Norway Mourns King Harald as Royal Family Faces Uncertain Future

(King Harald. Photo by New York Post)

Norway's King Harald, who ruled for over 30 years, died Friday morning at a hospital in Oslo at age 89.

He was Europe's oldest monarch.

The palace said he passed away peacefully after being treated for a blood infection.

He had been in hospital since August 17.

Harald had been dealing with health problems.

In 2024 he got sick while on holiday in Malaysia and had to have a pacemaker fitted.

He was flown home by the armed forces.

That same year he said he would do fewer official duties but refused to step down, saying his oath as king was for life.

His death comes at a difficult time for Norway's royal family.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit, married to Harald's son Crown Prince Haakon, has been criticized for a friendship she had with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender.

She apologized for that connection.

Mette-Marit's son Marius Hoiby from before she married Haakon was found guilty in June of rape and domestic violence.

He got four years in prison.

Both he and prosecutors have appealed the sentence.

Shortly after Marius was convicted, the palace announced that Mette-Marit had a lung transplant.

She spent weeks recovering in hospital but came home in time to celebrate 25 years of marriage with Haakon in August.

Support for the monarchy has been dropping.

Polls showed it fell from 70 percent to 60 percent between January and February this year, though it went back up slightly to 64 percent by May.

But Harald himself stayed popular with Norwegians, scoring 9.2 out of 10 in approval.

Harald was a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

He became king in 1991 and brought the monarchy into modern times while keeping it as a symbol of Norway's independence.

He was known for comforting the nation during disasters.

When a mass killer attacked Oslo in 2011 and killed 77 people, Harald gave a televised speech saying freedom is stronger than fear.

After floods and storms he would visit affected areas wearing rubber boots and his old jacket to meet people who lost their homes.

Late in life Harald spoke openly about tolerance.

In 2016 he said Norwegians could have different backgrounds, beliefs and sexual orientations.

In an interview years earlier he told reporters that once a royal family opens its gates to the public it is very hard to close them again.

He said he did not want to close them.

Harald was a sports lover and sailor like his father.

He won a world sailing championship and competed in the Olympics but never won gold like his dad did.

He also cared deeply about nature and at age 76 spent four days in the Amazon jungle living with indigenous people.

Harald was born in 1937, the first royal heir born in Norway in nearly 570 years.

When Nazi Germany invaded three years later, Harald's father and grandfather fled to Britain to lead the government.

Harald went with his mother to Sweden then to America.

He lived at the White House for a time and later in Maryland, where he knew President Franklin Roosevelt, whom he called like a grandfather.

After the war he went to public schools instead of getting private lessons like his father.

His 1968 marriage to Sonja, a commoner, broke royal tradition.

His father refused to accept it for nine years until Harald said he would never marry anyone else.

In 1998 Harald faced criticism over reports that industrialists gave him a luxury yacht as a present and that palace repairs cost the government millions.

Some people said he should step down at the normal retirement age of 67. But the public backed him and the criticism went away.

He joked in another interview that he would stay king for life unless he went mad.

Now Harald's son Haakon, who is 53, will become Norway's fourth king since the country gained independence from Sweden in 1905.

Mette-Marit, also 53, will be queen beside him.