Oslo mayor cancels own wedding after death of Norway's king

The Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe attends the opening of the Total Defence Year 2026 on February 11, 2026 in Oslo, Norway.

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The Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe has been engaged for five years

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Oslo's Mayor Anne Lindboe has cancelled her own wedding because of the death of Norway's King Harald V.

The wedding with her fiance Pål Sandvid was planned for Friday but was postponed after the king died early on the same day, her political adviser confirmed to the BBC.

"It's hard to imagine an Oslo and a Norway without you. You didn't need a crowd to be King," Lindboe wrote in a tribute to the late king on Instagram.

King Harald reigned for 35 years and died at the national hospital in Norway's capital where he was being treated for a rare blood condition. His son, King Haakon VIII, became Norway's new monarch on Friday.

"Even the majority of Norwegians who never met you in person still felt like they knew you," Mayor Lindboe added in her tribute.

No new date has been set for the wedding yet, Lindboe's political adviser told the BBC.

After five years together, Lindboe announced the couple's engagement in June this year.

King Harald V of Norway (R) is greeted by Oslo's Mayor Anne Lindboe (C) upon arrival in Holmenkollen, near Oslo, on March 15, 2025, during the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup

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Oslo's mayor pictured next to King Harald V of Norway in March 2025

The late king was a popular and reforming leader in Norway who modernised the monarchy.

He broke with tradition by marrying a commoner, Queen Sonja, and served as a unifying figure at Norway's most difficult moments.

Harald died a day before their 58th wedding anniversary.

Members of the public have been gathering to lay flowers at a memorial outside the Royal Palace in Oslo.

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a televised memorial address that his country was "united in grief and gratitude" for Harald's service and that his "legacy lives on".

Britain's King Charles III said he was mourning his "dear cousin". King Harald V was a second cousin of King Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Haakon VIII is the great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria.