King Harald of Norway Dead at 89 After Hospitalization
Princess of Norway Märtha Louise Addresses Allegations She’s in a “Lavender Marriage”
King Harald V’s reign has ended.
The Norwegian monarch died peacefully at the National Hospital in Oslo on Aug. 28, the palace confirmed, after being hospitalized for a blood infection. He was 89.
Crowds of mourners gathered around the hospital in Norway’s capital, laying flowers and flags, while flags were lowered to half-mast.
The newly ascended King Haakon VIII—the only son of Harald and his wife Queen Sonja, who also share daughter Princess Märtha Louse—is scheduled to hold an extraordinary council of state with the government, per the BBC, regarding his father’s death.
Harald, the only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden, held the throne for 35 years after ascending in 1991 following the death of his father.
And while Norway has long been a country defined by peace and prosperity, Harald grew up under the shadow of World War II and in 1940, the Norwegian royal family fled Oslo amid an invasion from Germany.
