We already know the date and time of King Harald of Norway’s funeral. According to the Norwegian Royal House, the ceremony will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9. It will be presided over by Olav Fykse Tveit, the presiding bishop of the Church of Norway, at Oslo Cathedral, the same place where the last farewell to Harald’s father, King Olav, took place in 1991. Before that, starting next Tuesday, citizens will be able to view his coffin in the Royal Palace chapel.
The day of the funeral will begin with a private ceremony in the Royal Palace chapel for the closest family. Then, from Akershus Fortress—the final resting place of Norway’s grandfather—there will be a 21-gun salute. At that moment, the coffin of the deceased monarch will be moved in a grand procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral.
After the religious ceremony at the cathedral, another, smaller procession will accompany the coffin to the fortress chapel. Once the funeral is over, the cortege with the royal family and the rest of the guests will return to the Royal Palace. At that moment, the new king, Haakon VIII, and his family will greet their compatriots from the balcony.
This Sunday, a visibly affected Haakon VIII of Norway led with his family the first memorial Mass for his father. The mourning and contemplation ceremony took place at the historic Asker Church, south of Oslo. Still recovering from his lung transplant, Queen Mette-Marit was the main absence at the religious service. Princess Martha Louise did not attend either; she is with her husband, Durek Verrett, who has just undergone another transplant, this time a kidney.
The guests at King Harald’s funeral
King Felipe and Queen Letizia will attend on September 9 in Oslo the funeral of King Harald. Their presence will convey their condolences in person and support the Norwegian royal family, especially the new king Haakon VIII, at the start of his reign. The kings of Spain have already sent their condolences after the death of the Norwegian monarch, whom they remembered as an example of “responsibility, dignity, simplicity and tireless dedication”.
Queen Sonja, with her grandchildren Sverre Magnus and Ingrid Alexandra, at the memorial Mass for King Harald.
A substantial presence of European royal houses is expected at Harald V’s farewell, just as occurred at his father’s funeral 35 years ago. For now, it has been confirmed that Kings Frederik and Mary of Denmark will attend the funeral, as well as King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. It is expected that the remaining monarchies—such as Sweden, the Netherlands, or the United Kingdom—will officially announce their representatives in the coming days.
Among the world leaders who will attend Norway to bid farewell to King Harald, the presence of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has also been confirmed. The American, whom we have already seen at the funeral of Pope Francis, expressed his condolences praising the late monarch as a “strong, proud, and highly respected man” and described his passing as “a truly great loss”.
Haakon’s First Message to His People
The new King Haakon VIII of Norway will take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution this Tuesday. He is not expected to be crowned, a practice abolished in 1908, but he might choose, like his father and grandfather, to have his reign blessed in a ceremony at Trondheim Cathedral, where the Norwegian kings were crowned between 1814 and 1906.
King Haakon has paid tribute to his late father.
Earlier, Haakon paid tribute to his “wonderful dad” in his first address to the nation as monarch. “Above all, you were a person who remained true to your values and devoted to your duties,” he said in a televised address. “We deeply lament his loss. At the same time, it consoles us and gives us strength to know that so many people share our grief,” he added.
Next, he stated that he would follow his own path, just as his father did before him, while reaffirming the principles of the Norwegian constitutional monarchy. “We believe in our system of self-government and in democracy. We believe in a society based on the rule of law, in which all people have equal value,” Haakon asserted.
