ABC News: Top Stories
· collected 2026-08-28 · by MARK LEWIS Associated Press
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,
grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.
Norway’s King Harald V dies at 89 and his son becomes king
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son → die → 89
King Harald V of Norway has died at 89
STAVANGER, Norway --
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V → die → 89
King Harald V of Norway, who went into exile in the United States as a child during the Nazi occupation of his homeland and refused a string of European noblewomen in order to marry his school sweetheart, has died.
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who → go → sweetheart
The royal palace said he died at the National Hospital in Oslo on Friday at 6:35 a.m.
Harald was Europe’s oldest monarch.
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Harald → say → a.m.
The popular king modernized the royal house but refused to follow in the footsteps of other aging monarchs who have abdicated in recent times.
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who → modernize → times
His son now automatically becomes King Haakon VIII.
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son → become → ?
Like other royal houses in Europe, the Norwegian monarchs serve a largely symbolic role, enjoying celebrity status while real power in the democracy of 5.5 million rests with an elected parliament.
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power → serve → parliament
Harald was crowned king after his British-born father, King Olav V, died in January 1991, and reigned during an oil-and-gas-driven economic boom in his country.
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father → crown → country
Harald was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, becoming the first Norwegian prince to be born in the country since King Olav IV in 1370.
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Harald → bear → 1370
In the following centuries, Norway didn't have a king of its own until Harald's grandfather, Haakon VII, was elected king following the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway.
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grandfather → follow → Sweden
Harald was 3 years old when the Nazis occupied Norway at the start of World War II.
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Nazis → occupy → II
To avoid capture, his mother fled with him and his sisters, Ragnhild and Astrid, first to Sweden and then by boat to the U.S., while Harald’s father and grandfather went into exile in Britain with Norway’s government.
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father → avoid → government
Haakon’s refusal to go along with German demands garnered respect among his people.
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refusal → go → people
Harald was 6 when he carried out his first official duty, christening new warplanes at a Norwegian air base in Canada.
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he → carry → Canada
The family was reunited in Norway in June 1945, shortly after the end of the war.
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family → reunite → war
Harald attended public schools, the Norwegian military college and Oxford University.
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Harald → attend → schools
Like his father — an Olympic champion sailor in 1928 — Harald loved the sea and sailboats.
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Harald → love → sea
He represented Norway at several Olympics, and in 1987 he skippered his yacht to gold in the World Championships.
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he → represent → Championships
As a young man, Harald was urged to find a bride among the princesses of Europe.
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Harald → urge → Europe
For nine years he shunned a series of noblewomen, holding out until he finally won his father’s permission to marry his school sweetheart, Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a successful businessman.
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he → shun → businessman
King Olav had feared the marriage would weaken Norway’s still-young monarchy.
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marriage → fear → monarchy
Instead, Norwegians greeted the Aug. 29, 1968, wedding with jubilation, and later embraced Sonja as their queen.
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Norwegians → greet → queen
The couple had two children, Haakon and his older sister, Märtha Louise.
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couple → have → children
The Norwegian Constitution was altered in 1990 to allow the first born, regardless of gender, to take precedence in the line of succession.
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first → alter → succession
However, it was not applied retroactively, meaning that Haakon continued to take precedence over his sister.
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Haakon → apply → sister
When Harald assumed the throne on Jan. 21, 1991, he adopted the same motto his father and grandfather had used: “All for Norway.”
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father → assume → Norway
He spent the next years trying to modernize the monarchy.
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He → spend → monarchy
“It has been my experience that the monarchy stands strong,” he once said.
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he → stand → ?
“This is not least because my father and grandfather did most things right.
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father → do → things
That puts me under pressure, but I take it as a challenge.”
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I → put → challenge
Harald won the praise of the country with an emotional speech at a memorial service after a right-wing extremist, Anders Behring Breivik, killed 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway in 2011.
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extremist → win → 2011
“I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear.
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belief → remain → fear
I remain convinced in the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society.
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I → remain → democracy
I remain convinced in the belief in our ability to live freely and safely in our own country," the king said.
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king → remain → country
In 2016, Harald gave an unexpected and impassioned speech in support of LGBTQ+ equality, refugees and religious tolerance, saying “Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other.”
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who → give → other
He added that many Norwegians have emigrated from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Poland and other countries and that they “believe in God, Allah, the universe and nothing.”
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they → add → God
The public speech extolled the diversity of the Scandinavian nation and was viewed on social media by millions.
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speech → extoll → millions
During his reign, the royal family suffered relatively few of the scandals that have plagued their peers in the Swedish and British royal families, though Harald's daughter Märtha Louise gave up royal duties after raising eyebrows by saying she could communicate with angels and becoming engaged to an American man who identifies as a shaman.
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who → suffer → shaman
The Norwegian royal family did face unflattering attention in early 2026 as Harald’s daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, faced renewed scrutiny over her connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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daughter → face → offender
That raised questions over her judgment, though she is not accused of any wrongdoing.
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she → raise → wrongdoing
…and 6 more, not listed.
