Norway bids farewell to King Harald V — royals, presidents and prime ministers gather in Oslo

Today Norway is saying farewell to King Harald V, a symbol of national unity, in a state funeral in Oslo attended by members of several European royal families as well as presidents and prime ministers from abroad.

The funeral procession begins at noon; the coffin will travel along Oslo’s main boulevard to the Lutheran Cathedral, where the religious service is scheduled to start at 13:00. After the service, four F-35 combat aircraft will perform a "missing man" flypast above the cathedral as the body is moved to the chapel at Akershus Fortress.

Ceremony, honours and the royal resting place

The coffin will be laid in the royal mausoleum beside the king’s parents and his grandparents. The late Norwegian monarch will be placed in a sarcophagus reportedly worth €1.7 million; the design of the sarcophagus has been kept secret.

Flags across the country, which have been lowered to half-staff for the funeral, will be raised again after the ceremony, and church bells will ring for one hour.

Norwegian police have mobilised nearly 3,000 officers to secure the event — one of the largest domestic security operations in the country’s history. About 3,500 soldiers are also deployed, and strict airspace restrictions have been imposed over much of eastern Norway for the occasion.

Harald V ascended the throne in 1991 and, at the time of his death, was Europe’s oldest reigning monarch. Despite worsening health in recent years, he declined to abdicate and remained widely popular among Norwegians.

He is remembered publicly as a symbol of an open and tolerant Norway. Particularly notable was his 2016 address marking 25 years on the throne, in which he said, "Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys and girls and boys who love each other." He added, "Norwegians believe in God, in Allah, in the Universe and in nothing else."

Photo: press material from the event