King Harald V of Norway, Europe’s oldest monarch, dies after 35 years on the throne
The 89-year-old monarch had been hospitalized for haemolytic anaemia and a bloodstream infection, and Crown Prince Haakon automatically became king, officials said.
- On Friday, August 28, 2026, King Harald V of Norway died peacefully at age 89 at Oslo University Hospital, the Royal Palace announced. Crown Prince Haakon immediately acceded to the throne.
- The monarch had been receiving treatment for haemolytic anaemia since August 17, but doctors diagnosed a secondary bacterial infection in his blood that led to deterioration despite aggressive antibiotic therapy.
- During his 35-year reign, King Harald became a unifying figure widely respected as the "People's King" for modernizing the monarchy and breaking with tradition by marrying a commoner.
- Formal succession will be finalized through a proclamation before the Council of State and an oath in Parliament, while Crown Princess Mette-Marit becomes Queen Consort as the nation enters official mourning.
- Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the eldest child of the new King and Queen, is now heir apparent to the Norwegian throne as the royal house navigates this transition.
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In the last few days, King Harald V of Norway was admitted to a medical center to treat a rare blood disease.
An anemia led the Norwegian king, Harald V, to be hospitalized, but his condition worsened last weekend by referring his ailment to a blood infection.
Norwegian king dead at age 89 – The Horn News
King Harald V of Norway, who went into exile in the United States as a child during the Nazi occupation of his homeland and refused a string of potential brides from the European nobility so he could marry his school sweetheart, died Friday. He was 89. The palace said he died at the National Hospital in Oslo at 6:35 a.m. Harald was Europe’s oldest monarch. The popular king modernized the royal house but refused to follow in the footsteps of othe…
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