Princess Anne and Prince William to attend King Harald of Norway's funeral in Oslo
Princess Anne will attend the funeral of King Harald of Norway in a personal capacity on September 9 at Oslo Cathedral, supporting her godson King Haakon VIII, who ascended the Norwegian throne upon his father's death on August 28 at the age of 89. Prince William, Prince of Wales, will represent King Charles III at the same service, according to Royal Central (Royal Central).
The two roles are distinct. William's presence is an official representation of the British monarch at the funeral of a fellow sovereign. Anne's is personal: she stood as sponsor — the Norwegian term for godparent — at Haakon's baptism in 1973, and is attending in that capacity rather than as a formal envoy.
King Harald ruled Norway for 35 years. His coffin is lying in state at the Royal Palace in Oslo, where by the evening of Saturday September 5 approximately 4,500 visitors had filed through the Palace Chapel, known in Norwegian as the Slottskapellet, with wait times under an hour (Norwegian Royal House). The chapel remains open to the public through Tuesday. An official mourning period declared by King Haakon runs until October 9, one month after the state funeral (Town & Country).
The Scandinavian royal houses are sending full delegations. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, with Crown Princess Victoria, will attend, alongside King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark, Crown Prince Christian, and former Queen Margrethe (Royal Central).
Queen Mette-Marit, King Haakon's wife, missed his swearing-in at the Norwegian parliament owing to complications following her lung transplant earlier this summer. Her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby — the late King Harald's step-grandson — will attend the funeral while serving a four-year prison sentence under house arrest after being convicted of offences including two counts of rape. Høiby's presence has drawn attention; Hello Magazine, reporting on the guest list, described him as a "controversial attendee" (Hello Magazine).
The ties between the British and Norwegian royal families run deeper than the immediate guest list suggests. Queen Elizabeth II named her first child, born in 1948, after King Haakon VII of Norway — the prince-elect who had been born Prince Carl of Denmark and was known to his London family as "Uncle Charlie." Haakon VII and his son, the future King Olav, lived in London after the Nazi occupation of Norway in 1940, and Olav's wartime bond with King George VI shaped a friendship that extended to Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Harald himself, then a young prince, travelled to the United States with his mother and two sisters during the war.
After Wednesday's funeral service at Oslo Cathedral, King Harald will be laid to rest in the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress, the burial place of every member of the Norwegian Royal House since the country gained independence in 1905 (Norwegian Royal House).
