Procession to move King Harald V's coffin to Oslo's Royal Palace begins - follow live

Summary

King Harald V's coffin is being moved from Norway's national hospital to the Royal Palace in Oslo - crowds are gathering along the route
Harald, who was on the throne for 35 years, died early on Friday at age 89
King Haakon VIII has now taken the throne following the death of his father. He has opted to keep the family's long-standing royal motto: "All for Norway"
The Norwegian PM says "a whole nation is in mourning" following his death - Oslo's mayor says she has cancelled her wedding, which was scheduled for today
The late king was a popular leader and is credited with modernising the Norwegian monarchy - he broke with tradition by marrying a commoner, Queen Sonja
Flowers are being laid at a memorial near the palace, and the UK's King Charles III shares his "most heartfelt condolences"

Live Reporting

Edited by Caitlin Doherty and Tinshui Yeung

Motorcade of black cars heading to the Royal Palacepublished at 17:56 BST
Image source, NRK
A coffin has been placed in the back of a vehicle outside the hospital, and a motorcade made up of a series of black cars has slowly left the site.
Several police officers in fluorescent jackets on motorbikes are leading the procession ahead of the vehicle carrying the coffin.
Norwegians have gathered in the rain to watch the late king go past as his body slowly starts to make its way towards the Royal Palace.
Image source, NRK
Procession route in Oslopublished at 17:53 BST

Picture shows new king and queen arriving at Oslo University Hospitalpublished at 17:51 BST
Image source, EPA
We’ve just received a picture showing King Haakon VIII and Queen Mette-Marit arriving at the chapel at Oslo University Hospital earlier today.
Coffin procession under way for King Harald Vpublished at 17:48 BST
Breaking
Image source, NRK
The bier procession for King Harald V is now under way.
The late king’s coffin is being moved from the hospital where he died to the Royal Palace.
We’ll bring you the key moments here, and you can also watch live at the top of the page.

Hospital staff turn out to watch King's bierpublished at 17:43 BST
The procession carrying King Harald V's coffin isn't under way yet, but many people have braved the wet weather to watch from the streets around the hospital.
Among them are hospital staff, still wearing their scrubs, with some clutching umbrellas.
Image source, NRK
Image source, NRK
Crowds gather ahead of King Harald V’s processionpublished at 17:38 BST
Image source, NRK
We're still waiting for the procession carrying King Harald V's coffin to reach the Royal Palace in Oslo.
Crowds have gathered along the route, with many people lining the streets to pay their respects to the late monarch.
We'll bring you updates as the procession gets under way.
Remember, you can click Watch live at the top of the page to follow along.

What you need to know following the death of Norway's King Harald Vpublished at 17:08 BST
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
- King Haakon VIII has become Norway's new king following the death of his father, King Harald V, who died after 35 years on the throne.
- The new king announced his royal motto, keeping the words used by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather: "All for Norway."
- Crowds of mourners have gathered outside Oslo's Royal Palace, where flowers continue to be laid. Senior politicians, including Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Labour finance minister Jens Stoltenberg, have been among those paying their respects.
- Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere also paid his respects and said Norway was "united in grief and gratitude" in a televised address, adding that the late king's "legacy lives on".
- Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe announced she also cancelled her wedding, which had been due to take place on Friday.
- At 17:30 BST, King Harald's coffin will be moved from the hospital to the Royal Palace.
Mourners pay tribute to the late King Haraldpublished at 16:46 BST
Mourners have gathered across Oslo to pay their respects to King Harald V following his death.
Outside the Royal Palace, a sea of flowers and tributes has continued to grow throughout the day.
Others have visited Oslo Cathedral, where a book of condolences has been opened for members of the public.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image caption,
A mourner reflects beside the hundreds of flowers left in memory of King Harald V outside the Royal Palace
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image caption,
A photograph of a young King Harald V is placed among flowers and tributes left by mourners
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
People sign a book of condolences at Oslo Cathedral in memory of King Harald V
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image caption,
A mourner lays a flower outside Oslo's Royal Palace following the death of King Harald V

Who is Mette-Marit, the new queen of Norway?published at 16:23 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Queen Mette-Marit (L) and King Haakon (R) pictured in May 2026
The ascension of King Haakon to Norway's throne means that his wife, Mette-Marit is the country's queen. King Harald's wife, Queen Sonja, will also retain her title.
Mette-Marit and Haakon met at a music festival in her home city of Kristiansand in 1999, and she was dubbed by the press as the Cinderella of Kristiansand - a reference to her humble beginnings.
Their relationship sparked public debate. Mette-Marit was a single mother to a four-year-old child whose father had served time for cocaine possession, and three days before her marriage to Haakon she apologised for her "wild past".
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image caption,
King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit's wedding in 2001
As crown princess, Mette-Marit took up popular causes including support for people with HIV and promotion of literacy. She received widespread sympathy in 2018 after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. The condition led her to have a lung transplant earlier this year, from which she is still recovering.
This year also saw her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, convicted of rape in a high-profile trial - a conviction he is appealing. And she has also issued a public apology for her ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
New King to take oath in front of Norwegian parliament on Tuesdaypublished at 16:12 BST
King Haakon will take an oath before the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, on Tuesday.
Storting President Masud Gharahkhani tells the BBC the oath will take place at around 13:00 local time (12:00 BST) on Tuesday.
When a new monarch ascends to the throne they must take an oath in the Storting promising to govern Norway in line with its constitution and laws.
The ceremony emphasises that Norway is a constitutional monarchy, according to the Storting's website.

Politicians pay respects, as mountain of flowers grows outside the Royal Palacepublished at 15:26 BST
Flocks of mourners have gathered outside the Royal Palace in Oslo, where the piles of bouquets and Norwegian flags are growing.
Multiple politicians have been seen there, including foreign minister Espen Barth Eide and finance minister Jens Stoltenberg of the Labour Party, as well as leader of the Conservative Party Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) and Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide - second from the right - who leads the Conservative Party in Norway
With a new king, comes a new heir to the thronepublished at 15:12 BST
Image source, Getty Images
With King Haakon VIII now the head of state, his daughter Ingrid Alexandra, 22, now becomes the crown princess and heir to the Norwegian throne.
It's only in recent decades - since the constitution changed in 1990 - that women have been given the right to inherit the Norwegian throne.
It means that Ingrid Alexandra could be Norway's first female monarch since the 15th Century.
Born and raised in Oslo, the princess completed her military service in 2025, having spent 15 months as an engineer soldier and rifleman.
In May 2025, it was announced that she was to move to Australia to study international relations and political economy at the University of Sydney.
Environmental protection and climate change have previously been given as her key interests on the royal family's website - although the biographies are currently unavailable while the site is updated.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Princess Ingrid Alexandra made her first public appearance in Australia in May 2026 - where she is a student - to mark Norwegian constitution day

Flag flies at half-mast over Buckingham Palacepublished at 14:59 BST
Image source, PA
The Union flag is flying at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, in tribute to King Harald V.
The flag placement is a symbol of mourning and respect in many countries, including in the UK.
Harald has ties to the British Royal Family, and was the second cousin of late monarch Queen Elizabeth II.
King Harald's coffin to be moved from hospital to Royal Palacepublished at 14:44 BST
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
A flag flies at half mast at the Norwegian Royal Palace
King Harald's coffin will be moved from hospital to the Royal Palace in Oslo this evening, the Norwegian Royal Family has confirmed.
His son King Haakon, the new Queen Mette-Marit, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Harald's wife Queen Sonja, Prince Sverre Magnus, and Princess Märtha Louise will accompany the coffin.
A procession will leave the the chapel at Rikshospitalet at 18:30 local time (17:30 BST) and will work its way towards the palace.

Norwegian prime minister pays tribute to King Harald Vpublished at 14:30 BST
Image source, Reuters
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has joined the crowd of mourners gathered outside the Royal Palace in Oslo.
Stoere, who has led the country since 2021, added his own bouquet to the growing number of tributes.
Earlier, he gave a televised address in which he said the country was "united in grief and gratitude", but that Harald's "legacy lives on".
Image source, Reuters
'It was an honour to meet you,' says Haaland as Norway's footballers pay tributepublished at 14:15 BST
Image source, Amanda Pedersen Giske / NTB / AFP via Getty Images) / Norway OUT
Norway's footballers have also been paying tribute to the late King Harald on social media.
Women's team captain Ada Hegerberg writes "rest in peace our King" on her Instagram story.
Meanwhile, Norway men's captainMartin Ødegaard writes: "Thank you for everything you were for Norway.
"A great king and a great man whom we all felt close to."
Erling Haaland writes in a post: "Rest in peace, King Harald. Thank you for everything you meant to Norway. It was an honour to meet you."
Harald had invited the men's national football team to a reception at the Royal Palace following their most successful World Cup this summer.

'He made us feel at home, and he made us feel loved,' Oslo mourners remember King Harald Vpublished at 14:02 BST
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Biteya Terfassa says King Harald V was like a grandfather she never had
Outside the Royal Palace in Oslo, mourners have gathered to pay their respects to the late King Harald V - some bringing bouquets or single roses.
"I personally will say he was everything for us, especially being an immigrant," Biteya Terfassa, an Oslo resident who was born in Ethiopia, tells Reuters news agency.
"He made us feel at home, and he made us feel loved. So he was like a grandfather that I never had."
"All my thoughts go to the queen, I'm a widower myself," says Gry Thune Young.
She feels optimistic about King Haakon VIII: "He will do the same good work [as Harald], using the same good words... but in his way."
Her feelings are echoed by Elisabet Salthe and Jan Erik Nilsen. Things will not be normal in Norway for some weeks, Elisabet says, "but that's life".
Haakon "is a modern man" who will "take care of the Norway kingdom", Jan Erik adds.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Elisabet Salthe and Jan Erik Nilsen feel optimistic about King Haakon VIII
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
"All my thoughts go to the queen, I'm a widower myself," Gry Thune Young says
Mayor of Oslo cancels wedding following death of late kingpublished at 13:46 BST
Image source, Getty Images
The Mayor of Oslo Anne Lindboe has cancelled her wedding following the death of the late King Harald.
Lindboe had been due to get married on Friday to her fiance Pål Sandvid, her political adviser confirms to the BBC.
"It's hard to imagine an Oslo and a Norway without you. You didn't need a crowd to be King," Lindboe had written earlier in a tribute to Harald on Instagram.
"Even the majority of Norwegians who never met you in person still felt like they knew you," she adds.

How King Harald broke with tradition to marry his lovepublished at 13:31 BST
Harald set a new precedent for Norway's royal family by marrying a commoner - after a long wait.
When Harald was crown prince, he met Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, at a party, but he had to wait nine years before he was allowed to marry her.
His intention to wed her instead of someone from a royal family or nobility "sparked considerable debate" as many "predicted the fall of the monarchy as a result of such a marriage", his biography on the royal website read.
His father finally gave his consent, and the couple wed in Oslo Cathedral on 29 August 1968 - meaning they would have celebrated their 58th anniversary tomorrow.
Harald's choice paved the way for his own two children to marry non-royals.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Norway PM says nation is united in grief after king's deathpublished at 13:07 BST
Norway's Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, has said the country is "united in grief and gratitude" following the death of Harald V.
In a televised memorial address, Støre said the late king's "legacy lives on" and offered condolences to Queen Sonja and the royal family.
He also welcomed Norway's new monarch, King Haakon VIII, and Queen Mette-Marit, into their new roles.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images