King Harald V of Norway died peacefully on Friday at Oslo University Hospital at the age of 89, the Royal House of Norway announced. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, 53, is set to succeed him as the nation's monarch.
Harald, who had been hospitalized on August 17 with a blood infection, was Europe's oldest reigning monarch. He had previously received a pacemaker in 2024 after falling ill during a vacation in Malaysia and had announced a reduction in his public appearances that same year.
King Harald had served as Norway's head of state since 1991. He was the first royal heir born in the country in over 500 years. His grandfather, King Haakon VII, became the first king of an independent Norwegian state in 1905 after Norway gained independence from Sweden.
During the Nazi invasion of Norway in 1940, Harald, then a prince, fled with his mother first to Sweden and then to the United States, where they were granted safe haven at the White House by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The royal family lived in Bethesda, Maryland, and Harald recalled Roosevelt being like a grandfather to him.
King Harald was known for his reformist views and encouraged other European royals to embrace greater public openness. "If you've opened the gate it's very difficult to close it again," he told Reuters. "I'm not sure I'd want to close it. So far so good, as far as I'm concerned."
Crown Prince Haakon will take the throne as King Haakon VIII. His wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, will become Queen Mette-Marit. The couple has faced scrutiny following revelations that Mette-Marit had communicated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She has since expressed regret for her past interactions with him, stating she was unaware of his history at the time.
Additionally, Mette-Marit's son from a previous marriage, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted of rape and domestic violence charges in June and sentenced to four years in prison. Both he and prosecutors are appealing the sentence.
