Royal families from around the globe gathered to remember King Harald V of Norway at his funeral on Wednesday, September 9, and members of his family paid tribute to the 89-year-old with jewelry steeped in royal tradition.

The women of the Norwegian royal family—as well as many of the guests—wore classic pearl jewelry to King Harald’s funeral at Oslo Cathedral. It’s a choice that dates back to Queen Victoria’s day, as Eddie Le Vian, CEO of Le Vian jewelers, tells Marie Claire.

“Pearls have spoken the language of royal mourning for generations,” Le Vian says. “Since Queen Victoria mourned Prince Albert, pearls have come to evoke tears, remembrance and dignity. To me, their symbolism is profound: a pearl is formed layer by layer, just as grief is carried layer by layer. The tears may eventually dry, but the love—and the pearl—remain.”

King Harald’s widow, Queen Sonja, led the Norwegian royal family in mourning the late monarch, who died on August 28. The strand of pearls wrapped around her neck multiple times was the most striking of the royal women, and Le Vian notes that her ensemble “feels intensely personal.”

“The close rows of pearls encircle her like an embrace, while the long strand descends almost like a river of tears,” the jewelry expert shares. Queen Sonja paired the dramatic necklace with a black mourning veil, a pearl bracelet and large pearl earrings, adding King Harald’s royal family order to her black dress.

Like her mother-in-law, King Haakon's wife, Queen Mette-Marit, also wore a pearl necklace, but went for a simpler three-stand design with a diamond clasp and diamond-accented pearl studs.

Le Vian says that Mette-Marit’s “layered pearls carry a different but equally moving meaning.”

“Standing beside Queen Sonja as Norway’s new queen, she is at the threshold between two reigns,” he shares. “Her pearls become a bridge—between mother and daughter-in-law, private grief and public duty, King Harald’s legacy and King Haakon’s future.”

The new queen's daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, also chose pearls for her grandfather's funeral. In addition to a classic pair of pearl studs, the future queen wore a special gift from her grandmother. Queen Sonja gave Ingrid Alexandra the pearl necklace she wore on Wednesday as a christening present, and it features a diamond heart pendant with a ruby center hanging from a tiny string of pearls.

Ingrid Alexandra swapped out her earrings for a pair of dangling pearls during a balcony appearance after the funeral, removing her veiled headpiece to wear a simple black headband.

King Harald and Queen Sonja's only daughter, Princess Märtha Louise, went for a bolder pearl look, layering a five-strand choker with a diamond and pearl clasp with a more classic single strand of pearls. She added oversized pearl button earrings and a similar veiled headband as her niece, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra.

“Diamonds announce light. Pearls hold it," Le Vian says. "That is why pearls feel so profoundly right in mourning: they resemble tears, yet they endure long after the tears have fallen.”

Queen Mette-Marit of Norway was driven to an Oslo hospital by her husband, King Haakon, after she was forced to miss his swearing-in ceremony on September 1.

The new Norwegian queen, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, skipped the event due to "complications" from her recent lung transplant, per the royal court. According to Hello! magazine's sister publication Hola!, King Haakon was photographed driving his wife to the National Hospital just hours after he took an oath before parliament.

"At approximately 6:20 p.m., Haakon VIII was seen leaving the National Hospital without Mette-Marit, remaining inside until 9:30 p.m., at which time the King returned to the medical center to pick up the Queen," the publication reported (translated from Spanish).

Earlier in the day, the palace released a statement by one of Queen Mette-Marit's doctors. "It is not uncommon for complications to occur after a lung transplant. The Queen has had complications on some occasions since the operation, including today," pulmonologist Are Holm, Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the National Hospital, said.

"As a result, the Queen must be observed throughout the day," the doctor continued. "The Queen will therefore unfortunately not be able to attend the swearing-in ceremony in the Storting today."

King Harald V died at the age of 89 on August 28, making his only son, Crown Prince Haakon, the new king.

Haakon and Mette-Marit's daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, is next in line to the throne, and she attended her father's swearing-in on Queen Mette-Marit's behalf.

Queen Mette-Marit was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, and the condition causes scarring in the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe.

She received a lung transplant in June 2026 and was released from the hospital in July, with Queen Sonja telling reporters at the time,  “It's simply fantastic. It's fantastic that it went so well.”

King Haakon of Norway was officially sworn in as the country’s new monarch on Tuesday, September 1, but there was one important member of the royal family who wasn’t in attendance at the milestone event. Haakon’s wife, Queen Mette-Marit, had to skip the ceremony after suffering from unknown complications due to her recent lung transplant.

King Harald V died at the age of 89 on August 28, making his son Norway’s new king. Queen Mette-Marit was due to support her husband as he took an oath before parliament as the new king, but on Tuesday, the Norwegian royal court released a statement explaining her absence.

"It is not uncommon for complications to occur after a lung transplant. The Queen has had complications on some occasions since the operation, including today," pulmonologist Are Holm, Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the National Hospital, said. "As a result, the Queen must be observed throughout the day. The Queen will therefore unfortunately not be able to attend the swearing-in ceremony in the Storting today."

King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit’s 22-year-old daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, stood in for her mother at the ceremony, sitting next to her father’s gilded chair.

Queen Mette-Marit, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, received her lung transplant in June. She was not scheduled to take on any formal duties for the rest of 2026 as she continues to recover from the surgery. However, King Harald’s death pushed the new queen into the spotlight. She held Queen Sonja’s hand on August 31 as they processed with King Harald’s coffin through the palace, and Mette-Marit also joined the crowds gathered outside, viewing the flowers, drawings and other tributes to the late king.

“I know that our new queen really wanted to come,” Parliament Speaker Masud Gharahkhani said, per NRK. But she is in a rehabilitation phase and it is a family in mourning. Everything that happened yesterday, with following the bier to the Palace Chapel, is tough.”

King Harald's funeral is scheduled for September 9, but at the current time, it's unclear whether Queen Mette-Marit will be well enough to attend.

The new King Haakon VIII of Norway has a tough act to follow after his father, King Harald V, died at the age of 89 on Friday, August 28. Known as the grandfather of Norway, the king was widely beloved by the public. But Haakon and his wife, Queen Mette-Marit, are facing an uncertain future as they attempt to increase their popularity—and Mette-Marit has found herself embroiled in numerous scandals over the years.

Born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, the now-queen’s father was a convicted felon, and she went on to date John Ognby—a convicted criminal himself—before welcoming a son, Marius Borg-Høiby, in 1997 with one of Ognby’s friends (also a felon).

She worked as a waitress to support herself and her young son and later met Crown Prince Haakon at a music festival in the summer of 1999. Their romance moved quickly and an engagement was announced in December 2000, to the shock of the Norwegian public.

In a pre-wedding interview, Mette-Marit admitted to having a wild past on the rave scene involving drugs and partying, but said those days were over. Still, it took time for the public to warm to her. A 2001 article in the Independent slammed Mette-Marit after their wedding, writing, "the general view that she is totally unsuited to her designated role as Queen of Norway."

Over the years, the now-Queen Mette-Marit dedicated herself to charity work and welcomed two children with her husband, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. But in 2024, her eldest son, Høiby, was arrested on numerous occasions, and in 2026, he was charged on two counts of rape.

Høiby, who is waiting on an appeal trial, was sentenced to four years in prison and is currently on house arrest. The high-profile trial put a negative spotlight on Mette-Marit and her family, especially after allegations swirled that she may have attempted to withhold information or shield her son during investigations.

The new queen also made headlines in early 2026 when emails she sent to her then-friend, Jeffrey Epstein, were released in the Epstein files. The messages sent shockwaves through the Norwegian public, including one that read, "Googled you after the previous email. Agreed, it didn't look good :)."

In March 2026, Mette-Marit gave a tearful interview during which she apologized for her actions. She noted it was “incredibly important” to her “to take responsibility for not checking his background more carefully.”

Explaining that she didn’t recall what the Google-related email was about, she added, “But if I had found information that made me realize that he was an abuser and sex offender, I wouldn't have written a smiley face behind it.”

In addition to her public controversies, Queen Mette-Marit has also suffered from health setbacks over the past decade. In 2018, the royal court announced she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic condition that causes scarring in the lungs and difficulty breathing. By the spring of 2026 she was using an oxygen tank, and the new queen received a lung transplant in June.

Now that she’s become queen, Mette-Marit must rehabilitate her public image. According to Reuters, a recent TV2 poll in Norway found that 47.6 percent of Norwegians thought she should not become queen, and the royal family’s overall popularity dipped from 70 percent to 60 percent in February 2026.

Norway has a new king, Haakon VIII, after his father, King Harald V, died at the age of 89 on Friday, August 28. The late king, who sat on the throne since 1991, ruled alongside his wife, Queen Sonja, and the couple shared two children, Princess Märtha Louise and the now-King Haakon. But although Märtha Louise was their first child, it was her brother who was destined to wear the crown.

When the princess was born in 1971, she had no place in the line of succession, as the Norwegian constitution still stated that only male children could inherit the throne. When Haakon was born in 1973, he became his father’s heir.

In 1990—a year before Haakon’s grandfather, King Olav, died—the Norwegian constitution was changed to allow females to rule, even if a younger brother was born down the line. The new law gave Märtha Louise a place in the line of succession for the first time, but unlike Sweden—which made the same change and applied it retroactively—Norway did not, making Haakon the country’s future king.

However, King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit's first child, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, was born after 1990, meaning she will inherit the throne one day.

It seems Princess Märtha Louise has always been destined to walk her own path. King Harald’s eldest child is a controversial figure in Norway and has been widely criticized for her clairvoyant activities, along with her 2024 marriage to Hollywood shaman Durek Verrett.

Like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the two starred in a Netflix documentary about their unconventional royal romance titled Rebel Royals: An Unlikely Love Story.

In 2019, the Norwegian royal court stated that Märtha Louise was no longer allowed to use her princess title in her business endeavors and in 2022, she stepped down from royal duties to focus on her commercial activities. However, she attends major family events, and will likely be on hand to support her brother during his transition as king.

Although Norway does not hold coronations, Haakon could choose to take part in a ceremony like his father did in 1991. The consecration at Trondheim's Nidaros Cathedral is a formal church blessing of the new monarch, but Haakon would not have a crown placed on his head like King Charles.