King Harald ⁠V of Norway to be laid to rest in Oslo

The funeral procession for Norway's King Harald V, who died on 28 August, began in Oslo in the presence of numerous dignitaries, including Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the UK's Prince William.

The funeral procession left the royal palace at 12pm local time (11am Irish time), with the king's casket carried on an artillery carriage along the city's main avenue to Oslo's Lutheran cathedral, where the ceremony will begin at 1pm with a minute of silence observed throughout the country.

The casket was draped in Norway's red royal banner and topped with white flowers.

When Harald is laid to rest, it will mark the culmination of 13 days of national mourning following his death at the age of 89.

Norway's royal family, led by new King Haakon VIII, took part in the procession on foot, joined by foreign royals, heads of state and dignitaries.

Only Harald's widow, 89-year-old Queen Sonja, and the new Queen Mette-Marit, who underwent a lung transplant in June, followed in a car.

Marius Borg Hoiby, Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship who is under house arrest pending the appeal of a rape and assault conviction, had been granted permission to attend the funeral.

Among other guests announced by Norway's royal palace were Scandinavia's royal families, royal couples from Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, the crown prince of Japan, the presidents of Finland and Germany, and the French and Thai prime ministers.

President Catherine Connolly has also travelled to Oslo for the funeral where she will join with fellow heads of state in a procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral.

"May I offer also my deepest condolences to the Norwegian people, including the Norwegian community in Ireland, on the loss of a deeply committed and highly respected Head of State," President Connolly said in a statement.

She added: "His Majesty served Norway and its people for over 35 years. He will be remembered for his dedicated public service on behalf of the Norwegian people and his inclusivity."

Harald, a reformer who spent more than three decades on the throne after gradually emerging from the shadow of his popular and charismatic father, died at a time of multiple crises for the Norwegian royal family.

Some 3,000 police and 3,500 soldiers have been deployed for the event, with exceptional airspace restrictions imposed over much of the eastern part of the country.

Until his death, Harald, who ascended the throne in 1991, was the oldest reigning monarch in Europe.

Despite mounting health woes in his later years, he had always ruled out abdicating, and was extremely popular among his fellow Norwegians.

Seen as embodying an open and tolerant Norway, he made a deep impression by celebrating diversity in a 2016 speech marking the 25th anniversary of his reign.

At the end of the religious service, four F-35 fighter jets will fly over the cathedral in a "missing man" formation, as the casket is taken to the Akershus Castle chapel overlooking Oslo harbour..

There it will be lowered into the crypt of the royal mausoleum, next to Harald's parents and grandparents.

He will be laid to rest in a $2 million (€1.7) sarcophagus whose design remains secret.

Once the burial is completed, flags across the country, which were lowered to half-mast after Harald's death, will once again be raised and church bells will ring for an hour.

Norwegian police said securing the funeral is ⁠the largest planned operation in the force's history.

School children were allowed to skip classes to attend ⁠the funeral.

Hundreds of thousands of Norwegians have paid tribute to Harald by leaving flowers, candles and flags outside the Royal Palace or filing past his coffin in the royal chapel.

More than 46,000 Norwegians filed past the king's casket in the past week, some waiting in line for hours.

Sitting on a folding chair dressed in Norway's national folk costume, Anne Marte Ellertsen said she had travelled by train from the west coast with her husband and two children to pay her last respects to "a wonderful man".

"He was deeply in touch with his people and the era in which he lived, he knew how to put into words things that a lot of people were feeling and he called people to order when necessary," the 35-year-old said.

Nadia, a 26-year-old student, sat on the ground, knitting to pass the time.

"Harald was simply a kind and warm king, who thought of everyone," she said.

Almost three out of four Norwegians, 72%, said they support the monarchy, up by eight percentage points from a previous survey in May, in an opinion poll conducted after the king's death and published last week.

Support had dropped to its lowest level in February, to 60%.

At the time, the royal family was embroiled in a series of scandals.

Mette-Marit in particular was under heavy criticism for her past ties to the late convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and her son's legal troubles.

While Haakon VIII, 53, is very popular, opinions on the new queen, also 53, remain deeply divided.