the royal yacht norge

Norwegian King and Queen hosted a reception onboard the Royal Yacht Norge

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway hosted a farewell reception onboard the Royal Yacht Norge at Havnepladsen in Aarhus, Denmark. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark attended the reception. After the reception, the Norwegian and Danish royal yachts departed from Aarhus.

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36 comments.

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Why is Crown Princess Mary standing in front of the King??

She does not stand in front of the King. King Harald as we all know is not well on his feet and normally needs two crutches. Here he is leaning with his right hand on a chair instead. Maybe the photographer directed Mary to move a little closer to hide the chair in the picture. Or to lend a hand if needed. It is not an official photo on a state banquet or something like that. It is more like dinner with friends.

I was thinking the same but probably the picture was taken immediately after she greeted Queen Sonja and she couldn't stand clinging to her, and the photographer didn't point it out so they could all rearrange. I assume it's an unfortunate coincidence. They all look great. I like Mary's blouse in particular a lot.

Princess Mary is always on point with royal protocol, I agreed with Beth, they were more aware of the king in case he needs help.

Mary's curtsys are way too low, but a lovely top. j.

Actually that is a more prper curtsy rather than doing it like you are in a hurry. She was trained that way as a member of danish royal family. And she always do the deep curtsy whichever country she goes & meet the monarch.

This is what the royal protocol dictates in Denmark. The lower rank royal lady , namely a Princess (including Marie), kisses the higher rank lady, the Queen. Then the Princess curtisies putting her left leg almost down to the floor and looking up towards the Queen all the time (this happens also when meeting Q.Margrethe). The two ladies hold onto each other's elbows. It takes just a few seconds. Considering that Mary is taller than Q.Sonja , she has to lean down towards Q.Sonja even when they are standing and kissing each other.(pic 4).

This is the proper way to curtsy. Or do you mean Princess Anne doesn't know how to curtsy? https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3d/8c/66/3d8c66395308432f14dfa134be7c789c.jpg

Mary looks so lovely in this outfit. Especially the blouse is gorgeous. Everything about it is light, flowy. Much beter than the Erdem dress

Very nice top! Love it 👍

Um CP Mary not a good choice IMO.

Queen Sonia’s dress is a gorgeous cherry red color and she looks elegant as always. I like the flowers on Mary’s blouse but not the design…not a fan of the loose bell sleeves. Her hairdo is pretty and I do admire ladies who can wear wide legged slacks with high heels and walk confidently. (I’d be constantly tripping!)

The dark pearls the Queen is wearing are divine, her necklace and bracelet, look fabulous. Her dress looks lovely. CP Mary looks superb. I love this floral print silk blouse. Interesting features, the neckline and sleeves, cuffs are very becoming, it looks very feminine, combined with the white pants, looks fabulous. The clutch was a clever choice, color wise, drawing out the yellow coloring of her blouse. Her earrings are splendid.

Yes to Queen Sonia's dress, simple and elegant but no to Mary's outfit, blouse or wide legged pants. Ava

This fresh and flowing outfit is lovely on Mary. Very summery but covered.

Very pretty top, light and airy for summer

Sonja looks elegant and great; Fred's suit jacket is way too small; and Mary's hair dresser cape is no good. - Ellile

Another positive vote for Mary's blouse. It looks beautiful. (I don't like the wide trousers though. They look OK from the front, but not from the side.) - Anon 9:13

I like the blouse on the model but how Mary combined it doesn't look smashy for me. It's a mess.

If Mary's outfit had been made by Natan she would not receive good critics. Besides the haute couture rules are : wide pants, a shorter and tighter top. Regular or skinny pants the top can be made wider. The fabric of the top is very lovely though. A summer dress in this fabric would have been stunning.

QS's looking terrific in this cherry coloured dress; very elegant. I do like the blouse CPM's wearing, but not in combination with this white pair of trousers; A yellow or black colour would have made the overall look so much better in my opinion.

Même si je ne suis pas trop fan des pantalons larges, je reconnais que celui de Mary lui va à merveille ; son chemisier à imprimé floral est superbe mais la couleur de fond est trop fade. Très bonne idée que d'avoir ressorti ces boucles d'oreilles !

Queen Sonia looks lovely and elegant in the red dress. CP Mary's blouse is one of the ugliest I have seen in a long while. Looks like a cheap hairdressers cape from way back. I like her pants. Ladyofthemanor

Oh I think Mar's blouse is lovely, a bit unusual yes but why not ?

Mary best dressed royal! /Annson

When I take into account the following ….. - Outdoors, nautical location, on a boat - Danish summer weather. - A friendly, family lunch, not a gala indoor banquet. Then, for me, Princess Mary has made a good choice with her outfit.

Hello, @Deadeggs. Yes, your remarks are correct. As far as I can see here and on other sites, the yacht was docked in Nyhavn in Copenhagen, a beautiful elegant place where you can find elegant venues to spend time sipping your coffee or having meals while looking at the people taking strolls up and down in the surroundings All the royals are appropriately attired for a formal gathering onboard (A formal banquet would be held at one of the Monarch' s castles and with the Queen herself in attendance). Moreover, summers are somewhat changeable in Denmark, sunny on some days and rainy and even nippy on other days.

Ops, sorry. The caption here reads that the reception was held in Aarhus... well It does not change that much. Aarhus Is a well known university town in Denmark. There Is also an eye- catching harbour, which can be easily spotted from afar given its main feature, a gigantic ball symbolizing the earth. It is quite similar to Nyhavn in Copenhagen. Hope Q.Sonja spento some time visiting exibitions in Aarhus. She seems to be so fond of arts.

I think CPMary’s outfit would have been wonderful if she had worn the slim pink trousers as shown on the model. Others here have mentioned that ‘volume over volume’ is not always flattering, and I agree. Nevertheless her hair, makeup, jewelry, and accessories are lovely. (V.M.)

The model version of the blouse has a pink hue to it. But Mary’s has more of a grey hue.It could be the choice of trousers and under top that makes them look different. It’s very whimsical and feminine. QS looks lovely in her red dress. Bea

QS back to her elegant self, a rare miss for PM, hair, earrings are beautiful, the i don't like the blouse neither the pants. Luna

QS is beautiful in her rose colored dress. I was a bit surprised by Mary's look as this is a different look for her in terms of the top. She too looks beautiful. I like her look but wish she had chosen to imitate the model's presentation--loose and flowy top not tucked in over more narrow trousers. Her hair, makeup, jewelry, and accessories are marvelous. Janet

Awful trousers. I have better fitting long smart white pants in my closet on my humble budget .

I usually don't fault CP Mary's outfit choices but on this occasion I will say her outfit not only looks ridiculous it is also hideous. Mary

Mary goes from bad to worse. First Erdem and now this. Going for boho this summer?

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Nicholas II’s family yachts (PHOTOS)

The last Russian emperor is often considered one of the richest people in history. His worth was estimated at $250-300 billion, if we go by what the ruble was worth in 2010. A multitude of factors must be considered when speaking of the Royal family’s ‘bank account’ ( not all is straightforward there ), but what we know for sure is that living expenses left a massive dent in the Russian Empire’s treasury. In 1894-1914, the family had the largest yacht flotilla of all monarchs on the planet. These floating castles were formally owned by the maritime department, but, in practice, belonged to the Romanov family and built to its specifications. 

‘Standart’ 

In 1892, the maritime department ordered a Danish shipyard to build a cruiser, but Alexander III soon ordered to turn it into a yacht. It was already during Nicholas II that the yacht was finally lowered into water, using ‘Standart’ - a traditional name for a tsar’s vessel (the first yacht of this name saw the light of day during Peter I’s reign, almost 200 years earlier).

Imperial Russian yacht Shtandart (1893–1961), off the coast of the Crimea, near Yalta, in 1898.

The cruiser yacht, meanwhile, was humongous: measuring 128 meters, it had a crew of almost 400! The Standart was the largest and most luxurious emperor’s yacht in the world, boasting a conference room, an exquisite dining hall for official visits, separate living room, ensuite amenities for every guest cabin and so on. The interior was fashioned with expensive wood and matched the Winter Palace in luxuriousness: crystal chandeliers, candelabras, velvet portiers and other bells and whistles.

Imperial Yacht Standart

All of that was, of course, perfect for welcoming the most esteemed guests onboard: a Siamese King, a German Emperor and a French President were all visitors at one point. However, the yacht was just as likely to be used for family outings. Nicholas and his family loved to vacation from June to early August, usually on the Finnish islands. They would live on the yacht and only set foot on land for relaxing walks. 

The Russian Imperial Family aboard the Imperial yacht Standart.

World War I put an end to those walks and yacht trips, for security reasons. In 1917, the tsar-cruiser became the site of a sailor rebellion - just as other vessels at the time, and already in April, the Baltic Fleet’s Revolutionary Committee took up residence in it. 

All of the metamorphoses that had taken place henceforth aboard the yacht did not exhibit even a trace of its former elitist flair. The ship was repurposed into a minelayer, then used in battle. After the war, the vessel served as a barracks on water and, from 1961, as target practice for missiles. By the end of the 1960s, it bore the unglamorous fate of being taken apart for parts and scrap metal. 

‘Polar Star’

The ‘Polar Star’ appeared in the Royal family earlier than the ‘Standart’, in 1888. Its construction was also that of a cruiser yacht, with four 47-millimeter cannons on board. 

Imperial Russian yacht Polyarnaya Zvezda in Copenhagen.

The cruiser served the Romanovs until 1914 and used to take the tsar on visits to European capitals, as well as participating in official military functions and celebrations. And, although the Polar Star was a more modest affair than the Standard, according to Count Ignatyev, “her rival”, which belonged to English Queen Alexandra of Denmark, Nicholas II’s aunt, “paled in comparison”. The Polar Star housed a church and even a cowshed, with a separate cabin. 

Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaievich

The yacht was most frequently spotted not at official state functions, but in a small Copenhagen port, where this “dark blue beauty, fringed with a massive gold rope”, voyaged every year with Nicholas’s mother, Maria Fedorovna, aboard. The Royal family loved going shopping in Copenhagen and, although the Danish capital was only a couple of days’ travel by train, the widowed empress preferred the yacht. 

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna with Anna Vyrubova in the main deck salon of the Imperial yacht Polar Star

After the Revolution, the vessel faced a similar fate to the Standart. It was first taken up by revolutionary sailors, then, before World War II, it was repurposed to serve as a submarine mothership. In 1954, the former Romanov yacht was likewise turned into a floating barracks and, seven years later - into a target for missile tests. It was finally sunk in the 1960s. 

‘Svetlana’

Nicholas II’s uncle Prince Aleksey’s personal yacht, the ‘Svetlana’, was inspired by the 2nd class French armored cruiser, the ‘Catinat’, so was given to French engineers to design. It was lowered into the water in 1897. 

Due to the fact that the ship was first intended for Grand Duke Aleksey Aleksandrovich, it contained luxurious chambers, fashioned with expensive wood, marble and persian rugs. The Portuguese queen once took a 45-minute tour of the yacht, allegedly never hiding her amazement.

But, aside from taking the Royal family on vacations and serving as an armored minelayer and escort, the vessel also managed to take part in battle. Aside from soft couches and marble, the ship was armed to the teeth: in 1904, it was included in Russia’s Pacific Fleet and sent to fight in the Russo-Japanese War. Having received a direct shell hit during the Battle of Tsushima, the cruiser attempted to get itself to safety, but was detected and sustained heavy Japanese fire. Almost 300 sailors lost their lives. An investigative committee set up after the battle determined that the crew of the Svetlana “showed exemplary fortitude and self-sacrifice”. This appraisal was especially important to those who had survived: prior to the war, the Pacific Fleet’s sailors considered them “maids” and their ship - a “floating hotel”, instead of a fighting unit. 

A dozen smaller yachts 

The list didn’t end there. Almost every Romanov relative used to own their own cruiser. From 1905, one such vessel - the ‘Almaz’ (‘Diamond’) - acted as a double. For six long years, it would swap places with the Standart in Finland - their silhouettes were extremely similar. The security measures weren’t unfounded: there was word that, in 1907, a floating mine was spotted on approach to Kotkin Bay. The Almaz was docked in the Standart’s place that day. 

Imperial Russian cruiser Almaz.

However, aside from these humongous yachts, the Romanovs also used a dozen smaller ones: the ‘Tsarina’, ‘Aleksandria’, ‘Slavyanka’, ‘Livadia’ and others. They were used for relaxed outings around that same area and not for official state visits to Europe.

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Everything you need to know about marine AI technology

• October 30, 2024

Jonathon Savill reports on the revolutionary impact marine AI technology is about to have on all areas of life at sea

Innovative technology has always created fresh new chapters in how we approach sailing. You only have to look back at the most advanced and sophisticated navigation systems of the mid-twentieth century, such as Decca and LORAN, to see how they are now nothing more than half-forgotten marine curiosities, trampled into extinction by GPS and the plethora of electronic navigational devices born in its digital wake.

Now though, it’s time to prepare ourselves for what is likely to be the most fundamental technological change the marine environment has ever seen – the AI (artificial intelligence) transition – an advance that will touch and transform every aspect of life at sea, from naval operations and commercial shipping to yacht marina manoeuvres, autopilots and search and rescue.

Naval operations

Those sailing the waters of the Solent over the last year or so may have been lucky enough to witness the Royal Navy testing out its new fleet of swift airborne autonomous drones designed to rescue crew who have fallen overboard. The new drones can quickly locate a casualty, drop a lifejacket down to them, then hover above to keep a steady mark of their location.

Lookout’s augmented reality view of a harbour approach

The Senior Service has also been trialling new types of unmanned vessels along the south coast for potentially dangerous naval applications, such as mine hunting, where having a crewless vessel would always be preferable. The semi-autonomous boats, known as MADFOX (MAritime Demonstrator For Operational eXperimentation) are controlled by navy personnel using laptops and joysticks as they sit comfortably on a nearby beach.

Search and rescue

The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), meanwhile, has just begun a partnership with AI specialist firm Faculty to create the next generation of search and rescue procedures. Faculty is said to be carrying out advanced analytics using AI machine learning technology to analyse historical data on more than 9,000 search and rescue calls received over the last three years. The results will then be used to inform the planning for the country’s future helicopter search and rescue capability, which will be known as Search and Rescue Second Generation (UKSAR2G).

Baltic Yachts is now using AI technology throughout its design process

Better boatbuilding

Over in Finland, luxury yacht builder Baltic Yachts has also now started incorporating AI technology into all of its latest designs. ‘By integrating cutting-edge machine learning AI technology into the design of our yachts, we are not only enhancing safety but also increasing the comfort aboard our yachts whilst at sea,’ explains Henry Hawkins, Baltics Yachts’ vice president.

Autonomous ships

According to a recent report by Lloyd’s Register, the global AI marine market is now worth $1.5 billion a year – a figure expected to double within five years. Big business is therefore extremely keen to promote the use of Marine Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), which can sail, berth and perform manoeuvres without any human intervention at all, in order to reduce costs while increasing efficiency and profits. Every part of the technology required to achieve this aim is currently available – the only hold-up right now is the establishment of international regulatory agreement, something the IMO (International Maritime Organization) is urgently wrestling with. How, for instance, will they regulate the use of what are, in effect, robot ships roaming the seas of their own accord? And what will the insurance implications be should anything ever go wrong?

How soon until search and rescue and pilot operations are fully autonomous?

Skeleton crew

In Norway, the first of eight highly advanced 78m offshore research vessels have been launched to perform tech-enabled lean-crewed operations.

The Armada Ships as they are known, have been equipped with advanced marine electronics to carry out remote deep sea operations, including collecting offshore sea bed data with minimal environmental impact. The onshore-controlled vessels will initially use a skeleton crew on board, but the near-future plan is for the vessels to be capable of working with no personnel on board at all.

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Augmented Reality

The USA, of course, isn’t far behind in the marine AI stakes. Notable among its latest yachting AI navigational aids is the new Lookout system designed to be fitted to medium size recreational craft. Lookout uses a camera sited high on the boat, then bringing together radar, AIS, electronic charts and machine learning to create a 3D augmented reality view of the craft’s surroundings on a tablet, phone or helm MFD. Coming in at around £11,000, it can also see through low visibility, spotting lobster buoys or casualties in the water at a distance of 50 metres.

Bright future

The possibilities and fundamental change marine AI and autonomous systems now promise are, without doubt, enormous. And while the sight of large cargo ships travelling at speed into Southampton or Felixstowe with not a single human being on board may be a few years off yet, it’s more than likely, in the foreseeable near future, that smaller vessels, such as tug boats, light cargo ships, search and rescue craft, and even the role of highly experienced harbour pilots, will all become remotely operated. And not by some salty old seafarer, but by a keyboard operator tapping away at a laptop, or twiddling a joystick, in a nondescript room, miles, many miles, possibly many hundreds of miles, from the sea itself.

Even sextants have now succumbed to the new digital age

Smart shipping

Britain, with its long and proud history of maritime technological development, is particularly keen on establishing itself as early as possible as the world’s leading marine AI pioneer. Earlier this year, the UK government launched an £8 million fund to boost the country’s position at the forefront of machine-learning maritime technology. The investment will be used to stimulate the development of a wide range of new digital assets, from self-driving boats to autonomous port operations, as stimulants for an improved sea-based economy and support for, often neglected, coastal communities. M

Money from the Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund will be used to develop smart marine technologies including AI, robotics and autonomous vessels. It’s hoped port authorities will eventually be able to use AI to optimise commercial activity, increase safety, and reduce negative environmental impacts.

‘Artificial intelligence will deliver real change in shipping and the marine environment with greater use of autonomous vessels and automated data analysis,’ insists Peter Aylott, policy director at the UK Chamber of Shipping. ‘These technologies will help generate jobs, improve supply chains and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’

UK port operations are becoming more and more autonomous

Marina Manoeuvres

In the realm of recreational boating UK-based marine technology specialist Raymarine recently launched Docksense, an AI supported system to help craft manoeuvre in a marina.

The system uses sophisticated cameras and a joystick and is said to be particularly useful on any boat that can pivot, such as a yacht with a bow thruster. While not fully autonomous, it has, however, been designed to intervene and prevent any chance of a collision, with the system allowing the skipper to select a berth on a screen and then hand over control of the boat to the computer. I have watched a demo of it. It was efficient but on the fourth attempt it was fooled by a fast-moving tide. It then, very sensibly, moved the boat clear and had another go, which was finally successful. As a helmsman I would have tried it and almost certainly have failed.

The system can be fitted to new boats, but not retrofitted, at a cost of around £15,000 for a three camera setup.

Raymarine’s Docksense on an Axiom 12 screen

Crowded waters

Raymarine has also developed a second new consumer AI product, Neuboat, which can be mounted on the top of a yacht’s mast to help the boat navigate through crowded waters using six cameras to guide propulsion and steering, whilst displaying the information on an Axiom chartplotter. If, for instance, you want to moor up a couple of miles upstream, the software will use AI to plot a course shown as a blue line on the screen, then avoid any floating objects and low bridges.

‘This AI system provides a virtual buffer zone around the vessel,’ explains Jamie Cox, product director at Raymarine. ‘It will be especially useful for larger boats where the skipper has no direct view of the entire hull.’

The Neuboat system, like Dockwise, costs around £15,000.

A masthead SEA.AI machine-learning camera monitoring its surroundings

Italian coastguard

Meanwhile, over in the Mediterranean, the Italian Coastguard has successfully deployed an autonomous lifeboat and drone combination, as part of a large search and rescue exercise. Sensors on board the drone were able to detect casualties floating in the water, then guide the unmanned lifeboat directly to them. The drone has been equipped with optical and infrared cameras, a maritime radar, AIS receiver, and an emergency position indicating radio beacon antenna, to make it as optimal and autonomous as possible for future search and rescue and maritime surveillance missions.

AI vision is now guiding this Fred. Olsen fast ferry through the seas of the Canary Islands

Collision Avoidance

In August, the world’s first passenger fast-ferry equipped with an AI vision system was launched in the Canary Islands. At present AIS can only show and identify maritime traffic superimposed over an electronic chart which, in turn, indicates fixed features such as buoys, beacons and other navigational marks.

The new AI vision system, SEA.AI, takes this a step further, being able to alert navigators and bridge officers to anything floating in the water that hasn’t been identified and recorded by the other systems. Crucially, SEA.AI’s machine learning means that it can identify target objects and automatically determine whether they are a potential collision threat.

It achieves this by using externally mounted high-resolution cameras capable of operating in the lowest light and contrast situations along with two highly accurate thermal cameras. The cameras are all gyro- and digitally-stabilised to provide a constant watch 360° around the vessel. The cameras are able to eliminate the digital ‘noise’ of the seascape to determine potential targets in real time.

The visual and thermal signatures of the targets are then compared to those within SEA.AI’s ever-growing database of millions of annotated marine objects. The results can be shown on a display on the bridge or a computer or tablet. Once potential collisions have been determined, SEA. AI will automatically alert the crew. The system is stand-alone and requires no internet connection. The cameras can identify large vessels not fitted with AIS up to 7.5km away; smaller craft such as fishing boats, dinghies and inflatables up to 3km away; and buoys, flotsam and MOB casualties up to 700m away.

‘AI vision is the next safety standard in the marine world and is now being used on commercial vessels and recreational yachts,’ explains Solenn Gouerou, head of marketing at Sea.Ai. ‘AI technology will undoubtedly save lives at sea.’

AI saved IMOCA HOLCIM-PRB from a serious offshore collision

Ocean Racing

High-speed ocean racing yachts are also now using SEA.AI machine learning technology. In April this year, the Transat CIC singlehanded transatlantic race saw 20 of the 33-strong IMOCA fleet equipped with SEA.AI technology as they departed Lorient, France, headed for New York.

‘SEA.AI is a great tool,’ enthused Nicolas Lunven, skipper of the IMOCA HOLCIM-PRB, at the startline. ‘It will be an extremely important tool for ocean racing in the future. Just two years ago it helped me avoid a serious collision with a small fishing boat as I raced along the African coast.”

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Peter Carl Faberge

Jeweller Born: St. Petersburg - 30 May 1846 Died: Lausanne, Switzerland - 24 September 1920

In 1860, the family moved to Dresden, leaving the business in the hands of a trusted manager while Carl Faberge was groomed to take over the family business. He studied first in Dresden, and then with top goldsmiths in other major European cities, including Josef Friedman in Frankfurt, before returning to St. Petersburg in 1872. During the next decade, while the firm was involved with cataloguing and restoring the Hermitage's jewel collection, the House of Faberge continued to produce jewellery in the heavy French style fashionable at the time.

In 1882, Carl Faberge was named a Master Jeweller and at the Pan-Russian Exhibition in Moscow Tsar Alexander III bought a pair of Faberge cufflinks and personally praised Faberge for his replica of a gold Scythian bracelet from the 4th century BC, kept in the Hermitage, saying that Faberge . Drawing inspiration from the treasures he had seen in museums and private collections throughout Europe, especially the Grunes Gewolbe (Green Vault) in Dresden, from the eclecticism and intricacy of newly fashionable Art Nouveau, and from Russian folk traditions, Faberge had begun to design more and more artistic jewellery and objets d'art.

Alexander III ordered the first Faberge egg (the First Hen Egg) as an Easter gift for his wife, Empress Maria Fyodorovna, in 1885. The egg, made of gold covered with white enamel, opened to reveal a matte yellow gold yolk which contained a gold hen with ruby eyes. The hen in turn had a hinged tale, and inside were a diamond model of the Imperial crown and a ruby pendant that could be worn on a chain. The egg was such a success that the House of Faberge was immediately made "goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Court", and each year from then until the October Revolution (except for 1904 and 1905, due to the Russo-Japanese War), Alexander III and then his heir Nicholas II presented an original Faberge egg to the Russian Empress (Nicholas gave one egg to his wife, Alexandra Fyodorovna, and one to his mother). In total, Faberge produced at least 52 eggs for the Imperial family, each designed to a theme, often drawn from notable events in Russia or Romanov anniversaries and celebrations, and each featuring a surprise when opened, often with intricate mechanisms. These were a surprise even to the Emperor himself, as Alexander gave Carl Faberge carte blanche to conceive and design the eggs, and knew nothing until the egg was collected from the jeweller a few days before Christmas. Among the most famous are the Trans-Siberian Egg of 1900 and the vast Moscow Kremlin Egg of 1906, which marked the first visit by Nicholas and Alexandra to Moscow.

The Imperial Eggs brought the House of Faberge immediate international success. Eggs were presented to Romanov relatives in royal and aristocratic houses throughout Europe, and smaller versions worn as pendants became highly fashionable accessories. The Faberge output was not limited to eggs, however. The company produced all types of jewellery, ornaments and tableware, with branches in Moscow, Kiev, Odessa and London. The House of Faberge became the largest jewellery manufacturer in Russia, producing over 150 000 pieces by the time of the October Revolution.

In 1900, Faberge commissioned the architect Carl Schmidt, son of a German engineer, to design new premises for the company. The Art Nouveau building at 24, Bolshaya Morskaya Ulitsa contained not only the ground floor store, but also the Faberge family's 15-room apartment and the workshops of his craftsmen. The most prominent of these were the Finns Michael Perkhin, Henrik Wigstrom, and August and Albert Holmstrom. For several years, Carl Faberge's main assistant in the designing of jewellery was his younger brother, Agathon Faberge (1862-1895), who had also trained in Dresden.

The House of Faberge was nationalised in 1918, and Carl Faberge left St. Petersburg on the last diplomatic train to Riga. At the age of 72, Faberge was crushed by the blow to his life and his craft. He died in Lausanne on 24 September 1920.

Since 2013 the lavish 18th century Shuvalov Palace, St. Petersburg has been the home of Museum Faberge and holds the world's largest collection of Faberge eggs.

Monuments: Bust of Faberge on Ploshchad Karla Faberzhe (Carl Faberge Square)

Addresses: House of Faberge (24, Bolshaya Morskaya Ulitsa), Museum Faberge (21, Naberezhnaya Reki Fontanki)

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The Royal Residences

The Royal Palace in Oslo is the most important of the King’s residences, and most official functions take place here. However there are a number of other Royal residences in other parts of the country. Stiftsgården in Trondheim, Gamlehaugen in Bergen, Leedal in Stavanger and Bygdø Royal Farm outside Oslo are owned by the state but used by the Royal Family when visiting those parts of the country. The publicly owned residences are also museums and are open to the public.

The Royal Family owns a number of private properties such as Skaugum Estate in Asker, where the Crown Prince and Crown Princess live, the Royal Mountain Chalet in Sikkilsdalen, the Royal Lodge at Voksenkollen, outside Oslo, and the summer holiday retreat Mågerø in Tjøme, outside Tønsberg. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess also owns a holiday retreat in Uvdal and at Flatholmen outside Risør.

The Royal Yacht Norge transports the King and other members of the Royal Family on many of their journeys in Norway and abroad.

Palace Tours

The Royal Palace and the summer palace Oscarshall are open to the public during the summer season.

The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace was completed in 1849, and King Oscar I was the first king to reside there. It also houses the offices of the Royal Family and most of the Royal Court.

Oscarshall Summer Palace

Oscarshall was built by King Oscar I in the years 1847-1852. It is considered to be one of the finest examples of Neo-Gothic architecture in Norway, and of the National Romantic style so popular during the period.

Bygdø Royal Farm

Bygdø Royal Farm is situated on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo. It has been owned or used by Norwegian monarchs almost continuously since 1305.

Skaugum Estate

Skaugum Estate is owned by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. The farm has a history dating back to the Middle Ages.

The Royal Lodge

The Royal Lodge - Kongsseteren - was a coronation gift from The Norwegian people to King Haakon and Queen Maud in 1906.

The Royal Mountain Chalet

The Royal Mountain Chalet "Prinsehytta" is located in the mountains of Jotunheimen and was a gift designed to better Norwegian-Swedish relations in 1902.

Mågerø is the King’s and Queen’s private holiday retreat, and is situated on a headland in Tjøme in southern Norway.

Stiftsgården

Stiftsgården is the King’s official residence in Trondheim.It was built in the 18th century and is one of the largest wooden buildings in Scandinavia.

Gamlehaugen

Gamlehaugen is the King’s official residence in Bergen. Originally, Gamlehaugen belonged to Christian Michelsen, prime minister of 1905.

Ledaal is the King’s official residence in Stavanger. It was the first house in Stavanger to be built of brick.

The Royal Yacht Norge

The Norge is one of the world’s two remaining royal yachts. It was a gift from the Norwegian people to King Haakon on his 75th birthday.

Items from the Collections

The Royal Collections comprise more than 200 000 objects. They contain art, photographs, furtniture, silverware, glass, clothes and textiles, toys and vehicles - and much more.