KING HARALD V of Norway has died aged 89, triggering the succession of his son Crown Prince Haakon at a tumultuous time for the country’s royal family following several scandals.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald passed away today. King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday, August 28 at 6:35 am,” the palace in Oslo said in a statement this morning.

Europe’s oldest reigning monarch and a great-great-grandchild of Britain’s Queen Victoria, Harald reigned for 35 years. 

He had been in hospital in Oslo since 17 August suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells which leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.

On Thursday, the palace had announced that his health had deteriorated and that he was in an “extremely serious” condition. 

His wife Queen Sonja, Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit and their adult children spent much of the day at his bedside, with media reporting that Haakon kept vigil overnight.

Flowers laid in front of Norway's royal palace in Oslo. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The flag at the royal palace in Oslo has been lowered to half-mast and members of the public have been laying flowers outside. 

Harald was largely popular with the Norwegian public. Kaspara Bolstad, 24, told AFP that he had been “a very steady and warm king”.

“I think the entire Norwegian people see him as a role model and as someone who brings people together. Whether you’re for or against the monarchy, I think he’s well-liked across the board,” she said.

Magnus Skaugseth, 27, agreed. “He was so inclusive and committed to having values that are inclusive in the society we live in today,” he said.

“When there is so much division and polarisation, he was a pillar pointing in the opposite direction.”

Harald was born in 1937.

Three years later, the Nazis invaded Norway, and in April 1940 the future king was evacuated, first to Sweden and then to the United States.

Harald with his son Haakon, who will now become Norway's king, at the World Cup qualifying match between Norway and Estonia in November 2025. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

He lived in Washington with his mother, Princess Martha, throughout the rest of World War Two while his father, Prince Olav, lived in London with King Haakon. He returned to Norway when peace came.

He married ‘commoner’ Sonja Haraldsen in 1968. But prior to their engagement, they faced nine years of opposition before winning the approval of Harald’s father King Olav and parts of the ruling class.

Harald, who ascended the Norwegian throne in 1991, had had multiple health problems in recent years, forcing him to have a pacemaker fitted and to scale back his official schedule.

But he always ruled out abdicating, arguing that he took a lifelong oath before the Norwegian parliament.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store had cancelled a work trip to Germany early Thursday due to the king’s deteriorating condition.

Family controversies

His death comes following a turbulent year for Norway’s royal family, which was hit by two separate scandals involving his daughter-in-law Mette-Marit, who will now become queen, and Marius Borg Høiby, her son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Haakon. 

(from left) Marius Borg Hoiby, Marit Tjessem, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, King Harald, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Mette-Marit was heavily criticised earlier this year for her ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Documents published by the US Department of Justice in January revealed her sustained and at times intimate correspondence with Epstein between 2011 and 2014, at a time when the American financier had already been convicted of soliciting a minor. 

In a televised interview in March, Mette-Marit said she had been “manipulated” by Epstein and regretted the friendship, telling broadcaster NRK: “Of course I wish I had never met him.”

Several polls published around the same time showed that nearly half of the Norwegian public believed that she should not become queen.

In June, an Oslo court convicted Mette-Marit’s son Marius Borg Høiby of two counts of rape. 

He had been accused of 40 charges, carrying a maximum possible sentence of 16 years in prison.

Høiby pleaded guilty to several relatively minor offences but denied the alleged rapes, which the prosecution said took place while the women were asleep or passed out.

He was acquitted of two other counts of rape and convicted of domestic abuse against an ex-girlfriend, issuing threats and traffic violations.

He was sentenced to four years in prison, but has entered an appeal. He was released from prison to house arrest with electronic monitoring pending the appeal. 

While he has no formal role in the Norwegian royal family, his legal troubles dragged the monarchy into its biggest ever scandal.