King Harald of Norway’s funeral brings together the Norwegian royal family, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, and royals and world leaders from around the globe in Oslo. King Haakon, accompanied by his sister, Princess Märtha Louise, and his children, Crown Princess Ingrid and Prince Sverre, leads the solemn procession behind his father’s coffin from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral. Carried on a gun carriage and draped in the royal standard, King Harald’s coffin makes its final journey through the capital as a grief-stricken royal family and thousands of mourners bid farewell to the monarch.
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© Getty ImagesThe Funeral Procession From the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral
In order of seniority on the throne, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden leads the Bernadotte family in the procession. The Swedish royals have always shared close ties with Norway’s king and his family, and Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are in attendance, along with Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, and Princess Madeleine and her husband, Chris O'Neill.
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© Getty ImagesThey are followed by King Abdullah of Jordan and Queen Rania; Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco; King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, accompanied by Princess Amalia; King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium; King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain; King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark with their son, Crown Prince Christian; Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, together with Grand Duke Henri; the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Japan; Prince William and Princess Anne of the United Kingdom; and Prince Pavlos of Greece.
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© Getty ImagesFollowing the representatives of the royal houses are 17 heads of state: Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Lithuania’s Gitanas Nausėda; Moldova’s Maia Sandu; Estonia’s Alar Karis; Albania’s Bajram Begaj; Canada’s Governor General Louise Arbour; Slovenia’s Nataša Pirc Musar; the Czech Republic’s Petr Pavel; Latvia’s Edgars Rinkēvičs; Finland’s Alexander Stubb; Iceland’s Halla Tómasdóttir; Georgia’s Mikheil Kavelashvili; Greece’s Konstantinos Tasoulas; Poland’s Karol Nawrocki; Ireland’s Catherine Connolly; and Hungary’s András Baka.
© Getty ImagesAlso taking part in the funeral procession are Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Morocco’s Aziz Akhannouch, Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson, Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul, and France’s Sébastien Lecornu.
© Getty ImagesRounding out the procession, which moves forward in deafening silence as crowds of citizens line the streets to bid farewell to King Harald V, are the mounted police, the General Staff and Army bands, the Guard of Honor of His Majesty the King, the head of the Royal Household, as well as Norway’s prime minister, the president of Parliament (the Storting), and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Following the funeral procession, Queen Sonja, 89, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who is facing a difficult recovery from a lung transplant, travel by car to the cathedral.
© Getty ImagesNorway is following the same tradition used to bid farewell to King Olav in 1991. Then, too, members of royal families and international leaders joined the funeral procession led by the young King Harald. Six kings and 10 queens took part, including Queen Margrethe of Denmark, who is currently hospitalized; King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands; the then Prince Charles of Wales, representing the United Kingdom; and Japan’s then Crown Prince Naruhito. Only one king, Carl Gustaf of Sweden, took part in both processions, bidding farewell to King Olav and, 35 years later, to his son, King Harald V.
