The passing of the beloved King Harald happened at a complex time for the family. The new queen, Mette-Marit, is recovering from a lung transplant, and from the shadow of former ties to Jeffrey Epstein. And recently, Marius Borg Høiby, her son from a previous marriage, was convicted of two rape charges and sentenced to four years in prison. He is currently wearing an electronic ankle monitor as he awaits an appeal and has been given permission to participate in King Harald’s funeral. Another family member, Durek Verrett, the American husband of Princess Märtha Louise, was recently hospitalized for a kidney transplant. Amid this turbulence, the family’s presence—and attire—is sure to be scrutinized during Harald’s funeral procession.
Should the royals wear mourning veils?
For days, Norwegian columnists, royal experts, fashion journalists, and others have debated this question. Royal expert Carl-Erik Grimstad, who worked for the Norwegian palace in the 1990s, later entered politics, and is now a journalist, told the Norwegian publication VG that he was present at King Olav’s funeral while serving His Majesty. He recalls that even back then, that veil was considered outdated, but after an internal discussion, a decision was made to stick with tradition. He finds it likely that the tradition will be phased out in King Haakon’s era.
“Some traditions actually become stronger by being reformed,” wrote the Iranian-born activist Sarah Gaulin in Nettavisen. “Why should a woman’s grief be marked by covering her face, while a man can face the world with his face uncovered?” she said. “Women have historically been subject to much stricter rules about how to display grief. A woman was not only supposed to grieve. She was supposed to dress so that the outside world could see her grief.”
The women’s magazine KK and the fashion and lifestyle website MinMote explored the topic from a historical perspective, citing queens of the past who conspicuously covered their faces—from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Margrethe of Denmark, along with Kate Middleton, who wore a short veil to Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022. Earlier this month, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra wore a short veil similar to Middleton’s attached to a headband at her father King Haakon’s swearing-in ceremony before the members of the Storting.
