Norway’s King Harald, a reformer who emerged from the shadow of his well-loved, extrovert father over more than three decades on the throne, died on Friday at the age of 89, the royal palace said, at a time of multiple crises for the Norwegian royal family.
“King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday 28 August, 0635 (local time, 0435 GMT),” the royal palace said on its website.
Harald, who was Europe’s oldest living monarch, was taken to hospital on August 17. The palace said he was being treated for a bacterial infection in his blood.
In 2024, he had been hospitalised for an infection while on holiday in Malaysia and received a temporary pacemaker. He was flown back home by the Norwegian armed forces and later fitted with a permanent device.
That same year, Harald, Norway’s ceremonial head of state since 1991, said he would reduce the number of official engagements in which he took part but ruled out abdication, insisting that his oath as king was for life.
After his death was announced, hundreds of people converged on the palace in Oslo to lay flowers and the government declared nationwide mourning until after his funeral.
Tributes poured in from politicians and other European monarchs, also from Norway’s star footballer Erling Haaland.
Harald’s 53-year-old son will become Norway’s new king, Haakon VIII, and Haakon’s 22-year-old daughter Ingrid Alexandra becomes crown princess.
Harald’s death comes at a tumultuous time for the royal family.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, married to Haakon and who becomes the new queen, is facing intense scrutiny for her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship for which she has apologised.
Her son Marius Hoiby, born from a relationship predating her marriage to Haakon, was found guilty in June of two out of four counts of rape and one count of domestic violence and sentenced to four years in prison after a seven-week trial. Both he and the prosecution have appealed the sentence.
Two days after Marius was convicted, the palace said Mette-Marit had undergone a successful lung transplant, without specifying when the procedure took place.
After several weeks of recovery in hospital, she returned home and celebrated her silver wedding anniversary with Haakon in August.
Support for the monarchy dropped to 60% in February 2026, from 70% the previous month, according to a Norstat poll published by public broadcaster NRK, rising slightly to 64% in May.
Harald had constantly remained popular with Norwegians. According to the February poll, he was the royal who best represented the Norwegian royal family, with a note of 9.2, on a scale of 1 to 10. (Reuters)