Published on •Updated
Norway’s King Harald V, Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, has died at the age of 89, the royal palace announced on Friday.
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“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, August 28 at 6:35 am,” it said in a statement.
The flag at the royal palace in Oslo was lowered to half-mast on Friday as members of the public gathered outside to lay flowers and pay tribute to King Harald.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered her condolences to the Norwegian people, describing Harald as a “true European” who had served his country “with warmth, humility and an unwavering sense of duty”.
“In moments of joy and sorrow, he brought Norwegians together,” she said, adding that his royal motto, “Alt for Norge” meaning “All for Norway,” would continue to resonate.
The 89-year-old had been in hospital since August 17 with haemolytic anaemia, a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than they can be replaced.
His family rushed to his bedside on Thursday after the palace announced that his condition had become “extremely serious”, with Crown Prince Haakon reportedly keeping vigil overnight.
Harald, who ascended the throne in 1991, had suffered several health problems in recent years and had a pacemaker fitted, but repeatedly ruled out abdicating because of the lifelong oath he took before parliament.
Mourners described him as a warm and inclusive monarch who had helped unite Norway, while Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre cancelled a planned trip to Germany as the king’s condition deteriorated.
A unifying king through decades of change
King Harald V remained a popular and unifying figure throughout his 35-year reign, helping modernise Norway’s monarchy while steering it through moments of national tragedy and, in his final years, family scandal.
For centuries, Norway shared monarchs with Denmark and later Sweden, meaning its royal families were largely based outside the country. That changed after Norway became fully independent in 1905, and Harald’s birth near Oslo in 1937 made him the first Norwegian-born prince in more than 500 years.
He was three when Nazi Germany invaded in 1940 and fled with his mother and sisters to Sweden and then the United States, while his father and grandfather went into exile in Britain. The family returned to Norway after the war in 1945.
Harald attended public schools, trained at Norway’s military academy and studied at the University of Oxford. A talented sailor, he represented Norway at three Olympic Games and later won a world championship.
He married Sonja Haraldsen, his childhood sweetheart, in 1968 after a nine-year period to win his father’s approval. The couple had two children, Märtha Louise and Haakon.
Harald succeeded his father, King Olav V, in 1991, adopting the royal motto “All for Norway”.
‘Norway is you – Norway is us’
Despite having limited constitutional powers, he became known for his ability to unite the country at difficult moments. After Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in 2011, Harald declared that “freedom is stronger than fear”.
He also championed an increasingly diverse Norway, winning widespread praise for a 2016 speech embracing LGBTQ+ people, immigrants and different religious beliefs.
His oratory was about inclusion and national unity in which he said “Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other.”
The king also supported immigrants and people of different faiths, before saying: “Norway is you. Norway is us.”
Additional sources • AFP, AP
