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Agence France-Presse

Norway’s King Harald has died aged 89, the palace said on Friday, his 53-year-old son Crown Prince Haakon automatically succeeding him on the throne.
“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 6.35am,” it said in a statement.
The flag at the royal palace in Oslo was lowered to half mast.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said he had received the news with “deep sorrow”.
“An entire nation mourns, and at the same time remains profoundly grateful for a long life devoted to Norway,” he said in a statement.
“King Harald loved Norway. And Norway loved its king.”
The government later announced a period of national mourning until the king was buried.
Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, King Harald had been in hospital in Oslo since August 17 suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells which leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.
The royal family had rushed to his bedside on Thursday as the palace announced that Harald’s condition was “extremely serious”.
His wife Queen Sonja, Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit and their adult children spent much of Thursday at his bedside, with media reporting that Haakon kept vigil overnight.

The public streamed to the palace in central Oslo for a second straight day on Friday, laying flowers on the ground and huddling in groups.
Harald, who ascended the Norwegian throne in 1991, has had multiple health problems in recent years, forcing him to have a pacemaker fitted and to scale back his official schedule.
But he always ruled out abdicating, arguing that he took a lifelong oath before the Norwegian parliament.
Neighbouring Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf called him “an outstanding representative of his country. He gave ‘All for Norway’”, referring to Harald’s royal motto.
Denmark’s King Frederik meanwhile called the late monarch “an extraordinary man”.
The British King Charles III said he mourned the death of his “dear cousin”, hailing Harald as a “towering figure”.
Harald was also king when the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were negotiated in the 1990s, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “deeply saddened” by his passing.
The past year has been a turbulent one for the Norwegian royal family.
In February, King Harald was hospitalised for an infection and dehydration in Tenerife, where he was on a private trip with Queen Sonja.

His wife, also 89, was briefly admitted to hospital in May due to heart problems.
Haakon’s wife Mette-Marit is under scrutiny for her ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Documents published in January in the United States revealed her sustained and at times intimate correspondence with Epstein between 2011 and 2014, at a time when the American financier had already been convicted.
Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship prior to her marriage to Haakon, Marius Borg Hoiby, is also in the spotlight as a result of his legal troubles.
He was sentenced in June to four years in prison for two rapes and 32 other charges, including violence against a former partner. He has appealed the verdict.
Suffering herself from a serious lung disease, Mette-Marit, 53, had to undergo a lung transplant in July.
The royals remain broadly popular with the Norwegian public, in large part to Harald’s unifying status and his unassuming, modest lifestyle.


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Royalty

Norway’s King Harald in 2024. He died in hospital on Friday after an illness. Photo: NTB/Ole Berg-Rusten via Reuters

Crown Prince Haakon, 53, became King Haakon VIII when his father, Harald V, died Friday. Photo: AP

People gather outside the Royal Palace in Oslo, following the death of Norway’s King Harald. Photo: Reuters

King Harald and Queen Sonja in 2022.  Photo: Ritzau Scanpix via AP

King Harald V on his boat in 2018. Photo: dpa via AP

King Harald and Queen Sonja in 2016. Photo: NTB Scanpix via AP

King Harald in 2014. Photo: AP

Prince Harry and Meghan visit Bondi Beach in Australia on April 17. Photo: AP

Britain’s Prince William (right) with his brother Harry in London in 2022. Photo: AFP

Britain’s King Charles (left) and his son Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2022. Photo: AFP

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Son becomes King Haakon VIII following the death of Europe’s oldest reigning monarch


Son becomes King Haakon VIII following the death of Europe’s oldest reigning monarch.


Norway

Nordic nations

Norway’s King Harald dies at 89 after 35-year reign

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Son becomes King Haakon VIII following the death of Europe’s oldest reigning monarch

Son becomes King Haakon VIII following the death of Europe’s oldest reigning monarch