On August 28, Norway closed a chapter that had defined it for more than half a century. King Harald died at the age of 89, ending a reign that had made him the most beloved figure in the nation. His body was brought to the Red Room of the Royal Palace, where, for the first days, only his closest family gathered in silence to say their private goodbyes. On August 31, the coffin was moved to the Palace Chapel so the entire country could pay its respects.
His children and grandchildren walked with the coffin through five royal halls, past rooms where the king had lived and worked for decades. At the front of the procession was carried a crown that Harald himself had never worn. It had been made more than 200 years earlier for King Carl Johan, but by the time Harald took the throne, the mandatory coronation ceremony had long been abolished. At his blessing, the crown had rested beside the altar and was never placed on his head.
Now it accompanied him on his final journey. Family members lined the walls and joined the procession as the coffin passed, the line growing slowly longer. In the great banquet hall, the king’s military aides took over and carried the coffin toward the chapel. The presence of Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, had already stirred debate, and what happened during the funeral gave people new material for discussion.
Some viewers noticed that Queen Sonja seemed to avoid Marius and Durek Verrett, the husband of Princess Märtha Louise. Inside the Palace Chapel, the family gathered for a private memorial. The room was filled with personal memory. Harald had been baptized there.
His son Haakon had been baptized there. It was there that Harald had held the young Princess Ingrid Alexandra in his arms at her baptism. Twenty-two years later, his granddaughter returned to the same room to say goodbye to her grandfather. The next day, the church doors were opened to everyone who wished to come.
According to the Royal Court, more than 46,000 people came over the course of a week to pay their last respects. People stood in lines a kilometer long, sometimes waiting seven hours. The Royal Court extended visiting hours late into the night so that everyone could enter. A deeply moving photograph was shared of 94-year-old Princess Astrid, Harald’s sister, seated before the coffin.
Fourteen years earlier she had lost her older sister. Now she was saying goodbye to her younger brother. Of the three siblings, only she remained. Among the flowers on the coffin was a wreath from Queen Sonja with a short message on its ribbon: Thank you for a beautiful life.
Harald had died just one day before their 58th wedding anniversary. At the foot of the coffin lay his medals and honors, including Danish, Swedish, and British decorations. Across the coffin lay a sword and its scabbard, the handle near his right hand and the scabbard on the left, in the manner the weapon would have been worn. The sword had an unexpected history.
Its previous owner, Carl Johan, had served under Napoleon before becoming king. It was said that the emperor himself had given him the weapon. Later, the sword became part of the royal insignia and, for nearly two centuries, had been placed on the coffins of dead kings. September 9, the day of the funeral, arrived.
Oslo’s main streets were closed, and 6,500 police and soldiers secured the area. The day was so emotional that one of the guards fainted. At noon, the procession left the palace and moved down the main avenue, Carl Johan Street, toward Oslo Cathedral. People lined the entire route.
Armored police led the way, followed by military musicians and a guard of honor. The coffin was carried on a gun carriage, with aides walking alongside. Behind the coffin walked Harald’s son, the new King Haakon, with his children, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, and beside them Haakon’s sister, Märtha Louise. Because of physical difficulties, Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit followed in cars.
The day also brought discussion of what the family wore, especially the veils. People recalled the long black veils Sonja and Märtha Louise had worn at the funeral of the previous king, Olav. Even then, the veils had been seen as an old-fashioned custom and had provoked strong public debate. In such an emotional moment, the veils hid the women’s faces and tears from the cameras.
International guests came to say their farewells alongside the Norwegian royal family. Prince William represented his father, King Charles III of Britain, and Princess Anne attended as both a guest and Haakon’s godmother. King Abdullah of Jordan arrived with Queen Rania, reflecting the warm relations between the two royal families over many years. Unexpectedly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was among the guests.
His arrival had not been announced in advance, and after the ceremony the crowd outside the cathedral applauded him. King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark postponed a state visit to Belgium to attend, accompanied by Crown Prince Christian and Princess Benedikte. Frederik’s mother, former Queen Margrethe II, had canceled her participation because she had recently been hospitalized. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden came with their children and their partners, as King Harald was the godfather of Crown Princess Victoria.
From the Netherlands came King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, their daughter and heir Amalia, and Princess Beatrix, the former queen. King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain were joined by his mother, Queen Sofía. Crown Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko arrived from Japan. Prince Albert of Monaco brought Princess Charlene.
Harald’s farewell gathered royal families from far beyond Scandinavia. The procession stopped at the cathedral, and the coffin was carried inside, where the family and invited guests gathered for the state funeral service. Outside, people followed the proceedings on large screens placed around the city. It was in this same cathedral that Sonja and Harald had been married in 1968.
Fifty-eight years later, Sonja had returned to say a final goodbye to her husband. At 1 PM, three bells sounded over the cathedral, and the entire nation observed a minute of silence. Inside, the organ played, the choir sang, and eulogies were delivered. Representatives of different faiths and beliefs lit candles.
Marius was among the close family inside the cathedral, but he was not seen in the street procession. It appeared that, after the intense controversy over the coffin carrying, the decision had been made to keep him away from the most public part of the farewell and limit his presence to the church ceremony. Many also noted that Princess Märtha Louise’s husband was present at the funeral. Durek had recently undergone a kidney transplant and had attracted attention with a social media post.
About three hours after the official announcement of Harald’s death, he published a farewell message in which he called the king father. For many, this manner of offering condolences seemed inappropriate, and the debate continued in online forums even after the funeral. Some felt that Sonja had deliberately avoided embracing Marius. After hugging her granddaughters, she turned toward the bishop.
Others observed that when Durek stood before her, she pulled her hand away. But a few seconds of footage are not enough to draw conclusions about a family’s relationships. People also discussed where Princess Astrid had been seated. Some viewers felt that Harald’s only surviving sister deserved a better seat, closer to the close relatives.
The seating arrangement itself became another subject of debate about who had received enough attention that day. When the prayer service in the cathedral ended, the coffin was brought outside. Four fighter jets appeared above the cathedral. One aircraft separated from the others and climbed upward.
The absence of that single plane signified the one who was no longer among them. The funeral procession then moved toward Akershus Fortress in central Oslo, where the royal mausoleum lies. This part of the procession led directly to the burial site. In the fortress church, a small group gathered: the family, royal guests, and government representatives.
After the prayers, Harald’s coffin was carried into the royal burial chamber beneath the church and placed in the sarcophagus that had been built for him and Sonja. Nearby stood two other sarcophagi, one containing his parents, Olav and Märtha, and the other his grandparents, King Haakon and Queen Maud. The sarcophagus had drawn attention while the king was still alive because of its cost. Nearly two million dollars had been spent on the joint sarcophagus made for Harald and Sonja.
Its design had been kept strictly secret until the funeral. Harald himself had treated the subject with humor. Once, looking at Sonja, he had said, I hope there will be a good soft mattress inside so we will be comfortable. We will be there for a long time.
The burial ceremony itself was entirely private, and the Royal Court promised to show what the sarcophagus looked like about a week after the funeral. The fortress, normally open to visitors, was closed along with the church during the funeral. When visiting resumed, those who had not been able to say their goodbyes could pay their respects to the king’s memory. After the funeral, two rounds of royal cannon salutes were fired from the fortress grounds, 21 shots each with a one-minute pause between rounds.
Church bells across the country rang for another hour. When the ceremony ended, a motorcade returned the royal family and remaining guests to the palace. There, the new King Haakon and his family came out onto the palace balcony to the people who had gathered to share in the farewell. Afterwards, a reception was held at the palace for members of the Norwegian government, foreign delegations, and the relatives and guests who had taken part in the funeral.
With that, the official program of farewell came to an end. But Harald’s memory would endure far beyond the walls of the royal vault, in family photographs, in the stories of those who had met him, and in the words left among the flowers. Queen Sonja still has her children and grandchildren beside her, with whom she can share her grief and her warm memories.