2 min readGrand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg were among the mourners at King Harald V’s state funeral in Oslo today, accompanied by Grand Duke Henri, Guillaume’s father and the former head of state. Guillaume attended in his official capacity as Luxembourg’s reigning head of state. The Luxembourg royals also participated in a solemn cortège behind King Harald’s coffin from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral.
Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stéphanie (left) on a bus to the funeral with other royals; Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde are on the right, and Prince William is directly behind them.
Ahead of the service, Grand Duke Guillaume ordered the flags at the Grand Ducal Palace and at Berg Castle to be flown at half-mast on Wednesday as a mark of mourning and tribute to the late king. Last week, he also wrote personally to King Haakon and Queen Sonja following King Harald’s death, offering his condolences in a letter that reflected on the late king’s extraordinary life.
“The weight of years and the responsibilities assumed during his 35-year reign seemed to have no impact on his exceptional strength, willpower, and endurance, which accompanied him throughout his life,” Guillaume wrote. He referenced Harald’s sailing achievements, including his World Championship title in 1987, his European Championship in 2005, and his participation in three consecutive Olympic Games between 1964 and 1972, adding that the late king was still competing in international regattas as recently as 2022, at age 85. “Until his last day, he remained true to his motto: ‘All for Norway,’” Guillaume wrote.
The relationship between the Norwegian and Luxembourg royal families has been warm across many years. King Harald and Queen Sonja most recently visited Luxembourg in 2019 for the funeral of Grand Duke Henri’s father, Grand Duke Jean, who abdicated in 2000. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa had also traveled to Norway in 2017 for King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 80th birthday celebrations.
Grand Duke Henri and King Harald in Oslo in 2011.
King Harald died on August 28 at age 89 after being hospitalized with hemolytic anemia, a blood disease, and a subsequent bacterial blood infection. His death prompted an outpouring of grief across Norway, with thousands of people gathering outside the Royal Palace in Oslo in the days that followed to leave flowers, candles, letters, and photographs in his memory. In the days before the funeral, King Harald’s coffin rested in the chapel at the Royal Palace, where members of the public were invited to file past and pay their respects.
The state funeral drew royal families from around the world. Along with the Luxembourg delegation, other royal attendees included the majority of the Swedish royal family; King Frederik, Queen Mary, and Crown Prince Christian of Denmark; Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain; King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands; King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium; Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan; Queen Rania and King Abdullah of Jordan; Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco; and Prince William and Princess Anne from the United Kingdom.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.