Norway’s King Harald dies at 89

Oslo, Norway. Norway’s King Harald died on Friday at the age of 89, the royal palace said. He had been on the throne since 1991 and was Europe’s oldest living monarch.

Death announced

“King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday 28 August, 0635 (local time, 0435 GMT),” the royal palace said on its website.

Harald was admitted to hospital on August 17 and was being treated for a bacterial infection in his blood, the palace said.

Health concerns

In 2024, Harald was hospitalised with an infection while on holiday in Malaysia, where he received a temporary pacemaker. He was flown back to Norway by the Norwegian armed forces and later fitted with a permanent device.

That year, the king said he would reduce the number of official engagements he attended but ruled out abdication, saying his oath as king was for life.

Royal family scrutiny

Harald’s death comes as the Norwegian royal family faces several crises.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit, the wife of Harald’s son Crown Prince Haakon, has faced scrutiny over her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship for which she has apologised.

Her son, Marius Hoiby, from a relationship before her marriage to Haakon, was found guilty in June of two of four rape counts and one count of domestic violence. He was sentenced to four years in prison following a seven-week trial, and both he and prosecutors have appealed the sentence.

Two days after Hoiby’s conviction, the palace said Mette-Marit had undergone a successful lung transplant, without specifying when it took place. After several weeks recovering in hospital, she returned home and marked her silver wedding anniversary with Haakon in August.