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Norway

Norway’s royal court announces 111% increase in electricity spending and delays in security project

The Norwegian royal court has released its annual spending report, and two surprising things were revealed.

First, electricity bills have doubled, and second, the work on securing royal properties against terror attacks has been far more expensive than initially thought. Last year, the Norwegian royal house saw an increase of 111% in electricity costs compared to the previous year. For 2021, the total cost was 3,7 million Norwegian crowns or about 258,000 GBP. Electricity prices in Norway have risen in the last year due to an ongoing electricity crisis, so a rise in spending on electricity was expected.

The ordinary operation of the royal house had an accounting operating loss of 4,7 million Norwegian crowns last year. In addition, there is a planned accounting operating loss of 129 million Norwegian crowns for an ongoing security project at the royal court.

In the report, the Chief of Staff said that the work of developing security around the Royal Palace in Oslo and private royal properties had proved to be more complicated than what was initially believed. In the public palace park and at the closed Bygdøy royal estate, several factors have led to the security upgrades taking longer than planned, causing a delay of more than half a year.

In a press release on the annual report, the Norwegian royal court explained that there was a high level of activity, even with the global health crisis.

The Norwegian royal family visited eight counties in person and three digitally; they also saw 31 municipalities physically and 13 digitally. Fifty Council of States were held at the Royal Palace, and many audiences were held with foreign ambassadors. Additionally, King Harald and Queen Sonja hosted a state visit for King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands in November. Crown Prince Haakon also undertook an important visit to the United States.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.