Norway: Funeral service of King Olav V 30 January 1991. Guest list

King Olav V, 1957. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

King Olav V of Norway died at Kongsseteren, Oslo on Thursday 17 January 1991, 87 years old. The funeral service took place at Oslo domkirke (Oslo Cathedral) on Wednesday 30 January 1991.

Yesterday I replied to a question about the guests at the funeral in the formu Nobiliana and thought it would make sense to publish my compiled list here too. Please note that the complete list was never published in any newspapers as far as I know. I might get a copy if I asked the information department at the Royal Palace. but as they have their hands tied up at present with preparing the funeral service for King Olav's son King Harald V next Wednesday, I think the list I have compiled contain the most important names for those interested in royalty.

Royal or presidential heads of state, other royals and dignitaries as well as ambassadors from as many as 103 nations were represented at the funeral. Obviously the list would be too long and tiresome if I should list everyone present.

The list is based on newspapers reports, mainly Aftenposten, VG and Dagbladet, from the days around the funeral. The service was officiated by Bishop of Oslo, Andreas Aarflot.

There was a reception at the Royal Palace after the funeral service. In the evening King Harald and Queen Sonja hosted a dinner for selected guests at Skaugum in Asker.

Monarchies

Norway

King Harald V
Queen Sonja

Crown Prince Haakon

Princess Märtha Louise
Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen

Erling Lorentzen

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner

Johan Martin Ferner

There were also members of the Haraldsen, Lorentzen (except for Ingeborg and Paul Ribeiro) and Ferner families, as well as friends of King Olav and of King Harald and Queen Sonja. Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and President of the Storting, Jo Benkow, were present together with other politicians and representatives of the official Norway.

Belgium

King Baudouin
Queen Fabiola

Canada

Governor General of Canada, Ramon Hnatyshyn

Denmark

Queen Margrethe
Prince Henrik
Prince Joachim
Queen Ingrid
Count Flemming and Countess Ruth of Rosenborg
Count Christian and Countess Anne Dorthe of Rosenborg
Prime Minister Poul Schlüter

(Crown Prince Frederik stayed in Denmark to act as regent.)

Japan

Crown Prince Naruhito

Kuwait

Minister of education, Ali Abdullah Al-Shamlan (i.e. not a member of the ruling family)

Lesotho

Colonel Molise Mokete (I don't think that belonged to the royal family)

Liechtenstein

Prince Hans-Adam II

Luxembourg

Grand Duke Jean
Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte

Monaco

Prince Albert

The Netherlands

Queen Beatrix
Princess Juliana

Spain

King Juan Carlos
Queen Sofia
The Count of Barcelona (the King's father)

Swaziland

Prince Obed Dlamini, Prime Minister

(Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini in 2018.)

Sweden

King Carl Gustaf
Queen Silvia
Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian

Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld 

Baron (Friherra) Niclas Silfverschiöld

Princess Christina Mrs. Magnusson 

Tord Magnusson

Prince Carl Bernadotte (uncle of King Harald V)

Princess Kristine Bernadotte
Madeleine Bernadotte Kogevinas

Nicholas Kogevinas

Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson

Thailand

Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn

United Kingdom

The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles)
The Princess Royal (Princess Anne)
Lady Elizabeth Anson (stepdaughter of Prince Georg of Denmark)
Lady Alexandra Clare Carnegie

David Charles Carnegie, Earl of Macduff

Former monarchies

Greece

King Constantine II
Queen Anne-Marie

Romania

King Michael
Queen Anne

(The blog The Royal Watcher writes that a woman photographed together with Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and the Count of Barcelona was "the Princess of Hanover", which at the time would be Princess Chantal, then married to Prince Ernst August of Hannover, but it is difficult to know as the photo is not that good. I am not ruling it out, but no newspapers mentioned her in their coverage.)

Yugoslavia

Crown Prince Alexander

Republics

Botswana 

President Quett Masire

Cameroon

President Paul Biya

Czechoslovakia

Chairman of the Federal Assembly, Alexander Dubček

Finland

President Mauno Koivisto
First Lady Tellervo Koivisto, née Kankaanranta

France 

Prime Minister Michel Rocard

Germany

President Richard von Weizsäcker

Hungary

Deputy speaker of the national assembly, Alajos Dornbach

Iceland

President Vigdis Finnbogadóttir

Ireland

President Mary Robinson

Malta

President Ċensu Tabone 

First lady Maria Tabone, née Wirth

Mauretania

Minister of Industry, Boulla Ould Mogueya

Portugal

President Mario Soares

The Soviet Union

Vice President Gennady Yanayev

Tanzania

2nd Vice President Salmin Amour 

USA

Second Lady Marilyn Quayle 

(The Vice President, Dan Quayle, got delayed and missed the funeral service.)

Yugoslavia

President Borislav Jovic

Zambia

President Kenneth Kaunda

The article was updated on 1 September 2026 at 22:07 (a few names added, cf. a contribution to the Nobiliana forum based om the book "Dronningen vi ikke fikk" by Trond Norén Isaksen.