent), Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja with Prince Haakon. Photo: NTB

The Foundation Stone of the Palace

King Carl Johan laid the foundation stone of the Palace during a solemn ceremony on 1 October 1825. The stone was placed beneath what was to become the altar in the Palace Chapel. The fact that the foundation stone was placed here tells us of the important position a palace chapel held as part of a royal residence. The Norwegian royal residences have had their own chapels ever since the Middle Ages, and such chapels can also be found at Stockholm Palace, in Copenhagen, and at other European estates. The chapel is the only room in the Palace that bears King Carl Johan’s monogram.

Linstows plan for the altar.
The Palace architect Linstow sent drawings from Berlin in 1837 for the design of the chapel, clearly inspired by the German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Here is Linstow’s sketch of the altar. Photo: The Royal Collections.
The chancel of the chapel was completed with an apse (a semicircular recess), and the wall behind the altar is made of pink stucco marble. The organ is situated in the gallery above. Photo: Øivind Möller Bakken, The Royal Court.
The chapel has side aisles with a gallery supported by six pillars. The interior design with pillars, gallery, and wooden ceiling heralds the new timber architecture that came to characterise the latter half of the 19th century. The colour scheme of grey, beige, green, violet, and brown was typical of the 1840s. Photo: Øivind Möller Bakken, The Royal Court.
The altar itself is made of white stucco marble. In the centre stands a gilded cross, flanked by Olav Glosimodt’s marble figures of the Apostles Peter and Paul. To the left of the altar stands the pulpit, also rendered in white and gold. Photo: Øivind Möller Bakken, The Royal Court.
The richly decorated ceiling was executed by Peder Wergmann in the summer of 1843. Photo: Øivind Möller Bakken, The Royal Court.
In the panelling of the side aisles are inset plaster reliefs of the four Evangelists, created by the sculptor Hans Michelsen. Photo: The Royal Collections.

Restoration

The chapel was restored in 2004 in connection with the baptism of Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and it appears today largely as it did when the Palace was inaugurated in 1849. The only elements missing are the original brass chandeliers, which hung in the chapel until 1903. The originals can now be found in Vanse and Hole churches.

Guided tours of the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace front