King Harald V of Norway, Europe’s oldest monarch, died on Friday at 06:35 local time (04:35 GMT) at the national hospital in Oslo, closing a 35-year reign that remade the country’s monarchy. He was 89.
The Royal House of Norway announced the death on its website. Harald had been taken to the hospital the previous week for treatment of a rare blood condition, admitted with a buildup of fluid in the body caused by a blood disorder. He later developed an infection, and his health declined sharply in his final days.
He is succeeded by his only son, Haakon, 53, who takes the regnal name Haakon VIII. Later on Friday, the new king was due to meet his ministers in a specially convened session of the council of state. Haakon’s daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Harald’s granddaughter, now becomes heir to the Norwegian throne.
A Nation in Mourning
The royal flag above the palace in Oslo came down to half-mast, and Norway entered a period of national mourning that runs until the day of the funeral. Mourners filled the palace grounds through the morning, leaving flowers and flags at the gates.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said “a whole nation is in mourning,” and said Norwegians were left with profound thankfulness for a lifetime given over to the service of the country.
Condolences came from the Swedish, Danish and British royal households, as well as from political leaders in a number of countries. Britain’s King Charles III — whose mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was Harald’s second cousin — offered what he called his most heartfelt condolences over the loss of a dear cousin, and said his own family grieved a friend whose warmth, empathy and strong sense of duty had resonated across the sea and over many decades. Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, who is godfather to the new Norwegian king, described Harald as a good friend to himself, to his family and to Sweden, and wished Haakon success and good fortune. Denmark’s King Frederik and Queen Mary said they would remember a good man with laughing eyes and a generous heart.
A Wartime Childhood in Exile
Born on February 21, 1937, at the Skaugum estate outside Oslo, Harald was the first Norwegian king born on home soil since the 14th century. He was the only son among three children, and he stood to inherit the crown under a constitution that at the time restricted the succession to male heirs.
He was three years old when Nazi German forces invaded Norway during World War II. Crown Princess Martha, his mother, fled with her children to Sweden, and a few months later the family sailed to the United States at the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, making a home in Washington, D.C. His grandfather, King Haakon VII, and his father, the future King Olav V, moved separately over the course of the war.
Named crown prince in 1957, Harald went on to read social science, history and economics at Balliol College, Oxford, between 1960 and 1962. Sailing was a lifelong enthusiasm that he carried with him into his reign.
The King Who Married a Commoner
Harald met Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, at a party, and it took nine years before he was granted permission to marry her. The wedding took place at Oslo Cathedral on August 29, 1968. Caroline Vagle, royal expert at Se og Hør magazine, said the match departed from royal tradition and helped close the chapter on a royal family that had been very male-dominated. It also cleared the way for Harald’s two children to marry commoners of their own.
He took the throne in 1991 at the age of 53. At their own request, he and Queen Sonja marked the accession with a consecration ceremony at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on June 23, 1991, drawing on traditions rooted in the Middle Ages. A 10-day tour of southern Norway followed, and in 1992 the couple travelled for 22 days through the country’s four northernmost counties.
Harald, like his father before him, was known as the “people’s king.” Under his reign the monarchy became more egalitarian and more forthcoming about royal finances and health matters, according to Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen, a historian and royal correspondent for TV2. Tove Taalesen, royal correspondent for Nettavisen, described the late monarch as one of the people, and Vagle said he had never drifted far from ordinary Norwegians.
“He has never been afraid to show emotion, humour or vulnerability, and that has made him very human,” Vagle said.
That instinct was on display in 2011, after a bomber struck Oslo and a gunman opened fire on the island of Utøya, when Harald urged Norwegians to stand by one another and refuse to let fear take over.
A Succession Amid Family Strain
The handover arrives at a difficult moment for the royal family. Haakon’s wife, Mette-Marit, who now becomes queen consort, saw her earlier contact with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender, become public this year. Her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted of rape and domestic violence and given a four-year prison sentence.
Harald is survived by Queen Sonja, his wife of almost 58 years; their daughter, Princess Märtha Louise; their son, the new king; and six grandchildren.