Flags were raised. On 18 March 1968, King Olav officially announced to the Speaker of the Sorting that his son would marry Sonja Haraldsen. All public buildings were decorated with the national flag to celebrate the news, and Harald welcomed his future bride into the family with a diamond and ruby ​​ring bequeathed to him by his late mother, Crown Princess Märtha. It was the same ring that Crown Prince Haakon wore half a century later when he followed in his father’s footsteps and married another non-queen: Mette-Marit.

Once convinced, the Norwegian royals planned to celebrate with all the pomp and circumstance of a traditional royal wedding. Royal members, aristocrats and the most famous names in contemporary culture flocked to Oslo on August 27. Then misfortune struck. That day, as preparations for a royal gala ball were in full swing, breaking news came from Kensington Palace. Princess Marina of Kent had died. The death of Princess Marina, a close friend of King Olav and the widow of his cousin, sent shockwaves among guests gathered at the royal palace. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, had to cancel her visit to Norway for the wedding, and the grand ball was reduced to a dinner out of respect.

The schedule was nevertheless full: trips to art galleries, dinners at the medieval Akershus Fortress, and a lunch with the most senior lady in waiting, the flamboyant socialite Else Werring. On the big day itself, 3,000 soldiers lined the procession route from the royal palace. In a moving display of familial affection, the once-frosty King Olav escorted Sonja into Oslo Cathedral, whose vault was decorated with over 2,500 roses, gladioli, and sweet peas. It had become the custom among her sisters-in-law for royal women to forgo the traditional tiara, and Sonja, who had once studied fashion, adorned her hair with flowers that matched her bouquet of lilies of the valley. Her wedding dress was from Molstad, a local Norwegian department store. As she walked down the aisle, Henry Purcell walked.

Among the 850 guests in the cathedral were Harald’s royal relatives, including his sister Princess Astrid (who will also be present for Princess Märtha’s big day) and his best man, Count Flemming of Rosenborg. Frederik IX of Denmark sat in the pews, alongside his wife Queen Ingrid and his daughter Princess Margrethe, who would become the country’s second longest-reigning monarch. King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden was also present, as was Baudouin, King of the Belgians.