2 min readNorway said a final goodbye on Wednesday to Princess Astrid, the elder sister of the late King Harald V, at her funeral service at Ris Church in Oslo. Though smaller in scale than the state funeral held for her brother two weeks ago, the ceremony was broadcast live to Norwegian media and drew members of the extended royal family as well as a few from across Scandinavia, among them Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. During the service, she was seated in the second row of the church, directly behind King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit, next to Princess Märtha Louise and her husband, Durek Verrett.
Crown Princess Victoria, seated in the second row in the church.
Victoria’s presence in Oslo marks her second visit to Norway within the month. She was among the many Swedish royal family members who attended King Harald’s state funeral on September 9, where she read the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi during the ceremony at Oslo Cathedral, which she had previously delivered at King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit’s wedding at the same church in 2001. King Harald was Victoria’s godfather, and she published a personal tribute to him after his death in August, writing: “Uncle Harald, you will forever remain in the hearts of all of us who loved you.”
The ties between the Swedish and Norwegian royal houses run deep. The two countries shared a single crown until Norway’s peaceful split from Sweden in 1905, and the personal bonds between the two royal families have continued across generations. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is King Haakon’s godfather and was among the first foreign royals to offer condolences following Princess Astrid’s death on September 11, just two days after her brother’s funeral.
Princess Astrid was 94 at the time of her death and had been considered the oldest working royal in Europe. Her final public appearance was at her brother’s state funeral.
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.