Norway's King Harald dies aged 89

Anwar Hussein/Getty ImagesNorway's King Harald V has died at the age of 89, after he was taken to hospital last week for treatment for a rare blood condition.The palace in Oslo said he passed away peacefully at 06:35 local time (04:35GMT) on Friday at the national hospital in Oslo. The royal flag on the roof of the palace has been lowered to half-mast.In the 24 hours leading up to his death, members of the royal family had visited the king, and crowds had laid flowers at the palace.Harald was Norway's first king born in Norway since the 14th Century. He has been succeeded by his son Haakon, 53, who will hold an extraordinary council of state with the government later on Friday.After 35 years on the throne, Harald will be remembered as a popular and reforming figure who modernised the monarchy, broke with tradition by marrying a commoner and served as a unifying figure at Norway's most difficult moments.Royal observers say he was down-to-earth, respected and beloved, describing him as a "grandfather" of the nation and the "People's king" - a title also used by his father King Olav V.In the wake of the Oslo-and-the-island-of-utya" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="195229" data-entity-type="event">2011 bomb and gun attacks on Oslo and the island of Utøya, Harald appealed to Norwegians to support each other and not "let fear take over".More recently, Harald and his family faced health challenges and scandal, especially over his daughter-in-law Mette-Marit's association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and her son Marius Borg Høiby's conviction for rape.Getty ImagesHarald will be succeeded by his son Haakon (L)During his reign, the Norwegian monarchy became more egalitarian and transparent with finances and health, Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen, historian and TV2 royal correspondent, told the BBC.Tove Taalesen, royal correspondent for Nettavisen, described the late king as "one of us", while Caroline Vagle, royal expert for Se og Hør magazine, said he had "always been very close to the people".When Norway's national football team returned from the US after making it to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, Harald welcomed them home at the palace.He is survived by his wife of almost 58 years, Queen Sonja, their daughter Princess Märtha Louise, their son, the new King Haakon, and six grandchildren.Per Ole Hagen/Getty Images(L-R) Prince Sverre Magnus, the new King Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja and King Harald of Norway attend Norwegian Constitution Day at the Royal Palace in Oslo in MayHarald was born on 21 February 1937 on the Skaugum estate near Oslo.He was three when dictator Adolf Hitler ordered Norway's invasion by Nazi Germany early in World War Two.Harald's mother fled with her children across the border to Sweden, and they travelled to the US on the invitation of President Franklin D Roosevelt.Prince Harald returned with his family to Norway at the end of the war and completed his school and compulsory military service. He became crown prince in 1957, and studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College in Oxford from 1960 to 1962.He met Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, at a party, but the crown prince had to wait nine years before he was allowed to marry her. His father, King Olav, had always hoped he would marry a European princess.Eventually he told his father that if he could not marry Sonja, he would stay single, King Harald told Norway's public broadcaster.His father finally gave his consent, and the couple wed in Oslo Cathedral on 29 August 1968.AFP via Getty ImagesHarald's choice paved the way for his own two children to marry commoners too, and for Vagle, that "helped bring an end to a very male-dominated Royal Family"."He has never been afraid to show emotion, humour or vulnerability, and that has made him very human," the royal expert said. AFP via Getty ImagesHarald and Sonja regularly supported Norway's teams at the OlympicsWhen his father became ill in 1990, the crown prince became regent. Harald then ascended to the throne when Olav died on 17 January 1991.The new king came into his own around 2000, according to historian Trond Norén Isaksen, growing from a reserved, serious and shy man into someone who became much more open and empathetic.In July 2011 Harald faced his greatest challenge yet as king, when neo-Nazi Anders Breivik murdered eight people with a car bomb in Oslo before moving on to a youth camp on the island of Utøya, where he shot dead 69 others, most of them teenagers.He gave a televised address the next day, and weeks later he delivered a speech, empathising with the victims and their families as a father, grandfather, husband, and king. On the verge of tears, his voice quivered and broke."I can only imagine the depth of your pain. As King of this nation, I feel for each and every one of you," he said.Looking back, historian Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen said: "I think that moment has been burned into our minds of what a monarchy should be."In 2016, the king made headlines again by giving an impassioned speech supporting diversity of religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation.He said Norwegians are from "Afghanistan, Pakistan and Poland, from Sweden, Somalia, and Syria," they "believe in God, Allah, the Universe and nothing", and they "are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other".The king was also a keen athlete and environmentalist - one of the initiators of the Norwegian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), who served as president of the Norwegian chapter for 20 years.He was such an accomplished sailor, he represented Norway three times at the Olympics, and declared his competitive sailing days over in 2022.NTB/AFP via Getty ImagesKing Harald invited the Norwegian national football team to the palace after they made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup this yearWhen Crown Prince Haakon married Mette-Marit in 2001, the king and queen welcomed her four-year-old son from a previous relationship. Marius Borg Høiby was treated as one of the family, but the royal house later stressed he was never a royal.The king's daughter Princess Märtha Louise initially married a Norwegian writer before controversially remarrying in 2024 to an American self-styled shaman. The couple's business activities eventually led to her halting her royal duties.While some Norwegians may have felt Harald was too lenient with his family's controversial life decisions, Vagle believes he had "shown himself to be someone who puts talking things through ahead of issuing harsh instructions".As the king's health declined, he permanently reduced his public engagements in April 2024. ReutersHarald was a second cousin of late Queen Elizabeth IIMore recently he was treated with cortisone for a rare blood condition, haemolytic anaemia, which causes the number of red blood cells in the body to be reduced. He entered hospital on 17 August and his son became regent, taking over his activities.This year alone the Norwegian royal family has faced compounded personal health challenges and scandals that have left them under almost constant public scrutiny.The rape trial of Marius Borg Høiby, convicted of a litany of offences by judges in Oslo in June, hung over the royal family for many months. He has now appealed against a four-year jail term and appeared at Harald's bedside shortly before he died. Days before the trial began, documents were released revealing his mother Mette-Marit's frequent contact with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.She later apologised to King Harald and Queen Sonja for her three-year friendship with Epstein and admitted to "poor judgement", adding in a national TV interview that she wished she had never met him.Two days after her son's trial came to an end, Mette-Marit received a lung transplant. She had been diagnosed with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis eight years earlier.Her doctors will not declare her stable until a year after the transplant, and King Haakon will face a difficult period of succession as he continues to support her.The crises surrounding the monarchy have had an effect on its popularity. One poll for Aftenposten newspaper found that support had dropped from 72% in 2024 to 54%. Other polls suggested almost half of Norwegians believed Mette-Marit could no longer become queen, although Haakon is now highly likely to say she will become queen.Despite that negative sentiment towards the monarchy, Vagle said criticism was rarely directed at the late king personally, leaving her with the impression that "everyone has loved King Harald"."When things go wrong in the royal family, people tend to blame anyone but the king," historian Trond Norén Isaksen remarked.Haakon has faced questions about how the turbulence surrounding his own household will "follow him into his position as a king", according to Tove Taalesen, however she believes he has shown leadership and dealt with recent events well. The royal family's main strategy has been to separate itself from Marius Borg Høiby's trial, and Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen believes that has largely succeeded.Although there may be further scrutiny over the Epstein files, the focus for Norwegians now will be on remembering a "greatly beloved king" and supporting his son.