King Harald V's coffin carried through Oslo palace in solemn procession

The coffin of Norway's late King Harald V was carried through the Royal Palace in Oslo on Monday in a solemn procession, marking a key step in the national mourning for the monarch who died last week. The ceremony, which moved the casket from the palace's Red Salon to the Palace Chapel, was attended by the new King Haakon VIII, his wife Queen Mette-Marit, and other members of the royal family. King Harald died on August 28 at the age of 89 following hospitalization for hemolytic anemia and a bacterial blood infection. His son, Haakon, immediately ascended to the throne, becoming King Haakon VIII. The procession on Monday was the first such ceremony since the death of Harald's father, King Olav V, in 1991, and was broadcast on television for the first time in Norwegian royal history. King Haakon, dressed in a black suit, led the procession. He was joined by his wife, Queen Mette-Marit, in her first official appearance since becoming queen. Mette-Marit has been largely absent from public life since undergoing a lung transplant in June for pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease diagnosed in 2018. She and the king's widow, Queen Sonja, walked hand-in-hand behind the coffin.