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Marius Borg Hoiby, the son of Norway's queen, will be permitted to leave his house arrest, imposed following a rape conviction, in order to attend the funeral of King Harald V, police said on Monday.
Hoiby, born from a relationship before Queen Mette-Marit's marriage to Harald's son, King Haakon, was sentenced in June to four years in prison for two rapes, a conviction he is appealing.
He is serving his sentence under house arrest with an ankle tag while awaiting his appeals trial and was previously granted dispensation to visit Harald in the hospital before the late king's death.
King Harald V died on Friday, Aug. 28, at the age of 89, after a prolonged decline in his health that had led to repeated hospital stays in recent years. He had reigned since 1991, making him one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs, and was immediately succeeded by his son, who has become King Haakon VIII.
Since his death, Norway has entered an official period of mourning. Tens of thousands of people gathered over the weekend at churches and memorials across the country, including outside the Royal Palace in Oslo, to lay flowers and pay tribute.
The royal family attended a memorial service at Asker Church, near the royal estate of Skaugum. King Harald's funeral will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 1:00 p.m. local time (12:00 p.m. GMT) at Oslo Cathedral.
"The public prosecutor deemed that there were grounds to grant the requests for leave submitted by Hoiby in connection with the death," police prosecutor Oda Karterud stated. "Leave has been granted... for the funeral on Sept. 9," she added.
Hoiby, 29, was also given permission to attend the transfer of the king's remains to the palace chapel on Monday evening. Besides the two counts of rape, Hoiby was also convicted of 32 other charges, including violence toward a former partner. He was acquitted of two other rapes.
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