Norway mourns King Harald

[Asia Joe]

Norwegians were gathering on Saturday to say goodbye to King Harald in front of the royal palace, where he lies in state, with many well-wishers remembering his sense of inclusiveness and tolerance.

Europe’s oldest monarch, who emerged ‌from the shadow of his well-loved, extrovert father to become a reformer during more than three decades on the throne, died on Friday at the age of 89.

Late on Friday, throngs pressed the streets of Oslo under the pouring rain to watch the funeral cortege as it left Oslo University Hospital, where Harald passed away, to reach the royal palace.

[Kevin H]

Norway is my heritage. I've seen him once when he left a church service and went to his car, and three or four times as he stood on the palace balcony for the 17th of May Children's parade.  When my Grandma was a child she marched in that parade for his Grandfather King Haakon. And of course I grew up knowing about his Father King Olav.  My heart breaks as he falls to sleep. My prayers to his family, his son King Haakon VIII, and to our country. 

While many royal families are full of scandal, this family has tended to be devote believers. I hope this continues. 

[Asia Joe]

Princess Astrid of Norway died Friday at 94, just two days after attending the funeral of her younger brother, the late King Harald.

“His Majesty the King has received with great sorrow the news that Princess Astrid has passed away,” the Norwegian Royal House said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Astrid made her final public appearance Wednesday, arriving in a wheelchair after months of health issues for Harald’s funeral at Oslo Cathedral in Oslo, Norway.

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Norway’s Princess Astrid, older sister of the late King Harald, died on Sept. 11 at the age of 94 — just two days after his funeral. BACKGRID

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Astrid visiting her brother’s coffin in the Palace Chapel days before her death. Norwegian Royal House/Instagram

 

She had been hospitalized for pneumonia earlier this year. In May, the palace said she was receiving treatment for heart failure and had been fitted with a temporary pacemaker.