News | Mail Online
· collected 2026-08-28 · by Tom Midlane, Harry Howard, Elizabeth Haigh
Story summary
King Harald V of Norway has died at the age of 89 after a brief stay in hospital. He was being treated for haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood disorder, at Oslo University Hospital. The royal palace announced his death on Friday morning, stating that he had passed away peacefully at 6:35 am.
Harald was Europe's oldest monarch and had been on the throne since January 17, 1991. He modernized the Norwegian royal house but refused to abdicate despite his advanced age. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, automatically becomes King Haakon VIII following his father's death.
The Norwegian Royal Family rushed to Harald's bedside on Thursday as his health deteriorated after contracting an infection. Members of the public gathered outside the Royal Palace in Oslo to pay their respects and mourn the loss of the popular king.
King Charles III of Britain paid tribute to his cousin, stating that he was "profoundly sad" to hear of Harald's passing and extending his deepest condolences to the Norwegian royal family.
Harald was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, and went into exile in the United States as a child during World War II. He married his school sweetheart and refused several European noblewomen who proposed to him. After his father's death in 1991, Harald reigned for over three decades, modernizing the royal house and serving as a largely symbolic figurehead.
With his passing, Norway enters a period of mourning, with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre paying tribute to the king's "unwavering faith" in the Norwegian people.
Written for “Death of Norwegian Monarch” on 2026-08-31,
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King Harald of Norway, cousin of King Charles III, has died at the age of 89 after a brief stay in hospital.
The Scandinavian royal was Europe's oldest-reigning monarch following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, having been on the throne since January 17, 1991.
Harald was being treated at Oslo University Hospital for haemolytic anaemia, a disorder which causes red blood cells to be destroyed at an abnormally fast rate.
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cells → see → rate
But the palace said his health had 'deteriorated' after he contracted an infection, with members of the Norwegian Royal Family rushing to his bedside on Thursday.
'
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members → say → Thursday
It is with deep grief that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away,' Norway's Royal Court said in a statement.
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Court → announce → statement
'King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet Friday, August 28 at 6.35am.
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Harald → die → 6.35am
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Crown Prince Haakon will now ascend the throne and is expected to take the name King Haakon VIII.
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Haakon → ascend → name
On Friday, King Charles said he has extended his 'deepest and most heartfelt condolences' to the Norwegian royal family following the death of his 'dear cousin'.
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he → say → cousin
The pair were second cousins once removed, sharing great-great-grandparents Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.
'As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades,' King Charles III said.
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III → remove → decades
'The Queen and I extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Queen Sonja and all her family, as Britain shares in Norway’s grief at this time of such heartbreaking loss.
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Britain → extend → loss
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Born on February 21, 1937, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Martha of Sweden.
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Harald → bear → Sweden
He is a great-grandson of Edward VII and his godparents included Queen Mary and her son George VI (grandmother and father respectively of the late Queen Elizabeth).
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godparents → include → Elizabeth
His early life was marked by the vicissitudes of the Second World War.
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life → mark → War
In April 1940, when Harald was just three, Nazi Germany invaded Norway.
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Germany → invade → Norway
Harald and his two older sisters, Ragnhild and Astrid, were swept up by their mother and taken first to Sweden.
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Harald → sweep → Sweden
King Harald of Norway, cousin of King Charles III, has died at the age of 89 after a brief stay in hospital
Mourners gather outside the Royal Palace following the death of Norway's King Harald V on Friday
A woman cries as she and mourners gather to pay tribute to King Harald V of Norway on Friday
A group of women comfort one another outside the Royal Palace, following the death of Norway's King Harald in Oslo
King Haakon VIII of Norway is pictured at the Royal Palace in Oslo on Friday following the death of his father
Whilst Harald's father and grandfather – the reigning King Haakon VII – held out in Norway as their heroic countrymen battled the German invasion, they too finally fled in June and headed to London with the Norwegian government-in-exile.
In August that year, Harald and his mother and sisters then went to the United States, where they spent the rest of the war, living in Washington.
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they → die → Washington
Then Crown Prince Olav and King Haakon – whose wife Queen Maud (sister of George V) had died in 1938 – were initially guests at Buckingham Palace.
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Maud → die → Palace
A young Princess Elizabeth at one point found them 'both snoring away' on the floor of the royal air raid shelter.
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them → find → shelter
'Though we love having them,' she told her grandmother 'it is rather a bore never to be alone'.
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it → love → grandmother
In June 1945, Prince Harald – now aged seven – returned with his family to Norway, after Nazi Germany's defeat in the war.
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Harald → return → war
During five years of occupation, the royal palace had been turned into a prison, whilst ordinary Norwegians had been starved.
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Norwegians → turn → prison
King Harald and Queen Sonja posing at the Royal Palace after their wedding ceremony in August 1968
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Harald → pose → August
Norway's Royal Palace lowers flag to half-mast following King Harald's death at 89
A woman appears emotional as she arrives to lay flowers in memory of King Harald V in Oslo on Friday
A sea of flowers was already amassing at the Royal Palace in Oslo early on Friday
A crowd gathers to lay flowers and pay their respects to the late Norwegian monarch on Friday morning
Countless mourners descended on the palace in Oslo on Friday in an outpouring of grief
King Harald V died after a short stay in hospital, it was announced on Friday morning
People gather and lay flowers outside the Royal Palace in Oslo on Friday, shortly before King Harald's death was announced
The new king of Norway and ministers arrive at the Royal Palace for an extraordinary council of state on Friday
In 1954, nine years after the family's return, they were hit by tragedy when Harald's mother died of cancer.
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mother → lower → cancer
The prince, then just 17, would go on to name his firstborn Märtha in honour of her memory.
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prince → go → memory
Three years later, King Haakon VII died at the age of 85, after nearly 52 years on the throne.
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VII → die → throne
Harald, now the heir, went on to study at the University of Oslo and also enrolled in the Norwegian Military Academy, graduating in 1959.
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Harald → go → 1959
It was at his graduation ball that he brought along the woman who would become his wife.
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who → bring → woman
Harald had met Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of an Oslo draper, earlier that year.
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Harald → meet → draper
It was her status as a commoner that ruffled royal feathers.
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that → ruffle → feathers
The pair initially kept their relationship a secret but when it did become public knowledge, the Palace repeatedly insisted that the pair would not marry.
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pair → keep → relationship
But when Harald threatened to remain a bachelor forever if he did not get his way, his father relented and let him wed the woman he loved.
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he → threaten → woman
Their 1968 wedding at Oslo Cathedral came after both had studied in England.
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both → come → England
Whilst Sonja read English at Cambridge, Harald went to Oxford to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Balliol College.
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Harald → read → College
Norway's Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are seen leaving Rikshospitalet, where King Harald was hospitalised
King Harald was close to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who was his second cousin.
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who → see → II
King Edward VII was their great-grandfather
Crown Prince Harald, as he then was, approaching his 21st birthday.
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he → approach → birthday
His mother passed away when he was only 17
Harald became Norway's Crown Prince in 1957 after the death of his grandfather.
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Harald → pass → grandfather
After attending high school in Oslo, Harald went to Balliol College, Oxford from 1960 to 1962, where he studied history, economics and politics.
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he → attend → history
The Anglophile became a keen rower, having been taught by renowned coach Nick Bevan, who was studying at the same college.
But sailing was his sport: he went on to represent Norway at the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968 and Munich in 1972.
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he → become → 1972
His and Sonja's first child, Princess Märtha Louise, was born in 1971, with her brother, Crown Prince Haakon, arriving the following year.
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brother → bear → 1971
But Prince Haakon would have a long wait before he became first in line to the throne.
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he → have → throne
His father did not become king until January 1991, when he was 53.
Harald's closeness to King Charles was demonstrated five years later, when he went to Sandringham for a shooting weekend.
The monarch was also at Charles's 50th birthday party in 1998, when 250 guests descended on Highgrove.
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guests → become → Highgrove
In 2011, Harald was among the dozens of European royals who attended the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales and was a guest at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Lunch the following year.
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who → attend → Lunch
…and 25 more, not listed.
