{"id":1189192,"date":"2026-09-06T06:57:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T06:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1189192\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T06:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T06:57:39","slug":"charles-to-miss-dear-cousin-king-haralds-funeral-with-william-to-represent-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1189192\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles to miss \u2018dear cousin\u2019 King Harald\u2019s funeral with William to represent Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 eRQajs\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/buckingham-palace\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Buckingham Palace<\/a> has announced that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/prince-of-wales\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Prince of Wales<\/a> will represent his father at the funeral of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/norway-king-harald-death-haakon-b3040869.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">King Harald V<\/a> of Norway next week.<\/p>\n<p>William will be joined by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/princess-royal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Princess Royal<\/a>, who is attending in a private capacity as godmother to the new king, Haakon VIII.<\/p>\n<p>Norway has seen a profound outpouring of grief following the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/king-harald-norway-death-royal-family-b3038155.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">death of the monarch<\/a> on 28 August at the age of 89.<\/p>\n<p>Harald &#8211; known for his warmth, humour and informal style &#8211; was hailed as an inclusive &#8220;people\u2019s king&#8221; who modernised the Norwegian monarchy across a 35-year reign.<\/p>\n<p>His funeral is set to take place on 9 September at Oslo Cathedral, with mourners including his widow Queen Sonja.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01M1R5XRZXN4FVBR0DHA77MX9M.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"William will represent the Royals at King Harald's funeral\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/>William will represent the Royals at King Harald&#8217;s funeral (PA)<\/p>\n<p>In line with the precedent that the sovereign does not attend the funerals of foreign heads of state, William will represent his father at the poignant service.<\/p>\n<p>Charles offered a tribute to his &#8220;dear cousin&#8221; and &#8220;much-loved kinsman and friend&#8221; after news of Harald\u2019s death was confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>Writing in a message of condolence, he commended Harald\u2019s &#8220;unwavering dedication&#8221;, adding that his &#8220;kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The late Queen Elizabeth II and King Harald were second cousins, sharing the same great-grandparents in King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.<\/p>\n<p>William previously stood in for his father in April last year at the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican. Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 following a battle with pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p>During an official tour to Norway in 2018, William and the now-Princess of Wales attended a dinner at the Royal Palace with King Harald and Queen Sonja, where Harald described the visiting royals as &#8220;family&#8221; and commended their support of the late Queen.<\/p>\n<p>The Norwegian sovereign processed into the banquet arm in arm with a pregnant Kate, who was expecting Prince Louis and dressed in an Alexander McQueen gown, while Queen Sonja and William walked directly behind them.<\/p>\n<p>The visit also included time on the ski slopes with the then-Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who have now acceded as the new King and Queen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1189193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[748,393,4884,12,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":["post-1189192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117222797786082138","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1189192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1189193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1189192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1189192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1189192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}