The exchanged crowns led to a royal game of thrones in Storting. – It shouldn’t happen again, Storting President Masud Gharahkhani (Ap) told VG.
Updated only now
The ceremonial opening of the 167th Storting was a very traditional affair. But one thing was not what Monday should be: Queen Sonja sat in a princess chair and Crown Prince Haakon sat in a queen chair.
– We are aware that the chairs were changed by mistake, writes Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen, assistant communications officer at the Castle, in an email to VG.
Refer to Storting for further comment.
– It is true that the insignia of the two chairs were mistakenly changed yesterday, and that will never happen again. We only found out at the end of the ceremony, writes the president of Storting Masud Gharahkhani (Ap) in an e-mail to VG.
– A little slow
The two chairs are different from the larger throne chair on which the king sits. But even though the chairs are confusingly similar, there is one small but important difference: the queen must sit in a chair with a closed crown on top of the back of the chair, while the crown prince’s chair must have an open crown.
– The Storting is a bit negligent, says royal expert Trond Norén Isaksen. He is one of the very careful people who noticed the mistake.
– How important is it for royalty to get the right chair?
– In the grand scheme of things, not at all important. But it is symbolically important, and important for etiquette and protocol, he tells VG.
Scroll to see more photos of the chairs from previous parliamentary openings:
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– Downgrade the queen
A closed crown is for the king and queen, an open one for princes and princesses. It marks their different position and dignity, explains Isaksen.
– Putting her in a prince’s chair is a protocol-related downgrade of the queen, and putting her in a queen’s chair is a protocol-related update of the crown prince, he says.
Isaksen says it’s easier than you might think to make this mistake – and not just because gilded chairs with seats in red velvet canopies easily look similar to the inexperienced eye.
– The chairs are completely identical and the crowns are loose and stored in a bag. When you set up the chairs on the podium, it doesn’t matter which is the queen’s and the crown prince’s, but you have to put the loose crowns on the right chair, she says.
– It already happened?
– Not that I can remember, but since 1906 I have not participated in all parliamentary openings, says Isaksen.
The Storting room must be set up for ceremonial opening after the last meeting of the previous Storting session – and the first constitutive meeting of the new one. So the presidential podium and Storting’s lectern must be removed to make room for the throne – and the other two royal chairs.
– It goes fast enough. However, when you’re done, pan around and see that everything is as it should be. It’s something they need to be very careful about, Isaksen says.
Wrong chair for over 100 years
According to Isaksen, the two exchanged chairs are not yet the only mistake that happened in the parliamentary hall on Monday. But the second has been happening for over 100 years and is an etiquette error.
– The king and queen will sit on chairs with armrests, while princes and princesses on chairs without, he says.
During the Union period from 1814 to 1905, royal women sat in today’s diplomatic lodge.
– Then they sat on chairs that are actually in the Palace ballroom, which were brought to the Storting. After 1905, Queen Maud began to sit next to the king on the podium, Isaksen says and continues:
– In 1905 they borrowed a chair from the National Theater and from 1906 they used a princess chair as the queen’s chair. That’s why the queen and the crown prince sit in identical chairs, except for a loose crown on top, which can change places, says and adds:
– As unfortunately yesterday.
