King Harald V of Norway, the country’s longest-reigning modern monarch, died on Friday at the age of 89, the royal palace announced, ending a 35-year reign remembered for his popularity among Norwegians and his commitment to a modernized, accessible monarchy.
The palace said Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital’s Rikshospitalet at 6:35 a.m. local time. He had been hospitalized since Aug. 17 for treatment related to a rare blood condition, haemolytic anemia, that caused fluid retention.
His elder son, Crown Prince Haakon, 53, has assumed the throne and is expected to take the name King Haakon VIII, continuing the numbering of his great-grandfather, Norway’s first modern king. Haakon met with government ministers in an extraordinary Council of State session hours after his father’s death and announced he would retain the royal family’s motto, “All for Norway,” used by three generations before him.
Haakon’s wife, Mette-Marit, becomes queen, while Harald’s widow, Queen Sonja, keeps her royal title. The couple’s daughter, 22-year-old Ingrid Alexandra, is now crown princess and first in line to the throne, under 1990 reforms that granted equal succession rights to firstborn daughters.
Unlike Britain, Norway does not hold a full coronation. Haakon is scheduled to take an oath before parliament on Tuesday, followed by a consecration ceremony. A period of national mourning is underway, with crowds laying flowers outside the royal palace in Oslo. Harald’s funeral is expected at Oslo Cathedral, after which he will be interred at the royal mausoleum at Akershus Fortress alongside earlier generations of Norway’s royal family.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the nation felt profound gratitude for Harald’s decades of service, describing him as a unifying figure who fostered warmth between Norwegians.
