OSLO, Norway — One day after Norway’s longest-reigning monarch King Harald V died at the age of 89, tens of thousands of grieving Norwegians gathered outside the Oslo Royal Palace on Saturday to lay flowers, leave condolence messages and pay their final respects to the beloved former head of state. By midday, Slottsplassen, the public square fronting the palace, had transformed into a vast, colorful sea of blooms, with a steady, quiet stream of mourners filing past the tributes to honor the king’s decades of service.
Local public broadcaster NRK reported that palace staff made careful efforts to preserve the outpouring of public affection: a palace gardener removed excess bouquets along the palace’s southern edge to keep pedestrian pathways clear, while workers collected hundreds of condolence cards that had been soaked through by overnight rain, drying them to archive the messages for future generations.
The national moment of mourning extended far beyond the capital. Across Norway, city halls and churches opened their doors specially on Saturday to allow citizens to light memorial candles and sign official condolence books to share their reflections on the late king. Harald V’s coffin was transported from Oslo’s National Hospital — where he passed away on Friday morning — to the royal palace on Friday evening, in a quiet procession that drew small crowds of respectful onlookers.
For many attendees, the visit to the palace was a deeply personal act of gratitude. “It’s special, intimate, and lovely. I’m placing my right hand on my chest in gratitude to him and the royal family,” 46-year-old Roni Ervik told NRK during his visit, adding that he was also paying tribute on behalf of his entire extended family based in western Norway.
With Harald V’s passing, his 53-year-old son, former Crown Prince Haakon, has formally ascended the throne as King Haakon VIII. The new monarch has adopted the royal motto “All for Norway,” a phrase first used by his great-grandfather that echoes a commitment to national service that dates back more than a century. Haakon’s wife Mette-Marit is now Queen of Norway, while his eldest daughter, Ingrid Alexandra, has become Crown Princess and first in line to the Norwegian throne.
Haakon is no stranger to royal duties: as his father’s health gradually declined over the past decade, he repeatedly stepped in as regent to carry out the ceremonial functions of the monarchy on Harald V’s behalf. Later on Saturday, NRK confirmed that a choir would perform for mourners gathered in the palace square, and the new king was scheduled to hold formal introductory audiences with key Norwegian leaders: the speaker of the Storting (Norway’s parliament), the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and the presiding bishop of the Lutheran Church of Norway, with Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra in attendance. Haakon is expected to deliver his first public address to the Norwegian people either later Saturday or in the coming days.
The new king will face early challenges in unifying public support for the monarchy, after recent controversies emerged over his wife Queen Mette-Marit’s past contacts with deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the rape conviction of her son (Haakon’s stepson). No official date for King Harald V’s funeral has been announced, but Norway has entered an official period of national mourning, and many Norwegians have voluntarily postponed joyous events including weddings and child baptisms until the period of mourning concludes.
The Norwegian monarchy traces its unbroken lineage back to King Harald Fairhair in the 9th century, making it one of Europe’s oldest continuous royal institutions. When Norway regained full independence from Sweden in 1905, a national public plebiscite saw 75% of voters endorse the restoration of the monarchy. While the modern Norwegian royal family holds no governing power — all legislative authority rests with the country’s elected parliament — the institution remains widely popular, and the royal family serves as a prominent cultural ambassador for the wealthy Nordic nation on the global stage.