The coffin was accompanied by Harald’s children and grandchildren, and in the televised images of the procession through the palace halls, the new king Haakon VIII’s (Haakon VIII) 29-year-old grandson Marius Borgas Hoiby (Marius Borgas Hoiby) was also seen, who was previously found guilty of rape and is currently awaiting the appellate court’s decision on a four-year prison sentence.
The Norwegian police confirmed earlier on Monday that M. Borgas Hoiby, who is under house arrest until the appellate court’s decision, will be allowed to participate both in Monday’s procession and in the funeral next week.
The coffin, covered with the Norwegian royal flag, stood in the Royal Palace’s Red Hall from Friday evening, where it was brought from Oslo University Hospital, where the king died earlier that day.
The same ritual of carrying the king’s coffin to the chapel was performed in 1991 when Harald’s father, King Olav V, died.
The procession was also attended by Queen Mette-Marit and Harald’s wife Queen Sonja – holding hands, they walked behind the coffin.
A national mourning has been declared across the country until the funeral.
Members of the public wishing to say goodbye to the late monarch will be allowed into the palace chapel from Tuesday at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. Lithuanian time) until 6 p.m. on September 8.
Harald had earned huge support despite numerous scandals that plagued his family during his 35-year reign.
On Tuesday, King Haakon will take the oath of allegiance in parliament.
King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit will not be crowned in a ceremony – coronation ceremonies in Norway were abolished back in 1908.
However, the new king, like his father and grandfather, may choose to bless his reign in a ceremony at Trondheim Cathedral, where Norwegian monarchs were crowned from 1814 to 1906.
King Harald was widely regarded as the embodiment of an open and tolerant Norway and praised for leading a modern and modest monarchy.
The monarch had many health problems in recent years, which required him to have a pacemaker implanted and reduce the number of official duties.
Since August 17, he had been treated at Oslo hospital, where he was admitted for hemolytic anemia – a condition caused by unusually rapid destruction of red blood cells, resulting in fatigue and shortness of breath.
