Norway’s Royal Palace has confirmed that King Harald V’s funeral will take place on Wednesday, September 9, with the service held at Oslo Cathedral at 1:00 pm local time. Harald, who died August 28 at 89 after 35 years on the throne, will be honoured with a state funeral befitting a reign that made him, at the time of his death, Europe’s longest-serving and oldest reigning monarch. What’s confirmed about the day is precise. What isn’t confirmed yet is worth being just as precise about.
What's actually locked in
The date, time and venue come directly from the Norwegian Royal House, which has been notably more reserved about public details than the British royal family typically is in comparable circumstances — funeral planning for senior British royals is usually mapped out and semi-publicly known well in advance, while Norway’s Royal Palace held back specifics until days after Harald’s death. Norwegians have already been lining up at memorials in tribute, and the royal family was seen following Harald’s coffin to the Royal Palace in the days immediately after he died, ahead of the formal state funeral itself.
What hasn't been confirmed: who's actually coming
Coverage in the days since Harald’s death has widely assumed King Charles will attend, given the two men were second cousins once removed — related through Princess Maud, a daughter of Edward VII who became Queen of Norway — and given that Harald and Queen Sonja attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022. But an assumption isn’t a confirmation. As of now, there’s no official statement from Buckingham Palace confirming Charles’s attendance at the September 9 service, only informed speculation that he “should” be there given the relationship and the precedent. It’s a small distinction, but a real one: state funerals for foreign heads of state involve genuine logistical and diplomatic confirmation processes, not just an obvious yes.
Why the distinction is worth making
Royal coverage has a tendency to report expectation as fact, particularly around funerals and state occasions where attendance feels like it should be a formality. In this case, treating Charles’s attendance as settled would be reporting ahead of the actual announcement. The relationship is real, the precedent is real, and an appearance from Charles would be unsurprising — but “unsurprising” and “confirmed” aren’t the same thing, and the gap between them is exactly where inaccurate reporting tends to start.
What to watch between now and September 9
Buckingham Palace typically confirms the King’s overseas engagements closer to the date rather than weeks in advance, so a formal announcement of attendance — or a statement explaining an alternative arrangement, such as sending another senior royal in his place — is the concrete thing to watch for over the next week or two. Until that happens, the honest state of affairs is: the funeral is confirmed, the date and location are confirmed, and who from the British royal family will be sitting in Oslo Cathedral on September 9 is still an open question.