Norway’s King Harald V has died aged 89, the Norwegian royal palace has said, with his 53-year-old son Crown Prince Haakon automatically succeeding him on the throne.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald passed away today.
“King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday 28 August at 6.35am,” the palace said in a statement.
The flag at the royal palace in Oslo was lowered to half-mast.
Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, King Harald had been in hospital in Oslo since 17 August suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells which leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.
The royal family had rushed to his bedside yesterday as the palace announced that Harald’s condition was “extremely serious”.
Crown Prince Haakon automatically succeeds Harald on the throne
His wife Queen Sonja, Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit and their adult children spent much of yesterday at his bedside, with media reporting that Haakon kept vigil overnight.
The public streamed to the palace in central Oslo for a second straight day today, laying flowers on the ground and huddling in groups.
People lay flowers, candles and Norwegian flags as they gather to pay tribute to King Harald
Kaspara Bolstad, 24, said Harald had been “a very steady and warm king”.
“I think the entire Norwegian people see him as a role model and as someone who brings people together. Whether you’re for or against the monarchy, I think he’s well-liked across the board,” she said.
Magnus Skaugseth, 27, agreed.
“He was so inclusive and committed to having values that are inclusive in the society we live in today. When there is so much division and polarisation, he was a pillar pointing in the opposite direction.”
Harald with his wife Sonja in 1987
Harald, who ascended the Norwegian throne in 1991, had had multiple health problems in recent years, forcing him to have a pacemaker fitted and to scale back his official schedule.
But he always ruled out abdicating, arguing that he took a lifelong oath before the Norwegian parliament.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store had cancelled a work trip to Germany due to the king’s deteriorating condition.
Turbulent year
The past year has been a turbulent one for the Norwegian royal family.
In February, King Harald was hospitalised for an infection and dehydration in Tenerife, where he was on a private trip with Queen Sonja.
His wife, also 89, was briefly admitted to hospital in May due to heart problems.
Haakon’s wife Mette-Marit is under scrutiny for her ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Crown Prince Haakon’s wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit has faced scrutiny for her correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein
Documents published in January in the United States revealed her sustained and at times intimate correspondence with Epstein between 2011 and 2014, at a time when the American financier had already been convicted.
Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship prior to her marriage to Haakon, Marius Borg Hoiby, is also in the spotlight as a result of his legal troubles.
He was sentenced in June to four years in prison for two rapes and 32 other charges, including violence against a former partner. He has appealed the verdict.
Suffering herself from a serious lung disease, Mette-Marit, 53, had to undergo a lung transplant in July.
The royals remain broadly popular with the Norwegian public, in large part to Harald’s unifying status and his unassuming, modest lifestyle.
Britain’s King Charles pays tribute to ‘dear cousin’
Britain’s King Charles III paid tribute to his “dear cousin” King Harald, describing him as a “towering figure” who guided his country with “warmth and humility”.
“It is with the most profound sadness that my wife and I have learned of the death of my dear cousin, King Harald V of Norway,” the British monarch said in a statement.
“For 35 years, King Harald served his people with unwavering dedication, guiding Norway through times of great change with warmth and humility.”
King Harald and the then Prince Charles chat during an event in 2014
The two men were second cousins once removed, being both being descendants of Britain’s King Edward VII.
“As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades,” the king said in a statement, personally signed Charles R.
The kings of Denmark and Sweden also paid tribute, calling King Harald an “extraordinary” leader and good friend who unified his country.
“Both as head of state and a successful athlete, he was an outstanding representative of his country. He gave ‘All for Norway’,” Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf said, referring to Harald’s royal motto.
Denmark’s King Frederik said the late monarch was “an extraordinary man” who “joined duty and responsibility with presence and compassion”.