This will be Harald V's funeral: from the Oslo Cathedral to the Akershus Royal Mausoleum

The death of Harald V now opens the last chapter of a reign of more than three decades: his farewell. The king of Norway passed away this Friday at the age of 89 at the University Hospital of Oslo, and the Royal House is already preparing the ceremonies that will accompany the monarch in his final goodbye.

The date and the definitive program have not yet been officially communicated, but the precedent of the last Norwegian monarchs allows us to anticipate a good part of the scenario. The farewell will reference the Cathedral of Oslo, where the funerals of the members of the royal family are traditionally held, and will continue afterwards to the Akershus fortress, where the Royal Mausoleum is located.

This was the route followed by his father, Olav V, in 1991. After the ceremony at the Cathedral of Oslo, the coffin was transported to Akershus for burial. The mausoleum also houses the remains of Haakon VII and Queen Maud, the first monarchs of independent Norway, as well as those of Olav V and Princess Marta. The site has thus become the resting place of the dynasty that has reigned in Norway since the beginning of the 20th century.

The choice of Akershus therefore has a significance that goes beyond the ceremonial. Harald will be buried alongside the family members who built contemporary Norwegian monarchy. There, a reign that began in January 1991, when Harald succeeded his father, will physically come to an end.

A farewell with the European royal houses

The funeral of Harald is expected to have an important international dimension. The official guest list has not yet been made public, but the precedent of Olav V's funeral offers a reference regarding the representation that may gather in Oslo.

On that occasion, the kings of Spain, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg attended, in addition to Constantine II of Greece and representatives of other European and Asian royal houses. The ceremony brought together a good part of the reigning families of the continent, in a demonstration of the weight that the relationships between the different monarchies still held at that time.

In the case of Harald, the presence of the Spanish royal family would also have a personal and historical dimension. The relationship between both houses dates back to the generation of the monarch himself and contains a particularly singular episode: when Harald was still the crown prince, Sofia of Greece, future queen of Spain, was among the young princesses who were considered as a possible wife for him.

Sofia herself recalled years later that episode and explained that in 1959 an attempt was made to promote a possible rapprochement between the two. The attempt did not succeed. Harald had then been romantically linked to Sonja Haraldsen for several years, a woman who did not belong to any royal house and whose marriage to the heir would initially be rejected by his father, Olav V.

That story ended up having a decisive importance for the Norwegian monarchy. Harald refused to renounce Sonja and, finally, his father authorized the marriage. They married in 1968. When Harald ascended to the throne in 1991, Sonja became queen.

Now it will be she who bids farewell to the king with whom she shared 58 years of marriage.

Haakon, at the forefront of the mourning

The institutional prominence will inevitably pass to the new king. Haakon, until now crown prince, becomes monarch after the death of his father and will be the one to lead the official farewell events.

Haakon had already assumed regent functions on numerous occasions due to Harald's health problems. The Norwegian Royal Palace had been progressively increasing his responsibilities as the age and illnesses of the monarch reduced his public activity. But the funeral will be the first major act of Haakon as king.

Alongside him will be Queen Sonja and the rest of the royal family. The ceremony will allow for the first time to publicly showcase the new configuration of the Norwegian Crown and will place the new sovereign at the center of an institution that his father led for more than 35 years.

The transition occurs, moreover, at a particularly delicate moment for the family. Haakon's wife, Mette-Marit, is going through her own health problems and the royal family has had to face different controversies in recent years that have subjected the institution to greater pressure.

The last goodbye in Oslo

While the protocol is finalized, Oslo prepares to bid farewell to one of the longest-reigning monarchs in Europe. Harald died at 89 years old after a life marked by war, exile, sport, and more than three decades at the helm of the Crown.

His funeral will likely have a solemn character, but it will also serve to close an era. Harald belonged to a generation of European monarchs who ascended to the throne when the continent was still deeply marked by World War II. During his reign, he witnessed the disappearance of several monarchies, attended the abdication of other sovereigns, and kept the Norwegian Crown linked to a society that changed profoundly.

The Oslo Cathedral will likely be the venue for the public farewell. Akershus, that of the definitive farewell.

There, in the Royal Mausoleum, Harald will rest alongside the kings who preceded him.

And while Norway bids farewell to the monarch who occupied the throne for more than three decades, Haakon will officially begin a new stage for the Crown.