Princess Astrid is buried today
Photo: NTB
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner is buried from Ris Church in Oslo on Wednesday at 1pm. The service will be closer to an ordinary funeral than King Harald's, but the church is open to all and bags will be checked at the door.
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner is to be buried from Ris Church in Oslo today at 1pm. The church in the west of the city was her local parish church, and the service comes two weeks after the funeral of her brother, King Harald V.
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner. Photo: NTB
The congregation will include royals from Norway and abroad, representatives of the authorities and of the organisations the Princess worked for, as well as family and friends. The church is also open to anyone else who wishes to attend.
• Closer to an ordinary funeral
TV 2's royal commentator Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen told NTB that today's service will resemble an ordinary funeral more closely than King Harald's did, and will follow the ordinary funeral liturgy.
He points out that the King's service also followed the liturgy of the Church of Norway, but that it was in no way ordinary, with its procession of heads of state and royalty, the way the church looked inside, and the attention it drew.
Ris Church in Oslo. Photo: Trond Strandsberg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
By agreement with the family the Princess is given a funeral at state expense, and both the government and the Storting are sending representatives.
Schulsrud-Hansen stresses all the same that the funeral belongs to the family. It does not in principle take account of the fact that the deceased was a princess and served as first lady, but there will be an official turnout because she carried out duties for Norway.
• Family ties more visible
Royals from abroad are also attending. Schulsrud-Hansen believes the family ties will stand out more clearly than at King Harald's funeral, where royals came in their capacity as heads of state.
One example is Princess Astrid of Belgium, who is attending with Prince Lorenz. The two Princesses Astrid are named after the same relative, Queen Astrid of Belgium, who was the Belgian princess's grandmother and the Norwegian princess's aunt.
• Security checks at the door
As at an ordinary funeral the doors are open to all who wish to be present. Because both royalty and the Norwegian state will be there, however, bags will be checked at a security control.
Large bags, backpacks and umbrellas may not be brought inside, and there is no parking at the church. The doors open at 11.45am and close at 12.25pm, well before the service. Ris Church seats 650, and it is likely that not everyone who wants a place will get one.
People laid flowers and candles on the Palace Square after Princess Astrid died. Photo: Thomas Fure / NTB
Flags fly at half mast at state institutions from the morning until 2pm. Once the interment is over, the flags are raised at public buildings.
• Broadcast live on NRK
Those not present in the church can follow the service from home. NRK is broadcasting the funeral live on NRK1, on NRK TV and at NRK.no, and it can also be heard live on NRK Radio.
The service is led by parish priest Paul Erik Wirgenes and the Bishop of Oslo, Sunniva Gylver.
• The place of burial has not been announced
The family, which numbers five children and more than ten grandchildren and great-grandchildren, has given no information about a gathering afterwards or about where the Princess is to be buried.
Her husband Johan Martin Ferner, who died in 2015, has his grave at the Ris urn cemetery beside Ris Church.