King Harald V died early on Friday, 28 August, in Oslo at the age of 89, the Norwegian Royal House, Kongehuset, announced. The monarch passed away peacefully at Rikshospitalet at 6:35 a.m. Under the constitution, the throne passed automatically to his son, the former Crown Prince Haakon, who becomes King Haakon VIII.
Harald had been in hospital since 17 August with haemolytic anaemia, a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed abnormally fast. He later developed a bacterial blood infection. On Thursday the palace described his condition as "extremely serious", and the family — Queen Sonja, Haakon with his wife Mette-Marit and their adult children — spent much of the day at his bedside.
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Harald reigned for 35 years. He came to the throne in 1991 after the death of his father, Olav V, adopting the motto "All for Norway". He was Europe's oldest reigning monarch. Born near Oslo in 1937, he was the first prince born on Norwegian soil in more than 500 years; at the age of three he fled the German invasion with his mother and sisters, first to Sweden and then to the United States.
Despite failing health, he consistently ruled out abdication. In January 2024, after Denmark's Queen Margrethe stepped down, he repeated that the oath he swore on ascending the throne was binding for life.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the whole nation was in mourning and that Norwegians were left with a deep sense of gratitude for a long life spent in the country's service. The flag over the Royal Palace in Oslo was lowered to half-mast, and members of the public gathered outside to lay flowers. Tributes came from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, who called Harald a good friend, and from Denmark's King Frederik X and Queen Mary.
Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968, after a nine-year effort to win his father's consent to a marriage outside the aristocracy. As crown prince he competed in sailing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (1964), Mexico City (1968) and Munich (1972). After the attacks by Anders Behring Breivik in 2011, in which 77 people died, he told Norwegians that freedom is stronger than fear.
The new king is 53 and served as regent on several occasions during his father's illness. His eldest daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, becomes heir to the throne. A 1990 constitutional amendment giving precedence to the firstborn regardless of gender was not retroactive, which is why Haakon ranked ahead of his older sister, Princess Märtha Louise.
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Haakon VIII takes the throne at a difficult moment for the monarchy. The court's reputation was damaged by revelations in January about contacts between his wife, now Queen Mette-Marit, and Jeffrey Epstein — she is not accused of any crime and has apologised for the position in which she placed the royal family. Her son from an earlier relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, was sentenced in June to four years in prison for rape; he has appealed the verdict. He holds no royal title and has no official duties.
The funeral will be held in Oslo. The king will be laid to rest in the royal mausoleum at Akershus Fortress, alongside his parents, grandparents and other ancestors.
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