It has been announced that a State Council will be held at the Royal Norwegian Palace in Oslo on Wednesday. This is highly unusual as usually, all the State Council meetings are held on Fridays. Whenever the King does not have the opportunity to attend the State Council on Fridays, his son, Crown Prince Haakon attends behalf of his father. When the Crown Prince also not have the opportunity to attend the State Council, the meetings are usually held in the Prime Minister’s office in a very simple ceremony. Therefore, the fact that this session will be scheduled for a Wednesday is highly suspicious.
Generally, some extra meetings of the State Council are held during a cabinet period. This happens when the Prime Minister replaces some of the government’s ministers, or in some cases, alerting the King to a political crisis. These meetings are announced in advance by the Norweigan Royal Court – this has not happened this time. Therefore, it is unlikely that changes in government be announced; especially being as there are parliamentary elections in Norway in September.
Earlier this week, Norway’s Prime Minister was criticised for allegedly not respecting the King.
Royal Central contacted the Royal Norwegian Court for a comment in relation to Wednesday’s State Council. A spokesperson said that all questions about the State Council must be addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office. Royal Central has contacted the Prime Minister’s Office, who has yet to respond.
There may, of course, be an innocent explanation. The Royal Court’s calendar contains tasks throughout Thursday this week and gives no further information on what the Royal Family will do after Thursday. There is, therefore, a possibility that the King and his family are travelling on their Easter holidays and want to hold a meeting of the State Council before they leave the country. State Councils are never held during public holidays like Easter. Whether this is the explanation, it is the first time this has happened in decades.
Royal Central will keep you updated on what happens during tomorrow’s unusual State Council.
I once again criticize use of the name Royal Norwegian Castle when writing about the Royal Palace in Oslo. Although the name of the building is Kongelige Slott, it does not appear as a castle. More likely to a palace, and therefore one should use the word palace.