Norway's Queen Mette-Marit joins procession to bring late King Harald V's coffin to royal chapel

OSLO, Norway (AP) — The coffin of late King Harald V of Norway traveled through the royal palace to its chapel on Monday, with Queen Mette-Marit joining the procession in her first official appearance since assuming the title.

Harald passed away Friday at age 89, and his son, the crown prince, immediately became King Haakon VIII. His wife became Queen Mette-Marit, while his oldest child, Ingrid Alexandra, became crown princess and heir to the throne.

Haakon, 53, will take the oath to Norway’s constitution on Tuesday. His tasks in the near future will include shoring up support for the monarchy following controversies over his wife’s past contacts with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his stepson’s rape conviction.

Mette-Marit has been largely absent from the public eye in the wake of her lung transplant in June. She was diagnosed in 2018 with pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive disease that damages and scars lung tissue. It can cause serious breathing problems, and there is no known cure.

Mette-Marit and Queen Sonja, Harald’s widow, held hands and walked behind the coffin during Monday's procession.

Since Harald’s death, the royal family and the country have been in an official state of mourning. Norwegians and visitors expressed their grief over the weekend by laying flowers, writing cards and lighting candles in front of the royal palace in Oslo, where the coffin arrived late Friday from the hospital.

The coffin stayed in the palace’s Red Salon over the weekend before traveling to the royal chapel on Monday, where it will remain until the funeral. The public can go to the chapel to pay their respects to the late king beginning Tuesday, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.

The funeral is set for Sept. 9.

Norway's King Harald V's coffin is moved by King Harald's family and court staff from the Red Salon to the Palace Chapel in Oslo, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (Javad Parsa/Pool Photo via AP)

Norway's King Harald V's coffin is moved by King Harald's family and court staff from the Red Salon to the Palace Chapel in Oslo, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (Javad Parsa/Pool Photo via AP)

King Harald V's coffin is moved from the Red Salon to the Palace Chapel, in Oslo, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Norway's King Harald V's coffin is moved by King Harald's family and court staff from the Red Salon to the Palace Chapel in Oslo, Norway, on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (Stian Lysberg Solum/Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - Norway's King Harald arrives at a central London hotel for a pre-royal wedding dinner hosted by Lady Elizabeth Anson and attended by members of the British royal family and foreign royal families, in London, on April, 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

FILE - King Harald V of Norway and his wife Sonja leave the Notre Dame cathedral after attending at the funeral of the Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, in Luxembourg, on May 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to speak Monday at the annual gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition, an opportunity for him to assuage concerns among conservative Jewish activists about his views toward Israel and his association with controversial figures like Tucker Carlson.

The appearance, which was to be closed to the news media, comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time for Jewish Americans and the U.S. relationship with Israel. Concerns about antisemitism have surged across the political spectrum ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans are eager to portray Democrats as hostile toward Jews and Israel, but they're also dealing with their own internal schisms.

Vance suggested last month that some Israeli officials have sought to manipulate U.S. public opinion in order to prolong the war with Iran. There's also lingering concern over Vance's failure to disavow Carlson, a conservative commentator who last year hosted antisemite Nick Fuentes for a friendly conversation.

“There's a sentiment here of some discomfort over the vice president speaking. Some people are disappointed,” said Terry Platt, a Republican Jewish Coalition member from New York. “We're confused about his true sentiments.”

Vance is widely considered a frontrunner for the Republican nomination to succeed President Donald Trump in 2028. He’s expressed his support for Israel but, unlike Trump, has been viewed as more equivocal or skeptical toward the longtime ally.

Back in June, he sharply criticized members of Israel’s government for opposing Trump’s efforts to resolve the war with Iran.

“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance said.

Then in July, Vance said elements of the Israeli government had tried to influence American sentiment to derail negotiations.

“There are some people within their system that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely," he told podcaster Joe Rogan.

Support for Israel has eroded in the United States, although more dramatically among Democrats. Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, according to an AP-NORC poll released in July, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government.

Republicans are more likely to back Israel, but there's a generational divide, and younger Republicans are more likely than their older counterparts to say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel.

The divide has been disconcerting for some influential Jewish conservatives, who have used the annual Republican Jewish Coalition summits to push back on antisemitism.

“We need a country where elected officials stand proudly with the Jewish community,” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan said Sunday. “That is the work, and it begins before we leave this room.”

A year ago, the coalition’s annual summit was planned as a celebration of the Trump administration’s work to return Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the war began. Instead, it became a days-long condemnation of antisemitism within the conservative ranks sparked by the refusal of Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts to distance the think tank from Carlson after he hosted Fuentes on his show.

At one point during the summit, college students waved red signs that read, “Tucker is not MAGA.”

Bruce Pearl, the former Auburn University men’s basketball coach who has emerged as a prominent pro-Israel conservative, previously said that Vance would need to reject Carlson to receive his support.

“If he maintains that connection to that antisemite,” Pearl said in June, “I think that’s going to be bad for antisemitism, because he will bring a lot of Tucker Carlsons with him. He’ll uplift them.”

Pearl is expected to address the group in Las Vegas Monday.

Vice President JD Vance waves as he disembarks Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., following a trip to Maine, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool Photo via AP )

Vice President JD Vance speaks at CompoTech headquarters, Monday, August 24, 2026 in Brewer, Maine. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool Photo via AP)