King Harald V of Norway, Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, died on Friday, August 28 at Oslo University Hospital at the age of 89, the royal palace said. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, 53, immediately succeeded him and will reign as King Haakon VIII.
The king died at 6:35 a.m. He had been in hospital since August 17, when he was admitted with haemolytic anaemia, a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them.
“An era has ended”
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, speaking after meeting the new king, described Harald as “a king of his time and for his time.”
“An era has ended. A new one begins. The king is dead. Long live the king,” Støre said.
In a statement, King Haakon thanked “the government and Norwegian people for their support and sympathy for the Royal Family at this time.” He will take the oath before the Storting, Norway’s parliament, on September 1. His daughter, Ingrid Alexandra, 22, becomes crown princess and heir to the throne.
The government has declared a period of national mourning until the funeral, the date of which has not yet been announced. Flags on the palace balcony and at official buildings will fly at half-mast until after the burial. Thousands of people gathered outside the palace in the rain on Friday, laying flowers and cards, and lined the streets as the king’s casket was driven from the hospital to the palace.
A reign of 35 years
Harald became king in January 1991 after the death of his father, Olav V. Born near Oslo in February 1937, he spent much of his childhood in exile during the Second World War, when his mother fled with her children to Sweden and then the United States while his father and grandfather, King Haakon VII, led the resistance from Britain. He was the first Norwegian king born on Norwegian soil since the 14th century.
His reign coincided with decades of oil-fuelled prosperity that transformed Norway into one of the world’s richest countries. He was widely seen as a unifying figure, and many Norwegians remember his response to the 2011 attacks by Anders Behring Breivik, which killed 77 people, when he said he remained convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear.
In recent years the king had a pacemaker fitted and reduced his official duties, but he repeatedly ruled out abdicating, citing the lifelong oath he had sworn to parliament.
A new reign begins in a difficult period
Haakon VIII takes the throne at a sensitive moment for the monarchy. Earlier this year, documents showed that Mette-Marit, now his queen consort, had corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein years after his conviction, and in June her son Marius Borg Høiby was sentenced to four years in prison on rape and other charges. The new king will be watched closely as he sets the tone for his reign.
Tributes poured in from leaders across Europe and beyond, including France, Germany, Italy, India, Jordan and Ukraine, and from royal houses across the continent.