OSLO: Norway’s King Harald V was laid to rest on Wednesday (Sep 9) after a state funeral rich in pomp and ceremony and attended by dozens of European royals and heads of state following his death at the age of 89.
Harald, a reformer who spent more than three decades on the throne after gradually emerging from the shadow of his popular and charismatic father, died at a time of multiple crises for the Norwegian royal family.
Amid tight security, tens of thousands of people lined the streets to watch the funeral cortege move slowly towards Oslo’s Lutheran Cathedral. Its progress was punctuated by the sound of cannons being fired from the nearby Akershus Fortress.
Mourners, some of them wearing their regional costumes, fell silent as the coffin passed by.
Dignitaries processing on foot behind the coffin included Britain’s Prince William, Japan’s Crown Prince, the kings of Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, the presidents of Germany and Finland, France’s prime minister, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Representing the United States was Allison Hooker, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Norwegian government said.
Zelenskyy, who had held talks on his country’s war with Russia late on Tuesday with Norway’s prime minister, was applauded by the crowds when he later left the cathedral following the funeral service.
